Buying a £600 gaming Dell tommorow! Right choice?

Broke_Student

Hi. I am looking to purchase the following system tommorow. I was hoping to post what my needs are and if anyone could advise me on whether I have made a good choice or if I have am missing something really obvious. I am probably just nervous about spending so much money!!!

I am pretty keen on giving Dell a try as a matter of preference, but any comments for/against going Dell are welcome.

I will use the machine for:
- Occasional gaming (not a hardcore gamer but would like a fairly capable machine for when I do play).
- Watching movies.
- Storing large amounts of music/video
- All the usual non demanding stuff (internet, word processing etc...)
- I do not need it, but I want Vista so it must be able to handle that when I upgrade to it.

My budget is £600-£700:

Dell Dimension E520 / £639 / E-value code 305 D01E07
Intel® Viiv™ Core® 2 Duo® E6400 2.13GHz
2048MB Dual Channel DDR2 533MHz [2x1024] Memory
320GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 8MB DataBurst™ cache
256MB ATI® Radeon® X1300 Pro graphics card
Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
MCE to Vista Premium Upgrade (Free)
Dell™ 19" Value Flat Panel
16x DVD +/- RW Drive
Internal 13-in-1 Media Card Reader
Collect & Return, 1 Year Service only
I am planning to haggle down £600 or haggle up to free upgrade to ultra shard monitor. If no luck then go through quidco for 5%.

From doing my own research I believe it should be a pretty decent system for non-hardcore gaming and the only weakness is possibly the graphics card.
Am I correct in thinking that this graphics card will be able to handle most pre 2006 games at respectable settings and new games at medium settings (is so it will do for now).
I am planning to upgrade to a new graphics card but will leave this untill as late as possible to get a better card for my money (and have more saved up).

A few questions going through my head:
- Can I get a similar setup from Dell cheaper at the same price?
- Is this a good deal, a normal price or have I picked a stinker?
- Have Dell had the same system cheaper in the past few weeks (gives me something to haggle with).
- What do you guys think about upgrading the graphics card? I have heard stories that large cards do not fit into the Dell cases. Will I be able to easily purchase a compatible decent card (assuming I have the money) for this system?
- Any opinions on the difference with the ultra sharp monitor?

Thanks for taking time to read. I will appreciate any feedback.

Blacksheep1979

if you want the honest answer the card is a bit pants for games. Won't run current games that well at all but should cope with games from a couple of years ago ok.

If you want to see for yourself have a look at

http://tomshardware.co.uk/2006/05/12/graphics_card_buyers_guide_2006_uk/page26.html

and thats the slightly more powerful version than yours - if you go to the bottom you can select other pages which will give you the comparisons against other cards.

actually think I may just have found your card

http://tomshardware.co.uk/2006/05/08/2006_graphics_card_buyers_guide_part1_uk/page37.html

and comparisons

http://tomshardware.co.uk/2006/05/08/2006_graphics_card_buyers_guide_part1_uk/page42.html#age_of_empire_3

and the next 6 or so pages.

This is something you can esily remedy though if you find yourself wanting to play more games by putting a better card in

everythingblogcast

DONT go with ATI graphics cards. Just keep the standard motherbroad one, you can upgrade later. . As for the ulta sharp screen, have no faults with them but Dell will not lower the price or if they do then all of the students in the pass will want something back.

Blacksheep1979

erm whats wrong with ati cards? They can be very good. Also not all motherboards have onboard graphics and I wouldn't generally recomend buying one that did - especially to someone that wants to play games.

Also have a look at the dell outlet store - basically its dells that people ordered and don't want, come with full guarantee etc and some bargains to be had.

http://outlet.dell.com/Emea_Dfo/EuDispatcher?country=GBR&target=InventoryPage&lob_constraint=DIM

steve_r123

Not really had a good chance to look around but what about THIS ?

The spec is about the same, what you lose in RAM, you make up for in the graphics card though. A touch more expensive, but it does have a 3 yr warranty;)

imho

I think dell has "free postage " at the moment,so that should save you £50-60.

Broke_Student

everythingblogcast wrote:

DONT go with ATI graphics cards. Just keep the standard motherbroad one, you can upgrade later. . As for the ulta sharp screen, have no faults with them but Dell will not lower the price or if they do then all of the students in the pass will want something back.

The ATI one is the only option on this level spec Dell. I would not pay a premium for it!
I have read a few stories about successful haggles so I recon it is worth a try...

Blacksheep1979 wrote:

Also have a look at the dell outlet store - basically its dells that people ordered and don't want, come with full guarantee etc and some bargains to be had.

Had a look around but they don't seem to be that much cheaper at the moment as I have to add on VAT, £60 delivery, £121 for the monitor and no mention of whether I still get the free vista upgrade offer.

steve_r123 wrote:

Not really had a good chance to look around but what about THIS ?

Had a look but I seem to be paying an extra £63 for:
1GB less RAM,
5.1 surround instead of 7.1
A smaller HD
No free vista upgrade

But I do get a larger monitor, longer guarantee and a better graphics card. Would it not be better to just buy a seperate graphics card for £100 in a few months time? Not sure how much good cards cost...

imho

Dell is very expensive to upgrade parts on. Ram would be ok for you to upgrade on.Not sure about adding graphic card later,prob be expensive.

I just bought a Dell computer,but i never bothered with that 1year pick up,i just got a year guarantee.

And it never mentioned Vista upgrade ,but i went on Dell website ,put in my details and i can have it for £36.other people are getting it for £11,just the postage.

imho

Have you looked on Dell outlet ? Most of the computers on there are "over orders" There is no way Dell would sell a computer that's been returned and faulty.

Broke_Student

imho -
I do not plan to upgrade on RAM, that is why I am buying more than I need right now (2gb).
The package includes free vista upgrade, which is £11 postage as you mention.

Does anybody else know anything about Dell graphic cards being more expensive to upgrade?

David_B_2

For the requirements that you need this will be fine. If you become a hard-core gamer then you'll have to upgrade but fine for know.

As mentioned, Dell are not the cheapest. I used to work with them and I do like them and they were good kit.

I've heard some very bad reports relating to their customer service of late. The CS centre not being within the UK and the staff not been very helpful or knowledgeable. Worth considering.