PC upgrade

[Guest]

I'd like to buy a new PC and need some advice. My current one is a bit
sluggish with limited RAM and I'd like to purchase a new fast system
preferably one that can handle Windows Vista at some point in the future.
For a starting point I have my eye on a Dell with the following specs:

XPS 700 Intel® Core™2 Extreme processor x6800 (2.93GHz)
Operating System Genuine Windows® XP Professional with re-installation CD
Memory 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 4 DIMMs
Keyboard Dell USB Enhanced Multimedia Keyboard
Monitor 24 inch UltraSharpâ„¢ 2407FPW Widescreen Digital Flat Panel
Video Cards 1GB NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GX2 Dual-GPU Graphics Card
Hard Drive 1TB Performance RAID 0 (2 x 500GB SATA 3Gb/s 7200 RPM HDDs)
Floppy Drive and Media Reader No Floppy Drive Included
Mouse Dell Optical USB Mouse
Modem No Modem Requested
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
Optical Drive Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + 16x DVD+/-RW w/ dbl layer
write capable
Sound Cards Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
Speakers Dell A525 30 Watt 2.1 Stereo Speakers with Subwoofer
Productivity Software Microsoft Office Basic - Includes Word, Excel and
Outlook email

I'd like some serious suggestions and I won't mind spending a bit more for a
premium system. I currently have a Sharp 19" flat panel monitor, so that
part is not too important. I'm not into gaming but I want a very fast and
responsive system. I have the new Bell Optimax 10mbps internet service and
want to take advantage of this. I'd rather not try to assemble components
myself as I don't feel qualified but would like a system ready to use.

Hope someone can steer me in the right direction. Thanks.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I'd like to buy a new PC and need some advice. My current one is a
bit sluggish with limited RAM and I'd like to purchase a new fast
system preferably one that can handle Windows Vista at some point in
the future. For a starting point I have my eye on a Dell with the
following specs:

I have two comments:

1. To me a reinstallation CD is completely unacceptable. I would never
choose to buy a computer that came with an operating system unless I got a
complete generic installation CD for that operating system. I believe Dell
still sells them for an additional $10, and it's well worth it, in my view.

2. How much RAM you need depends on what apps you run, but 4GB seems like
way overkill for almost everyone. True, Vista needs more than XP, but if I
were in your shoes, I'd probably start with 2GB, and upgrade to more only if
I later determined that I needed it.

 

[DanS]

1TB Performance RAID 0 (2 x 500GB SATA 3Gb/s 7200
RPM HDDs)

RAID 0, certainly not really desired in a home system.

While in theory, it has double the throughput than a single drive in non-
RAID configuration, there will be little perceivable difference other than
during sustained file reads/and writes. This would be when copy/pasting
very large files, like CD images. But this also depends on the
source/destination hardware that the image is being copied to/from.

In a RAID 0 setup, both drives are used as one drive and the data is
'striped' across the two. If one drive dies, the system is completely dead.

 

[HeyBub]

I'd like to buy a new PC and need some advice. My current one is a
bit sluggish with limited RAM and I'd like to purchase a new fast
system preferably one that can handle Windows Vista at some point in
the future. For a starting point I have my eye on a Dell with the
following specs: [...]
Hope someone can steer me in the right direction. Thanks.

walmart.com

 

[Contumeliorus Florius]

Hope someone can steer me in the right direction. Thanks.

Upgrade the video card to Nvidia 8800GTS or GTX.