Need Help Choosing PC

bauer2424

My current PC has died, and i have decided it's time to buy a new one. Below are the best desktop packages i could find, my budget is approx £700. Should i wait for the release of DX11 cards and Windows 7, also what is the difference between Q8300 and Q9400 processor?

NOTE: The two Dell PC's have been customized

Dell Studio D005418 Total £725.00
Intel® Core™ 2 Quad-Core Q8300 Processor (2.5GHz, 4MB cache)
Vista® Home Premium SP1 (64 BIT)
1 Year Limited Warranty
21.5in S2209W Full HD Widescreen Black
6144MB Dual Channel DDR2 800MHz
1.5TB (7200rpm) SATA Hard Drive
1GB Nvidia GeForce GTS 240 Graphics Card
DVD+/-RW Drive
Integrated Channel High Definition Audio

Dell Inspiron 545MT(D004518) £729
Intel® Core™ 2 Quad-Core Q9400 Processor (2.66GHz, 6MB cache)
Vista® Home Premium SP1 64 bit -
1 Year Limited Warranty
20in S2009W WIDESCREEN UK Black
4096MB Dual Channel DDR2 800MHz
1.5TB (7200rpm) SATA Hard Drive
nVidia GeForce GT220 1024MB graphics card
DVD +/- RW Drive
Integrated Channel High Definition Audio

jpwjpw

What are you going to use it for?

the Q9400 is faster than the Q8300, but they are both pretty fast.

Mobeer

Slightly odd pick of systems there - either 1st option with slower processor and more RAM or 2nd option with faster processor and more RAM? This suggests to me you do not have any particular reason for either configuration, just a desire to spend £730?


I suggest you consider first what you want to do with the machine, for example:
- what application is going to use 6GB of RAM?
- what screen size do you actually want?

jpwjpw

I agree, 6GB is overkill for 95% of people.

Windows 7 is much better than Vista, but you'll probably get a free upgrade anyway if you buy a machine now.

Humphrey10

As well as screen size, look at the resolution.
Have you considerd building it yourself? Much more fun than buying a Dell.

bauer2424

I'll be using the PC for gaming, using Photoshop for image creation and editing, watching and converting HD content.

I've made some changes to the Studio package, for some reason it's now £699:

Intel® Core™ 2 Quad-Core Q9400 Processor (2.66GHz, 6MB Cache)
Windows Vista® Home Premium SP1 (64 BIT
Dell IN2010N 20” Widescreen Consumer Flat Panel Monitor
6144MB Dual Channel DDR2 800MHz
1TB (7200rpm) SATA Hard Drive
nVidia GeForce GT220 1024MB
Integrated Channel High Definition Audio

davester

stop you there with your version of windows, are your games 64bit compatable for a start? if not then get the 32 bit version and you can only have a max of 4 GB of memory with 32bit system which some is lost to Graphics cache and other chips gubbins

jaydeeuk1

go for 64 bit, and if you have a spare XP license, dual boot between the two.

Jobs a good'n