New System - Opinions?

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This is the system I purchased today (see spoiler). I know we have a lot of shrewd PC configuration Jedis on this site, so I invite people to tell me how I did, where I screwed up, etc.

Spoiler

• Model – Dell Studio XPS 9000
• Processor – Intel Core i7-920 processor (8MB L3 Cache 2.66GHz)
• RAM – 8GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz
• Monitor – Dell ST series ST2410 24"W Full HD Monitor, 24.0 VIS, VGA Cable supplied only
• Video – ATI Radeon HD 5870
• HDD – 750GB Serial ATA 2 Hard Drive 7200 RPM
• OS – Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
• Sound – Soundblaster X-Fi Titanium
• Speakers – Bose 2.0 Companion Speaker Stereo Audio 120V
• NIC – Dell 1525 WLAN PCIe card with11n mini-Card & external antenna

I also included an All-in-one WiFi enabled printer, because they were offering a nice discount on it, and my current printer, while expensive, doesn’t feed paper for crap.

This will be my first time owning an ATI card, as I’ve always gone with NVIDIA. The card I originally wanted to get was an nVidia GeForce GTX 260 1792MB, but on the “base” system configuration I chose – which included more than $500.00 in discounts, it was not available. I went instead with the ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB, which was the most powerful card I could get with this base config. Based on some research, it seems that my card is actually a better performer than the GTX260, in spite of the lower VRAM. On the other hand… did I perhaps make a bad move here? Even if so, this looks to be a good deal more powerful than my current GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB that I have on my present PC, so it should be a nice step forward.

In the end, I figured I needed to try ATI eventually, and with all the discounts, I was able to make a few nice upgrades such as the speakers and soundcard. I was able to get more discounts on the printer I purchased and by calling Dell they approved an additional $50 discount plus free shipping. All in all, I achieved somewhere in the neighborhood of $630.00 in discounts.

Looking forward to receiving this sucker!

 

8 gig of ram? not3x2?

 

What's the difference? As far as I can tell by 3x2 you mean 6GB of tri-channel memory.

What I'm getting is 8GB of Dual Channel. While there seems to be a performance gain with Tri-channel, based on my research it seems that most of the time this increase is barely noticeable, if at all. And anyway, the 8GB of dual channel RAM was one of the discounts included in my build, so I got this RAM for a heck of a price.

 

Put it like that, and if the board runs it why not. I have 8 gig on a an am3 board so who am I to judge.

 

Merlanni,
you're hopelessly behind the times with that pile of obsolete junk you're about to order. Don't make a mistake! This is the current non plus ultra of gaming - the Emperor 1510.

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Quite a bargain at only $ 4,950. And definitely a conversation item. Not to mention that it will give you a near death star experience whenever you play. And before you complain, its somewhat more steepishly priced predecessor Emperor 200 went for $ 39,959 per unit.

If you have that, all else you need is your personal robot butler.

 

Ooh.

May have just found a reason to sell a kidney...

Spoiler

Not my own, obviously, there's got to be SOME advantage to living near the club centre of a student district of the city after all.

 

Once again Ragusa has distorted the facts

To get the options I need the price was $9.670 plus shipping.

The scary thing, is that I don't think that includes the computer.

 

Hey Snook!
they wrote 'starting at USD $ 4,950 + shipping' ... it's right there on the front page

 

Wow, what kind of gas mileage does that thing get?

 

Cool. If it vibrates and has a place to plug in a fridge then all you'd need is a catheter bag and you'd never need to go out again!

 

I'll assume that this was actually directed at me, as there is no order mentioned by Merlanni in this post. That said, I want to thank you, Ragusa, for saving me from making a horrific mistake.

I have priced out my ideal Emperor 1510 at $10,120 (must have the milky white version, the chrome monitor cover, and the black leather sports seat). Of course, in order for this to fit properly in my office without removing any of the existing furniture, I need to expand the size of the room. I've just finished talking this over with a contractor, and that's only going to cost $20,000.00 (they're having a special this month on office expansions, just my luck). And, well, of course, since there's no actual computer included with the Emperor, I guess I need to continue with my original order....

Wow Ragusa, by my calculations... you just saved me a cool -35,000.00 USD! This includes CA sales tax, and of course, a hefty tip to the contractor for turning around his quote in time for me to make this post!

You see, that's why I take the time to post the details of my PC orders here on SP. I just got learned.

 

Marceror,
did I read you right and you accuse your saviour of sloppy posting? Ingrate!

 

Perish the thought!! Could I even be capable of making such a bold assertion, oh great Ragusa?? Was such blasphemy actually implied by my post? It was? Really? Um, well... poppycock!

Spoiler

But seriously, I was just havin' a bit of fun.

*************************
Edited post begins here

The more I read about my video card choice, the better I feel about it. In fact, the nVidia GeForce GTX 260 1792MB, which was originally my preferred option, isn't even an appropriate card to compare to the ATI Radeon HD 5870, which I ended up purchasing. In fact, comparisons to this card are being done using Nvidias' top of the line GeForce GTX 470 and GeForce GTX 480 models. All in all, the 470 is still inferior to the ATI 5870, while the GeForce GTX 480 has a slight edge (the edge is increased quite a bit in dual card (SLI/Crossfire) configuration modes.

So with all that said, it would seem that I made the best possible video card choice for the money that I could have. Nice!

 

Up to that point the post was adequate ... even though I think I am missing the smiley ...

 

I invite you, Ragusa, to read only that portion of my post which you deem "adequate." I invite you further to imagine as many "kneeling" smilies as you desire floating around my post. If that makes you feel better.

 

Just FYI, when you first plug in your monitor via the HDMI cable and see that the image displayed does not fill the screen, look for a tab in the Catalyst Control Suite/Center that controls something called 'overscan,' and set it to 0. It seems that ATI assumes a default condition of attaching your PC to a TV, hence the overscan. (Since TVs display the image differently and the image sent to a TV from a PC often doesn't fill the screen. Or something. Happened to me, anyway, and according to the interweb, it happens to people everywhere.)

 

Gaear, sounds like an important "safety tip." I will keep that in mind. Thank you!

A rather quirky default configuration, if you ask me. Aren't PC graphics cards much more likely to be connected to a PC monitor than to a TV? Or is this just another example of me being woefully behind the times??

 

I would think PC ... which is doubtless why ATI/AMD chose TV as the default. I'm sure one of their eggheads could explain how we should all see the sense in that.