XPS 700 Jet Black Desktop

[Lavastein]

20" (inch) dell ultrasharp widescreen
flat panel display
2gb dual channel ddr2 sdram
250 harddrive
dvd-rom drive; cd/dvd burner
dual 256 mb nvidia geforce 7900 gs graphics
sound blaster x-fi xtrememusic (d)
dell a525 stereo speakers with subwoofer.

= $2460

i took it out of the dell magazine they send in the mail. copied most of the lines.

i dont know what half of these things mean :tooth:

doesnt matter though, cause i have you guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


is it worth it?

[Mr_Breeze]

Being it's dell probly not. They use cheep ram and charge as if it were top notch. The same goes for all the other components. The only thing I would buy buy from dell is a monitor.

/Edit It's cheeper online http://www.dell.com/content/products...=19&l=en&s=dhs

and I could build the same thing way cheeper.

CPU
OS
I coulden't find the video card Dell uses, but I would go with this one.
Video Card
I don't know who provides the OEM ram for Dell now. My dell has samsung on it... It will be something like this
Ram
Hard Drive
Monitor
This isn't the same optical drive(s) in the system you're buying, but putting all your eggs in one basket is cheeper.
Optical Drive
Security
Take your pick of word perfect. Though dell does provide this cheeper.
Word

Thats about it other than a case, mouse, and keyboard. Which you are better off picking on your on anyway. You can easily by those things with the $500+ you save.

[shizzernockers3]

alienware is the best when it comes to gaming

[Spadicus]

alienware is the best when it comes to gaming

Alienware is Dell .

[philip augustus]

alienware isnt that bad, i checked other sites when i wanted a computer and turns out that i can get things that are exactly the same specs but actually cost more, the one i bought was pretty cheap from alienware

[Lavastein]

so what im getting from here is that dell is crap. ok so ive sorted that out. Alienware is looking mighty fine to be honest as i took out some stuff and made it 2,078.00 (minus monitor) and speakers. i WOULD make my own cpu but what im worried about is that its like trying to drive a tank before you know how to drive a car. if i build a system i dont wanna make mistakes on something that could make bf2 shine. you know what i mean? a lot of mistakes can be made on my part. we do need a 2nd cpu. Im sure i can wait a month or 2 but im not sure. I have an 840gm that works well. Nothings wrong with it but i wanted to get a cpu that is fit for gaming and give this one here to my father who needs it for work.

breeze you are a life saver man. ill c what im going to do. thanx guys for the heads up. im going to look through all the sites you guys gave me. I reallly want to get the best system for my money. I dont want the problem opf buying an alienware for 2 grand and next year im way outdated. More opinions would GREATLY be apreciated

[Freddie]

alienware is the best when it comes to gaming

Alienware is Dell. Alienware got brought out by Dell several months ago now.

BTW, Please don't ask me to back this post up with evidence just take my word for it.

[Mr_Breeze]

No shizz... no..

[Gaius Baltar]

Look up the same system on EBAY. Compare prices.

You usually get the same multi-year warranty as well.

[Lavastein]

so what kind of cpu should i be thinking of then? i want something powerful around the $1000 mark. i was thinking of the 700 cause it has some uber cards and stuff. but if i dont go with it then could you guys show me something thats just as powerful but cheaper?


btw breeze, i like the idea of building my own pc, but i dont know how to do it. i can change the vid card but i duno how to do the rest.

[shizzernockers3]

so what kind of cpu should i be thinking of then? i want something powerful around the $1000 mark. i was thinking of the 700 cause it has some uber cards and stuff. but if i dont go with it then could you guys show me something thats just as powerful but cheaper?

maybe take a look at these http://alienware.com/product_pages/d...l_default.aspx and these http://www.dell.com/content/products...=19&l=en&s=dhs

[Mr_Breeze]

Lava take a look at some enthusiast forums. Building a PC isn't too hard. You can always ask for help.
You should put a lot of thought into building a PC though. You can't just throw something together. Once you have built one you will have a better understanding of your computer, and be a more knowledgeable person.
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.c...id=1444&page=1
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2797&p=1
http://www.tomshardware.com/index.html

[Barbarian-Bob]

I suggest you buy the parts of the machine and put it together yourself. Alot more bang for your buck. Newegg would be a good place to start. If you don't like it, there are probably more local stores that sell components.

Also, stores that are internet based and don't really have any physical stores are often cheaper because they just put all their stuff in a warehouse. So if you are very lucky, you live near one of these warehouses and can drive and pick up your machine.

Also, Dell isn't so great for gaming.

[Sir Robin]

I would avoid the XPS 700 like the plague. I was stuck in the XPS 700 fiasco for almost two months before I finally bailed and ordered from ABS instead.

Dell has had a variety of issues with the XPS 700 and they have been less than honest with their customers about it. They actually started selling the XPS 700 on May 30th and just managed to get a couple out the door about two weeks ago. Add to this that they are quoting at least fifty day build times and it just sets all of my mental alarms off. One of the guys who actually got one had the power button fall off the second time he turned it on.

There are plenty of better companies out there if you don't feel comfortable building it yourself though it isn't that hard anymore.

ABS
Velocity Micro
Maingear
PCC

Depending on where you live you may not even have to pay taxes on it which Dell will always charge.

[Mr_Breeze]

I looked at ABS.. There pre-built options don't look to flattering. Their customizations aren’t much better, practically forcing you to buy something you don't need or want is bad..

IMO right now is not a good time to buy/build a PC anyway. I would wait until as many of these things comes to pass as you can. Let the money pile up until it is literally burning a hole in your pocket. 1) The nVidia socket 755 SLI ready mobo is released. 2) Direct X10 video cards are out. 3) Prices on Core 2 Duo's drop. All of these things should be happening soon (within the next 6 months). If you want to buy a really good gaming PC that will last years you will need to wait on those things.


If you wait and get a motherboard that is SLI certified, and direct X10 video cards you will be way ahead of the fools who are buying PC's now. Most people are trying to scoop up all of the Core 2 Duo's right now, but it's a really bad time to build a new PC with all of this new technology right around the corner. I know that technology is always changing, but now it is really justifiable to wait. With windows Vista, direct X10, and more socket 755 motherboards right around the corner. You don't want your new PC to be trash in just a few months.

When the time is right I’ll be posting what I’ll be building on these forums, and I’ll be willing to give advise to anyone. Save your money until then.

If you absolutely have to have a new computer right now I would try to spend as little money as you can. I’ll help you with that if you need it.

[Sir Robin]

Yeah waiting is probably the best option, if you can. I had a couple of grand with a short shelf life, spouse was eyeing it, and had to get the best I could while I still could. Even the more reputable smaller builders won't give you all the options you want since they limit it to what they have tested or prefer.

I would have built my own if I had the time, energy, or patience to. Since I did not I shopped around and did some research on my own.

That is the key thing, yes it can be a pain, but you should really do a good deal of research on what you think you need and what will fit those needs. I spent most of June catching up on what I would need and what is coming out.

Still if you have the time, energy, and patience DIY or BYO will give you the best bang for buck. And no I am not talking about Dell's XPS 700 BYO, ugh, that had overpriced scam written all over it.

[HMMcKamikaze]

Alienware may be owned by dell but the computers are still the same quality.

[Cyrus the Virus]

Glad I know how to put up a computer. Don't know if I would dare doing that by myself on new parts to it. Risk something screws up.
Better pay for the whole **** together.

[Mr_Breeze]

If you can't DIY you can allways buy everything then take it to a computer shop and have a "pro" do it for you. Just don't take any advise from them about what to buy. Use forums for that.

[Cyrus the Virus]

No I would rather do it by myself then...The shops charge less than $ 100 here so it would be worth it. I think