New Member: XPS Studio 9100

R

Rhapathy

New Member
So as the title says, I'm a new member to the site. I recently just converted from a laptop to a desktop for various reasons.

So I see this pretty good deal on a Dell XPS Studio 9100 with the following specs:

- Intel i7 930 2.8gHz Quad-core, hyper threaded
- 12 GB RAM
- 1 TB HD
- Soundblaster XFi Sound Card

- Blah, blah, blah..

I bought it for $260.00 (Tower Only)

I made the terrible mistake of putting in a Geforce GT 520 2GB. Either something is wrong or this card is just really, really low end. (I plan to buy a GeForce GTX 650 ti 2GB in it in a couple weeks.)

----

So I know this isn't cream of the crop when it comes to computers, but I'd like to think that this is better than most.

The computer doesn't seem to be all that fast, and really slower than my Laptop..

Any reasons for this?

I'm all ears!

I got a good deal on this
 
That card (520) is pretty much useless for even light gaming. When you upgrade your video card, get a new power supply (Corsair CX 600 would be a good but cheap choice) too and you should be good to go. Also the 7850 might give your more power for your dollar as it's roughly the same price as the 650 TI (which is still a plenty capable card on its own).
 
Denther said:
That card (520) is pretty much useless for even light gaming. When you upgrade your video card, get a new power supply (Corsair CX 600 would be a good but cheap choice) too and you should be good to go. Also the 7850 might give your more power for your dollar as it's roughly the same price as the 650 TI (which is still a plenty capable card on its own).
Click to expand...

I have done a fairly good amount of homework on the graphics card. I'm finding that this card is pretty useless even for high end graphic on CS:Source lol..

But my real issue is why does that computer not seem up to par or fast.. or is it just me haha..
 
You do not mention your full drives setup, the cheapest and best way to give any system a performance boost is an ssd, I assume when you say your system is slow that you do not already have one.
 
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How do you mean slow exactly? Performance in games is laggy or just general slugishness of the computer when booting up, launching programs, etc?

I'm assuming you bought this used due to the cost. Did it come with a fresh install of Windows or did you just buy it as is with stuff presumably already installed.

If it's laggy in games that's just due to a weak video card.
 
It has low performance in higher end games due to the poor video card. It came with bare bones Windows 7 Pro (No personal programs at all.) So I'm assuming that it was either manually cleared or fresh install.

Windows boots up extremely fast.

I'm in the process of getting a new video card, power supply, and a good SSD. I'm hoping that this solves any slow issues that I think I have.

My issue is that the computer isn't slow really, but I expected it to be faster than what it is.

I came from an ivy bridge i5 laptop with a small SSD so maybe the browsing experience vary.


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Also i'm not sure if this is a big factor but I did have x3 23 inch monitors hooks up to it, now I have x2 23 inch monitors until I get a better card I just didn't think it was a good idea.



Any thoughts?
 
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Your processor and ram are stong 7.4 is a good score, some people will tell you windows index is rubbish, I have run w.e.i and other benchmarks on every system i have ever built or repaired and stored the results and i would say w.e.i is a pretty reliable guide.

The way some people talk about it you would think you could run it on a celeron cpu then take it out and drop in a quad core and the score would stay the same.

The graphics are the big weak point.

5.9 is standard score for sata III hdd to get any higher than that you need an ssd or a hybrid drive.
 
I plan on putting in the SSD, and a good graphics card. I'm guess that will bring me to the level of performance that I am looking for. The new PSU will be required with the new card or recommended by most from what I hear.
 
Correct. New card = new PSU to go along with it.

I think your just used to the speediness of your SSD on your laptop.
 
Not great. Seasonic, Corsair, XFX, Antec, and OCZ all make good PSU's. Look into what those companies have.
 
Rhapathy said:
So I know this isn't cream of the crop when it comes to computers, but I'd like to think that this is better than most.
Click to expand...

I will say that comment is right on the money, I use to game on an Emachines ETw1331-03G
AMD 235E dual core @ 2.7Ghz
6GB DDR2 800Mhz
750GB HDD

I dropped in an Antec 650 Watt PSU, 1GB XFX 5770, and enjoyed the system for several years. Overall total cost just over $500. When I first purchased the system, it was not for gaming, but doing College course work.

As for boosting your performance, as everyone else has stated, an SSD, video card, and power supply is about all your need considering the specs of your system.

I purchased an older, 120GB Vertex Plus which was refurbished for around $60. Some may not suggest that option, and I won't if you can afford something newer/faster.
In comparison to newer SSD's, it is slower. But if it lasts a year, I'll be happy, happy, happy. :)

P.S. I've upgraded from the Emachines :D
 
Here is an off topic question I guess.. So you have seen my hardware in the picture. I decided that I wanted to give the computer a little boost, and enable turbo boost in bios.

End result is I couldn't find it? Does this quad core processor have turbo boost?
 
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