dual core intel cpu - misprice?

biglugs

Hope those with Dells etc learn a simple lesson: DON'T BUY shoddy factory built, non upgrade frendly computers.

I'm sorry but I totally disagree! I have bought loads of Dells (currently own 3) and built about 8 home PCs myself, including my Athlon XP3200 (which I also still have).
The Dell PCs I own are all very well built - particularly when I compare them to the crap on sale from PCW, and the Medion etc. rubbish on sale elsewhere. Yes the Dell machines have limited upgrade paths but I've put extra memory in mine, added a number of better graphics cards, and there is room for additional HDDs if I want one. All for £290 for a 3.4GHz P4 with a 250GB HDD and 1GB memory (I got one of the BT offers a few weeks ago )
I stopped building my own PCs about 18 months ago when it became clear it was cheaper to buy an off-the-shelf Dell rather than a DIY machine.
I think you're being unfair to Dell who despite their indifferent customer service do make good machines, provided you keep an eye out and buy at the right time.

Kilty_2

OMG - Ebuyer have these for £67 inc vat :eek:

Really tempting to upgrade this old machine now, but I know if I hold out for Conroe, and buy this 805 then, itll be even cheaper

(I cant justify shelling out for Conroe)

cheepsk8

biglugs wrote:

I'm sorry but I totally disagree! I have bought loads of Dells (currently own 3) and built about 8 home PCs myself, including my Athlon XP3200 (which I also still have).
The Dell PCs I own are all very well built - particularly when I compare them to the crap on sale from PCW, and the Medion etc. rubbish on sale elsewhere. Yes the Dell machines have limited upgrade paths but I've put extra memory in mine, added a number of better graphics cards, and there is room for additional HDDs if I want one. All for £290 for a 3.4GHz P4 with a 250GB HDD and 1GB memory (I got one of the BT offers a few weeks ago )
I stopped building my own PCs about 18 months ago when it became clear it was cheaper to buy an off-the-shelf Dell rather than a DIY machine.
I think you're being unfair to Dell who despite their indifferent customer service do make good machines, provided you keep an eye out and buy at the right time.

I agree that as far as ready made PC's go, Dell are better value than PCW or Tiny etc but I still think that you can build your own PC that is better value than an off the shelf one. Most people don't really care about what PC they have as long as it does what they need. For them a trip to PCW on a Sunday will sort them out. But as this thread is about a processor that you'd have to fit yourself I think it is safe to say that most people reading this thread will have more of an idea about components than the average joe. My point is that unless there is an amazing deal on, the value is on the side of choosing all your own components and building yourself. E.g. In a dell computer they use non standard power connectors to the mobo. If you want to replace the processor, odds are that you will need a new mobo. Then you will need a new power supply. The reason is simple: once you want to upgrade it is far easier just to buy a brand new machine rather than trying to fit Dell's non standard parts in with some off the shelf one's. Therefore Dell make a load more money, even though the case, psu, hard drive and maybe memory is fine.

seanparkin

but I still think that you can build your own PC that is better value than an off the shelf one.

Not true. The markup on componments combined with the third party service suppliers (AOL etc) paying Dell to bundle the machine with their software, means you will always get a better deal on a pre built machine if its the spec you're after. Don't go for their upgrades, get the closest base spec then upgrade it yourself.

talkshop

Kilty wrote:

OMG - Ebuyer have these for £67 inc vat :eek:

Really tempting to upgrade this old machine now, but I know if I hold out for Conroe, and buy this 805 then, itll be even cheaper

(I cant justify shelling out for Conroe)

They will be £1.99 next week, so don't make an impulse purchase.

Kilty_2

talkshop wrote:

They will be £1.99 next week, so don't make an impulse purchase.

If they are £1.99 next week I'll be buying 30.

marble

JABWootton wrote:

And they are the only ones so far that Microsoft have used with developing Vista.
Hence why CPU's and Motherboards are coming down in price.
Intel and AMD currently developing new 64 bit and possibly 128 bit cpu's/Motherboards to cope with VISTA.

The whole 64bit thing only really matters when you are dealing with big servers (and perhaps very specialised applications).

Microsoft's official guidelines state that Vista will run on an 800Mhz PC with 512Mb ram ... if you have/buy anything better than this then Vista will run ok.

Al