ATI 3870 X2 Vs Nvidia 8800 GTX OC Vs Nvidia 9800 GX2

[adam1v]

Sorry guys, I still cant see it.
As a base machine, £639 inc VAT can buy me this machine:

Base:
XPS 420 Viiv Intel® Processor Q6600 Quad Core™
(2.40GHz, 1066Mhz FSB, 8MB cache)
124714 [210-18989] 1
Microsoft Operating System:
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium - English 127020 [619-11986][640-
10554] 11
Memory:
4096MB 800MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM
[4x1024]
124603 [370-13023] 3
Hard Drive:
640gb Dual Hard Drive Raid 0 Stripe (7200rpm)
124632 [400-13939] 8
Video Card:
256MB nVidia™ GeForce 8600GTS graphics card 101110 [490-10637] 6
Optical Devices :
16x DVD +/- RW Drive 124671 [429-12775][429-
12780] 16

I don’t like the graphics card, but its a reasonable go between until the ATI 4000 range is available.
The machine above Is exceptional value for money. Ive always built my own system in the past, but with the current market, I just don’t think theres much of a saving.

 

[HummuH1]

Flexibility v's cost. The XPS is a fine system. But in my experience, difficult to upgarde for a number of reasons with little, perhaps no overclocking ability (if that is of interest).

So if you want one of the 4*** series cards when it comes out, the Dell could cause issues. Will the card fit the case? Is the PSU up to it? Right PSU connectors? etc.

If you go go for a temporary self build at least you can tweak individual parts as upgrades rather than perhaps have to go for a whole new set up again.

 

[adam1v]

thats certainly points ive considered.
As I actually have an XPS machine at work now (with a 8800GT) and the above machine will also come with a 8800GT, I will be more likely to think the ATI Card will fit.

The only other concern is the pin connectors on the ATI card, this will require a bit of investigation.

Dont get me wrong, I've always sworn to go self build because of the reasons you've mentioned above, but the XPS machine is an awesome PC with brand name components with more flexability than ever more, I assume this is the reason why OCuk is reselling them?

I would love to build another PC from scratch and hand pick everything, but the last I want is system crashes, something to go wrong...

 

[HummuH1]

Cool. Would you consider one of the OCUK systems?

 

[adam1v]

Cool. Would you consider one of the OCUK systems?

Definatly, everything ive ever bought has been from OCuk, but it just comes down to price per spec.

I think the PC I've discussed above is the best bang for buck (in terms of my budget).