It's time to replace the old home PC. I'm looking at a high-end set-up. Going to Dell's website (where I get a 10% discount), I spec'd out the following system:
I figure if I spend more now (OEM or self-built) and get a high performance system, then it'll give me an acceptable performance envelope for a longer period before I have to upgrade again.
Here are my questions for you.
I've never built a PC from the ground up, but I'm a DBA, system admin and have worked with/helped out PC-support guys for years when it was needed, so I'm not totally green.
Planned usage for this beastie is:
The 3.0 chip is important 'cuz I want the hyper-threading capability.
Thanks in advance gang. I know I asked a lot of questions and threw a chunk of info at you, but I want you to know I really appreciate your help.
David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker
- 3.0 gHz P4 processor
1 Gbyte RDRAM
200 Gbyte Ultra ATA hard drive
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro graphics card (128 Mbyte DDR) - TV out and DVI
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz DSP sound card
4x DVD+RW/+R drive with CD-RW
10/100 Intel Pro ethernet card
20" flat panel monitor
wireless keyboard & mouse
XP Pro
I figure if I spend more now (OEM or self-built) and get a high performance system, then it'll give me an acceptable performance envelope for a longer period before I have to upgrade again.
Here are my questions for you.
- 1) Can I build a PC from scratch that will perform as well, and be as reliable as, a new higher end Dell?
2) Just how difficult is it to build from scratch?
3) How much, if any will I save over purchasing OEM - percentage-wise? What I'm looking at is a good bit over $3K for the Dell.
I've never built a PC from the ground up, but I'm a DBA, system admin and have worked with/helped out PC-support guys for years when it was needed, so I'm not totally green.
Planned usage for this beastie is:
- ArcGIS
Oracle RDBMS
Outlook
'net browsing
photo editing
some gaming (but not much)
The 3.0 chip is important 'cuz I want the hyper-threading capability.
Thanks in advance gang. I know I asked a lot of questions and threw a chunk of info at you, but I want you to know I really appreciate your help.
David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker
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