Which pc is better ?

christophicus

This computer is for someone that will be using it for music ,internet and office apps. I.E there will be no games being played on this pc. They are exactly the same price and I just wanted to get some more oppinions on it.



Intel Core 2 DUO E6300
Window XP home edition
1GB ram
160 GB HDD
19" flatpanel
Integrated INtel Pro 10/100 NIC
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3000
Integrated Audio
16x DVD+/-RW Drive
2 years on site basic warrenty.


OR

Intel Pentium D 915
Windows XP media centre edition
1GB ram
160GB HDD
19" flatpanel
256 MB Geforce 7300 LE (turbocache)
16x DVD+/-RW Drive
13-in-1 media card reader
2 YEAr next business day onsite support
Dell A225 Speakers.



I have suggested to them to get the first package as it is more forward looking then the other, Even though it says in the dell catalogue that the second does support core 2 duo.


What do you guys think ? Which would you choose?

dak

I'd agree with your choice - the Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 is certainly more energy efficient. I doubt if you would notice the difference in speed between the 2 for internet applications . As for music I haven't a clue - guess it depends on the quality of the sound card!

Anti

all in all the first is morepowerfull, more power efficient. And most of all, future upgradeable.

Alkers

Agreed, the only thing is the first one will probably NEVER be capable of playing games as it probably doesn't have a PCI-E slot on the mainboard. Otherwise it's the better buy.

Smellyirishman

The first.

christophicus

Yeah cheers guys for confirming my own thoughts.

You reckon it doesnt have a PCI-E slot on it? Why? I know it would probably never be used, but its still nice to have the choice.

I just checked and in the cite buider it gives you the option of Pci-e cards or the onboard IG. Also under Expansion slots it has PCIe X 16 so hopefully the IG option will still get the slot.

Alkers

I'm not sure but that chip is onboard graphics? I remember threads on here from before where people had opted for the onboard graphics (intending to add there own cards later) and then finding the slot had been removed. There was even one guy who went to the hassle of attatching another slot or something. Is it a Dell by the way? (I doubt anyone else would go to the hassle!)

Anti

it should have one 8X pci-e slot. But unless its going to be used for games there is no need to worry about it.

rogue-entity

IIRC, you can still get one of the latest graphics cards as an AGP card, but it doesnt matter much really. Most games out today will still play on a machine with a 256MB DDR graphics card as long as they are supported by DirectX 9. DirectX 10 is Vista Only, and few cards today asside from the latest are going to support it. Not a bad move by MS really as DirectX 10 removes ALL backwards compatibility and streamlines the API set making it even easier to develop programmes to use it. Now if only OpenGL was as efficient and streamlined :rolleyes:

OP, go with the first option.

Alkers

Not of much use if the mobo doesn't have a AGP port either.

Cuddlesworth

Simona1986 wrote:

I'm not sure but that chip is onboard graphics? I remember threads on here from before where people had opted for the onboard graphics (intending to add there own cards later) and then finding the slot had been removed. There was even one guy who went to the hassle of attatching another slot or something. Is it a Dell by the way? (I doubt anyone else would go to the hassle!)

There are differences in certain dell models, eg;

gx520- has the plastic bits that hold the pci-ex card and 3rd/4th ram slots removed to save money

gx620- exact same pc, costs a bit more, has the slots.

Its a joke, that they remove slots on mobos with connections to "save" 2 cents on a piece of plastic. I'm surprised that somebody went to the trouble of soldering on a plastic slot.

astrofool

The GX620 uses half height slots as well. Is it an Optiplex or Dimension being bought?

christophicus

Yeah its a dell PC ITs a dimension that is being bought.

This is the pc being bought.

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?b=&c=ie&cs=iedhs1&l=en&oc=D01E06b&rbc=D01E06b&s=dhs&sbc=iedhsftdppdesktop2

It says on the website that it has 16x PCIe slot , If it is no actually there then that is false advertising,no?

zilog_jones

If they say that specific PC has a 16x slot, it should have that slot. Maybe Dell have stopped being asses, or you just got lucky with this particular configuration? I've seen many Compaq desktops with onboard graphics (both Intel and AMD based) that still have an AGP or 16x PCI-E slot, so it's quite possible.

christophicus

It doesnt say that the option with the integrated graphics has the slot , it just says that that modle (E520) has the slot, but maybe you only get the slot if you go for the x1300pro options?

Smellyirishman

Well, are you planning on using it for games at all? If so, what kind.

Originally you said no games, if your planning to play anything past maybe the original Half-Life then the choice is not so clear, probably still stick with the first and buy a card if it does indeed have the slot. Although, if your looking for something serious enough to warrant a PCI-E slot then I would do a self-build and ignore Dell.

christophicus

no hes not going to be playing games, its just nice to have that slot,just incase, especially when it says on the site that it comes with the slot.

Obelisk29

The E520 has:

PCI: 2 Slots
PCIe x1: 1 Slot
PCIe x16 (Graphics): 1 Slots

TerrorFirmer

the E520 has a 16x pci-e slot regardless of whether you opt for the x1300pro or not.

Of course most machines with onboard vga still have agp or pci-e slots, why wouldn't they? Some don't, but only in the very cheap systems. Nearly every mid-range system from every vendor out there has an expansion slot, but comes with onboard as standard to save costs.

christophicus

OK cool thanks, I just wasnt sure with dell as I ve heard too many stories not to take this seriously.