Dell Pentium 4 630, 160GB, 1GB Mem, 17" TFT - £531 Incl.

biglugs

I had an Athlon XP3200 (top of the range Athlon) and then I got this machine which works absolutely fine! AMD are supposedly better at the top end for gaming, and the Pentiums are better for multi-media work like video editing, but for most people who aren't into intensive 3D games this will be more than adequate.

odowdchr

Babbler wrote:

Reading about the Pentium PC's is not filling me with confidence:

http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20010130/index.html - just read the conclution if you cant be bothered to read it all!

Will stick to AMD for now (looking forward to being flamed!)

Not flaming, but as Simon says, that article is useless and will give you a false impression for today's machines.
I think, pound for pound, the performance of AMD is still a little better for gaming than the P4, but I changed from AMD a few years ago because of the horrendous noise from the cpu fans you needed then.
Not sure if it's got better since then, but I moved to Pentium and I wouldn't change back for anything now.

Searcher2

Another point having read the post above.... the Dell 5100/5150 machines are soooooo quiet. I don't play games but use mine for internet and business. The lack of noise is far more important to me than fast graphics.

Babbler

Heheh ... indeed - it is quite an old article! Didn't notice the date Wish they would mke it a bit more obvious :P

Guess I just wish Dell sold AMD PC's at the same price they do Intel PC's! That point is still valid in the article This is a really good offer if you don't mind intel

Babbler

odowdchr wrote:

Not flaming, but as Simon says, that article is useless and will give you a false impression for today's machines.
I think, pound for pound, the performance of AMD is still a little better for gaming than the P4, but I changed from AMD a few years ago because of the horrendous noise from the cpu fans you needed then.
Not sure if it's got better since then, but I moved to Pentium and I wouldn't change back for anything now.

Have got an AMD now and the fans are really quiet these days. Think this importance is becoming more prominant in manufacturing these days when it comes to PC's...

amancalledchip

These Dells are so quiet , you dont even know they are on.!!!
I Purchased a few of these machines a while back when they were at the other price , and upgraded the video card to the x600, It played Call Of Duty no problems , not the newest game i know, but its the only one i play online.

My personal machine is an AMD 64 , and the fans on them these days increase in speed when under load.
The only time its under load really is Gaming, but once youve finished doing that , the speed starts to slow down and its not noisey at all.

as someone as stated above, a P4 is a better CPU when doing video editing etc, thats where it beats an AMD of same spec hands down in the fact it does it much faster.
But to be honest, unless your a hardcore gamer, doubt you would really be bothererd, or indeed even notice if it played the latest games flat out.

Another point to remember , is that the screen that comes with it will only go upto a screen resolution of 1280 x 1024, or poss only 1024 x 768
Unless you get a 20" TFT you cant go higher than that.Most games will easily play more than comfortable at that res....Even the new Call of Duty 2, and thats not out yet, only as a demo, and that plays fine on nearly all the peoples machines that i know play it.( around 100 people on the server i play on)

I sold the Dells i purchased and the people are more than happy with them.

NickA_3

amancalledchip wrote:

Another point to remember , is that the screen that comes with it will only go upto a screen resolution of 1280 x 1024, or poss only 1024 x 768
Unless you get a 20" TFT you cant go higher than that.Most games will easily play more than comfortable at that res....

17" Dell flat panels (E173FP and the slightly more expensive ultrasharp range) will run a max resolution of 1280x1024. (That is their native resolution)
The 2005FP (20in widescreen) will run 1680x1050 and the 2001FP will run 1600x1200.

I have an E173FP and a 2005FP in my office at home and the quality is VERY good on the 173 even running through D-Sub (It doesn't have DVI for those that don't know) but the quality of the 2005FP is amazing!!!

biglugs

Just to remind people - the latest issue of Custom PC magazine has a Dell advert in with the November prices (ie code D11516) and this machine is only going to be available until 26th October. This seems such a good price (especially through the business site) that if you want one you'll need to get your skates on.
Did anyone say how quiet this is?? Compared to the SCREAMMINGGG fans on my XP3200 this was a shock - you have to check the light on the front to see if it's on or not!
And the 17" TFT that comes with this is very good quality - mine has no dead pixels and the colours are nice and sharp, although the white is a little bright at times. Took some messing with the setup buttons and the gamma setting on my video card but got there in the end and it looks great - especially for Day of Defeat Source

amancalledchip

NickA wrote:

17" Dell flat panels (E173FP and the slightly more expensive ultrasharp range) will run a max resolution of 1280x1024. (That is their native resolution)
The 2005FP (20in widescreen) will run 1680x1050 and the 2001FP will run 1600x1200.

I have an E173FP and a 2005FP in my office at home and the quality is VERY good on the 173 even running through D-Sub (It doesn't have DVI for those that don't know) but the quality of the 2005FP is amazing!!!

Indeed, the 2001FP i have on DVI is a stunning picture.
It is a visible difference when you switch it over to dsub, that doesnt have the clarity.

But as i said, no TFT monitor under a 20" will run a higher resolution than 1280 x 1024.
I looked long and hard trying to find one, before i managed to get this 2001FP at a bargain price with the systems i bought last time.

the x600 will perform very well with the 17" dsub monitor that comes with it for the average person.

Rockman

This is probably a silly question but do you need to pay extra for the modem if you are for using Broadband or should you get the modem anyway as a back-up? Also is it best to go for the internal flash card or the floppy disk drive.

Thanks