New home desktop

arcamalpha

arcamalpha

arcamalpha

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Joined
18 Oct 2002
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1,145
My Mum is after a new desktop PC for home use. We've decided to go with Dell as friends have found them to be good.

Definate requirements:
Dell
Small case (e.g. Dell XPS 210)
capable of running Vista no probs

However, I'm a bit out of touch with technology.

I guess 2GB of RAM is good for Vista, but there are so many processors and graphics card options and I have no clue what's required to run vista with no probs. For example, what's the difference between Pentium D and Core2 Duo? Will either do? What about an Athlon64 X2?

Anyway, current suggestion is a Dell XPS 210. My only concern is that it takes laptop-style CD drives rather than full size and I'm concerned it might be a bit noisey due to smaller fans.

Anybody got experience with this model? Or are there better Dells to choose?
 
Okay - I'll try to get a Core2. It's not going to be for games. Just Internet, email, itunes and some occasional graphics work. I just want to make absolutely certain that it will run anything my Mum can throw at it (inc Vista).
 
thing with Dell is that u will find it will suit ** needs for a while...

the minute you want to upgrade and open the case...you will find the quality of parts used are cheap, so you will have to upgrade more then one component...

like for example lets say you want a better gfx card....so u buy the card....but due to the their crap psus you will have to replace that also so your system wont keep restarting etc due to new gfx card...

also another potential problem could be if you want to add a new hard drive...perhaps they dont have a second ide connector...then what?

also you may find if you want upgrade RAM there are no slots on the mobo...

All in all what you pay will be a temporary fix, I know to the untrained eye dell offer great deals but pretty soon after ppl realise how limited and restricted they are in terms of upgrade....so lets say for around £400 you can purchase all the bits, which you know will not cause you a headache when you go to upgrade....

your choice.... :)
 
Cheers xirokx - I'm quite familiar with Dell's components from upgrading friend's. For my Mum's needs it will be fine - doubt she will ever upgrade it. My only concern is that I'm completely out of touch with the technology. I'm still running a P4 [email protected] on a P4T533 (Rambus) system. Great in it's day, but that was years ago!! To me, anything new is fast, but is it fast enough.

Anyone know what the operating temperatures are like for Core2duo vs an Athlon64 X2? Or where can I look them up?
 
Anyone know what the operating temperatures are like for Core2duo vs an Athlon64 X2? Or where can I look them up?
Click to expand...

i guess that differs in terms of type of cooling used, i.e. air/water, type of case, number of additional fans used, overclocked or not etc etc...however to get some idea you can check the CPU section .....
 
core2duos run a bit cooler i think, the fans on a dell system arent that loud anyway and im sure there is some sort of cool & quiet on core2's.

if you want it to run vista in all its glory then an ati 1800 should do fine, but im not sure haw many cheap dells you'll find with one. if you dont mind about old graphics in vista then once again any gfx will do.

daven
 
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