Opinions on these systems

Cmar-Ireland

What are the opinions like for these two systems. Given a price differance of about 200euro. Is the 9200 worth the extra money?

Cheers
Ciaran

Dimension 9200 - Approx €1700

Intel® Core® 2 Duo® E6400 Processor 2.13GHz, 1066MHz, 2MB
Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
Collect & Return, 1-Year Service only
2048MB Dual Channel DDR2 533MHz [2x1024]
320GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 8MB DataBurst™ cache
16x DVD+/-RW & 16x DVD Drives
256MB nVidia™ GeForce™ 7900GS graphics card
Dell™ 20" UltraSharp™ Wide Aspect Digital/Analogue Flat Panel 2007FPW
Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music card,PCI w/Dolby Digital,7.1 speaker surround and THX certification
Dell™ AS501 Soundbar for use only with Dell™ UltraSharp™ flat panels
Dell™ Entry Quietkey USB Keyboard - UK/Ire
Dell 2 Button USB Scroll Optical Mouse – Black


Internal 13-in-1 Media Card Reader

Dimension 9150 - Approx €1500
D 945 DualCore(3.40GHz,800MHz,2x2MBcache)
2048MB Dual Channel DDR 533MHz [4x512MB]
500GB Serial ATA RAID 0 Stripe [2x250GB 7200rpm]
256MB nVidia™ GeForce™ 7900GS
Dell 20" UltraSharp™ Wide Aspect Digital/Analogue Flat Panel (2007FPW)
Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy
Dell™ AS501 Soundbar for monitor
16x max. DVD+/-RW Drive
Internal 13-in-1 Media Card Reader
XP Media Center Edition 2005
1-Year Collect and Return service only

Ruu_Old

I don't see a massive amount of difference in the two. Also make sure to get a better warranty (3 year one would be good).

edit:nevermind original comment, misread post.

majiktripp

My view would be get the 2nd of the two..........more HDD space , Same RAM alright its a P4 buts its a decent dual core one and who needs Core 2 Duo Right!?
Also same GFX Cards an 20" TFT so i reckon door no. 2.

irlrobins

I'd go 9200. Conroe system would be way faster than the 9150. Better future proofing.

K.O.Kiki

The 9200 is worth it -- Core2Duo absolutely PWNS Pentium D CPUs!
That said, look into self-build -- you'll get parts warranty better than what Dell offer, too.

irlrobins

This article benchmarks the processor in second option against a Core2Duo chip. The Core2Duo benchmarked is the model below the one in the first option. And still beats it.

poggy

i'd go for the first one, that cpu in an animal.
also that sound card is very good.
it's the better buy in my oppinion

runswithascript

As already stated you really should consider a self build as to save a small fortune. Some Dell systems are excellent value but usually this only applies to the lower spec machines. If you're spending the sort of money you're contemplating you stand to save an awful lot.

For evidence of this let us take a look at the difference in price on a Dimension 9200 which comes as standard with a Intel® Core® 2 Duo® E6400 Processor (2.13GHz, 1066MHz, 2MB) to upgrade this chip to a Intel® Core® 2 Duo® E6700 Processor (2.66GHz, 1066MHz, 4MB) Dell charges €580 which is on top of whatever they're charging for the original chip. I estimate they're charging about €400 for that one.

You can buy the same chip on Komplett for €530. i.e. the E6700.

This applies to parts almost right across the board. Investigate for yourself what they charge for graphics cards.

SeanW

I concur: consider a self build. You get to pick and choose EVERYTHING, and home builds tend to be less hassle than Dells.

Cmar-Ireland

Cheers for the replies!

If I was to self build, along the lines of the core2duo set up, what would ye spec if the budget was around 1500e

PogMoThoin

Check my sig. Built this for around E1600, but i already had 7900gt. I went for raptors in raid 0, but you'd buy a decent hd for the same price, I already had hd storage. Use Komplett to give u an idea of what your thinkin of & post it here. You'll get advise on whats good or not good then from peeps here.

Like this:
Cooler Master Centurion 531 Silver (Without PSU) E76

NEC DVD±RW burner, ND-3550A, 16x, Dual, Black OEM E37.5

Point of View GeForce 7600GT 256MB, PCI-Express, DVI/Tv-Out, Retail E185

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB SATA2 16MB 7200RPM E105.02

Gigabyte GA-965P-S3, P965, Socket-775, ATX, SATAII, GbLAN, DDR2, 1xPCI-Ex16 145.01

OCZ Gold PC5400 DDR2 2048MB Dual Pack, w/two matched 1024MB PC5400 DIMMs E206

Antec NEOHE 550 GB 550-Watt PSU, SLI, Low speed 80mm fan, 15(L)x15(w)x8,6cm(H) E102

Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 2.13GHz Socket LGA775, 2MB, BOXED w/fan E235.01

Creative SB X-Fi XtremeMusic PCI, Bulk (Card only) E84

Total E1175 + Vat & Del

Just a quick pick, add or change whatever you want. I included 2gb ram, you could go for 1 and add more later. Mobo has onboard 7.1 sound so you could drop the soundcard and maybe add 1 later. Monitor, mouse & keyboard not included. Nice gaming rig & futureproof.