Need a new desktop

[kmak]

Hi Guys,

I need a new desktop for my home office. I've been looking at the Dell website, specifically the Dimension 8400. I'd like something that is the fastest right now, so that I can milk it for all it's worth and hopefully slap in extra memory or a new processor in the future. I would want a 19" monitor, 3.4 Gig P4, how big a HD, Memory (Cache) etc. etc... What should I go for? I want to spend about 3 grand, and I will be leasing it for tax purposes. Any advice would be appreciated.

Ken

[Shane Martin]

If it has to be a desktop, I would recommend it be an AMD64 processor.
HDD Wise: 100 gig would be good.
Memory: 1 gig

If you go a laptop, I would for sure go with the Dell XPS2. It's frickin incredible.

[Azeke]

The Dell 8400 is an excellent choice. This is what I would get: 20" ultra-sharp, dual CD-DVD both with r/w drives (the fastest dell offers), 3.6GHz processor MT, 2G of Ram, 250G SATA HD.

Dell is offering 20% off on the 8400, you won't be disappointed, they provide good service also.

Just my quick thoughts,

Azeke

[aud19]

As I mentioned in TTP I'd likely go AMD64 from Alienware. You may want to investigate local companies that will do custom built units basically to whatever your specs are but without YOU actually doing the work of putting it all together. Usually get a longer than manufacturer warranty on a lot of the parts that way as well

If I was building a PC myself, I'd likely go AMD64 CPU, Asus motherboard, nVidia video card, onboard sound and network (unless you plan to connect to AV system, then you might want a stand alone audio card)...

[aud19]

You find anything yet Ken?

[cinema bob]

powermac g5

[aud19]

powermac g5

You darn mac users :roll: :B

[Chris D]

Jason- I've actually only owned Intel Pentiums. How do current AMD chips compare in performance and power to current P4's? What would a 3.8GHz P4 equal in the AMD line?

Those Alien Star Wars desktops look SWEET, but I have no measurement of how their processors give performance or compare to Intel. Their chips go from what seems budget price all the way up to something MUCH more expensive than a high-end P4.

[cjd]

Jason- I've actually only owned Intel Pentiums. How do current AMD chips compare in performance and power to current P4's? What would a 3.8GHz P4 equal in the AMD line?

They win some, they lose some. At much lower clocks and less power consumption. A 3800+ would be the rating to look for (the ratings are roughly equivalent to Intel's actual clock speeds, give or take). Socket 939 with the 90nm die (Winchester core is good - I've heard some rather incredible things about Venice on the power consumption front, which means they run cooler and the machine can therefore be quieter).

At the moment, most things suggest that Intel is having to play catch-up now in many respects. AMD has tons of room to grow, while Intel can't squeeze much more out of what they have. Dual-core, AMD looks to be solidly ahead.

A64-3400+ equipped (and Sempron 3100+ HTPC, plus only about five others, but those're older slower machines).

C

[aud19]

What he said!

Really for the last 5 years or so Intel's just been trying to keep up with AMD. They've had the odd step ahead of them over that time but it hasn't lasted long the few times it's happened Generally AMD chips will outperform equivelant Intel chips at lower clock speeds, power consumption and usually lower prices. Intel's really turned in to the Bose of the CPU industry, spending more money on advertisement than actually developing a quality product.

AMD are already old-school pro's at 64 bit processing and with dual-core Athlon 64's coming it looks like Intel's going to have to have to keep playing catch up fow a while yet

[rdram]

Azeke wrote:
"...you won't be disappointed, they provide good service also."

Well, I don't think I'd agree with that. IMO, Dells phone support has gone into the dumper. That doesn't mean I don't recommend them, just be ready to be on your own. Just purchased my third Dell a few months ago. An 8400...and its a great machine. Some things to look at. If you go Pentium, definitely go with the 650 (3.4 ghz) chip. 1 gig ram should do unless you do a great deal of multi-tasking, but be sure you consider going with the faster ram (533 mhz). Dells least expensive upgrade is a 160 gig SATA HD, which is a decent size. And you'll get a free slot inside in case you ever want to add another HD. If your budget allows, get the best video card they offer, which usually translates into the most expensive. As far as monitors, I've never been a fan of the monitors Dell sells, or gives you as a "free upgrade". So this time I just bought the box from Dell and went monitor shopping. I would recommend this because then you decide which monitor looks best to you. I went with a Samsung 910T, a 19" flat panel with both digital and analog interfaces. Worth a look. Just my 2 cents... Good luck. Oh...one thing I"ve noticed about Dell. They rotate their promotions every week, so give yourself some time and be patient. What you buy today may be $100 less next week.

Rich

[aud19]

Yeah sorry, I'm with rdram, Dells' service has gone :toilet: and they only sell Intel products soo.....

I still say your best going with a local company and build it yourself or get them do do it for you. You'll get the best gear, at the best prices and can pick from a larger (better) extent of products to use.

[Chris D]

Cool... I'll check out the AMD's that Alien has, then. Some of them like the 3800+ or whatever, get really pricey.

Would you wait until the new dual cores come out? Or will we always have single processors, with duals being for the high-end specialists?

[Shane Martin]

Chris,
It depends on what you have now and what you are doing with it is what I'd suggest. If you have a 2+ ghz machine as it is, I wouldn't upgrade unless for some reason you want the best of the gaming world. If you do have a 2+ ghz machine, I'd lean towards just waiting. With Dual Cores out, it will push single core chipset prices down as Dual Core becomes the norm.

[aud19]

Yeah as I'm sure your aware, the computer market constantly has new products coming out that drive prices of the older tech down. If you wait long enough, something like a 4500+ dual core chips will be cheaper than todays 2xxx+ chips :lol:

As Shane said, if you've already got something in the 2+gHz range you're likely fine for now unless you want to do hardcore gaming or audio/video editing. Unless you were already planning to upgrade...? If you're upgrading regardless, I'd look at something around AMD 64 3500+ of course how up-front on the technology curve you want to be, depends on how much money you want to spend.... No different than HT, if you want a 3-chip DLP or a Quaila etc it will cost ya. 3-chip LCD or single DLP however offer pretty good performance at reasonable $$$

Still if you have any technical savvy I'd recommend putting together a system yourself. It's fun, educational and will give you exactly what you want for likely the best prices.

[aud19]

If I was going Alienware, this is the one I'd get :drool: (What can I say I'm a 3d rendering/graphics geek )

Powered by the NVIDIA nForce 4 Professional chipset and dual AMD Opteron processors to ensure you maximize your creative potential.

http://www.alienware.com/product_detail_pages/MJ-12_7550a/mj-12_7550a_features.aspx?SysCode=PC-MJ12-7550-A&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT

Processors
Dual and single processor configurations available:
AMD OpteronT 200 Processor(s) (1.6 GHz - 2.6 GHz with 800MHz FSB & 1MB Cache)
Chipsets
NVIDIA® nForce PRO 2200 (CK8-04)
NVIDIA® nForce PRO 2050 (I/O-4)
AMD 8131 PCI-X Tunnel
Memory
Dual Channel DDR1 ECC (Interleaved) Memory bus
Eight DIMM sockets (four per CPU)
Up to 16GB of system memory*
Graphics
Dual and Single PCI Express 16x Graphics*
Up to 512MB DDR3 Dedicated Video Memory
DVI, VGA, and S-Video Outputs with Dual-Display Support
Full DirectX® 9.0 and OpenGL® 2.0 Graphics Compatibility
Drive Bays
Externally accessible:
Three 5.25" for DVD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD/CD-RW, DVD±RW drives 3.5" Floppy Drive or 8-in-1 Digital Media Reader.
Internally accessible:
Four 3.5" bays for Hard Drives (Fixed or Hot Swappable*)
I/O Ports
Externally accessible:
Serial: One 9-pin serial port
Parallel: None
Video: One 15-pin VGA port / one 24-pin DVI port
Two 24-pin DVI ports (optional)*
Keyboard: One 6-pin mini-DIN port
Mouse: One 6-pin mini-DIN port
IEEE 1394: Up to Two IEEE 1394 ports - 1 Internal/ 1 External*
USB: Up to Eight USB 2.0 ports - 4 Internal / 4 External*
Audio: Three 1/8" analog jacks
Ethernet: Full Duplex Dual Gigabit Ethernet

Internally accessible:
Serial ATA: Up to Four Serial ATA-150 ports
RAID0 and RAID1 (optional)
Primary IDE Channel: One 40-pin connector
Secondary IDE Channel: None
Auxiliary IDE Channel: One 40-pin connector on PCI bus
Floppy: One 13-pin connector

Slots
Two X16 PCI Express Full Speed Expansion Slots
Slot 1 PCI-E x16 from nForce PRO 2200
Slot 3 PCI-e x16 from nForce PRO 2050
Two Independent 64-bit PCI-X busses
Slot 4 and Slot 5 support PCI-X 100 MHz max
Slot 6 supports PCI-X 133 MHz max
One 32-bit 33 MHz PCI v2.3 (Slot 2)
Total of Six Usable Slots.
Chassis
Alienware Workstation Chassis
Dimensions (DxWxH): 20.1" x 7.8" x 16.7"
Locking front panel secures and conceals drive bays
Up to three high-efficiency, low-noise chassis fans (2) 92mm, (1) 120mm
Two Front Access USB 2.0 Ports
Three 5.25" external bays
Optional 4-Drive Hot Swap SATA Hard Drive Bay
*Dependent upon system configuration

Power
550 and 660 Watt Power Supplies Available

[Chris D]

Wow, Jason, up to 16 GB of system memory?

[cinema bob]

You darn mac users :roll: :B

yeah we can be obnoxious can't we
however i do have to say that for most tasks i do find the macintosh to be quicker. i do a lot of video editing and photo work and would not go back for anything. i got my first modern mac in 2001 and was amazed at how much more efficient they are. not to mention no virus, no spyware, no adware, et al.
just want to give a different perspective. you might want to go the the nearest apple store to just try it out, you never know you might just switch over to the lightside. :T

[aud19]

Wow, Jason, up to 16 GB of system memory?

I KNOW!!!! :P

[aud19]

yeah we can be obnoxious can't we
however i do have to say that for most tasks i do find the macintosh to be quicker. i do a lot of video editing and photo work and would not go back for anything. i got my first modern mac in 2001 and was amazed at how much more efficient they are. not to mention no virus, no spyware, no adware, et al.
just want to give a different perspective. you might want to go the the nearest apple store to just try it out, you never know you might just switch over to the lightside. :T

Tried them, infact we got one in our office a month or so ago as we recieve a lot of Mac graphics files for signs (Tradeshow Industry) . I'll stick over here with Darth, thanks :lol: Besides I have to use Autocad and Viz which aren't available in Mac-land :

[cinema bob]

yeah the cad programs are pretty sorry over on this side. but their are none of the apps that i need on windows machines. so, que sera, sera. i would really like to integrate a mac mini into a home theater, but will more likely go with an older powermac g4 or g5.

[aud19]

yeah the cad programs are pretty sorry over on this side. but their are none of the apps that i need on windows machines. so, que sera, sera. i would really like to integrate a mac mini into a home theater, but will more likely go with an older powermac g4 or g5.

Good firewire support :lol: