Which Dell?

Guy:Incognito

I'm normally very anti prebuilt systems but I'm after a system to do me for a while before I spend big in a year or 2 building a system and after my last 2 being self builds I think I just want handiness.

I've been an AMD man for the last good few years and have no problem sticking with them. I've narrowed it to 2 systems on dell, both around €1150 and just after opinions, cheers.

System 1 : Intel

Intel® Viiv™ Core™ 2 Duo E6400 Processor (2.13GHz, 1066MHz, 2MB)
Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium - English
Collect & Return, 1 Year Service only
Dell™ 22" Black Wide Flat Panel (E228WFP) - UK/Irish
2048MB Dual Channel DDR2 667MHz [2x1024] Memory
500GB Serial ATA RAID 0 Stripe [2x250GB 7200rpm drives with DataBurst™ cache]
16x DVD+/-RW & 16x DVD Drives
256MB ATI® Radeon® X1300 Pro PCI Express graphics card
Accessories
Sound Blaster® X-Fi Xtreme Music PCI Soundcard
Dell™ A525 Speakers with Subwoofer
Dell™ Enhanced USB Multimedia Keyboard - UK/Irish (QWERTY)
Dell 2 Button USB Scroll Optical Mouse - Black
Internal 13-in-1 Media Card Reader

List D04926i Dimension 9200
9200 English Documentation with UK Power Cord
Dimension Order - Ireland
IEEE 1394 PCI Adapter card
Collect & Return, 1 Year Service only
Dimension Resource DVD for Vista (Diagnostics & Drivers)


System 2: AMD

AMD® Live Technology - AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual Core processor 5600+
Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium - English
Collect & Return, 1 Year Service only
Dell™ 22" Black Wide Flat Panel (E228WFP) - UK/Irish
2048MB Dual Channel DDR2 533MHz [2x1024] Memory
320GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 8MB DataBurst™ cache
256MB ATI® Radeon® X1300 Pro PCI Express graphics card
16 X DVD +/- RW & 16X IDE DVD ROM Drive
Dell™ Enhanced USB Multimedia Keyboard - UK/Irish (QWERTY)
Dell Optical Scroll Premium Mouse
Accessories
Integrated 7.1 Channel High Definition Audio
Internal 13-in-1 Media Card Reader
Also Includes
E521 English Documentation with UK Power Cord
List D04E16 Dimension E521
Collect & Return, 1 Year Service only
Dimension Resource DVD for Vista (Diagnostics & Drivers)



EDIT.Actually just readin back through the spec and I'm leaning towards the Intel machine, assumign the processor at least matches the performance of th eAMD.

SickBoy

If they're around the same price then it's a no brainer.. Intel hands down...

junior_apollo

I agree... The Intel one is streaks ahead here...

667MHz vs 533MHz Ram
Better HD

Gaming you will see the diff...

The intel processor will win there also...

Intel® Viiv™ Core™ 2 Duo E6400 Processor (2.13GHz, 1066MHz, 2MB)
vs
AMD® Live Technology - AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual Core processor 5600+

Much better front side bus... - as previous poster said.. its a no brainer...

Anti

yep go intel.

TerrorFirmer

Well, the Intel is better, but not by much, I definitely wouldn't call it a no brainer, especially at stock speeds (which you will be stuck with). The 5600+ is still a pretty great performer, so if it was a bit cheaper I'd go with that and save money.

Actually, never mind, the Intel based one has alot of nicer extras anyway...

Guy:Incognito

Yeah theres a few extras with the intel alright. Only thing is, i went back in today and configured it teh same again, but the X-Fi sound card isnt on it now for some reason I;'m almost 100% I didnt add it as extra last time so now it'd be €110 more to get it with that. I'm not push about the sound card anyway and only left it on in the first place because it was defaulted, not paying an extra €100 over the AMD for it though. I think the intel machine shades it on extras. cheers lads.

Guy:Incognito

Anyone know the difference between the 256MB nVidia GeForce 7900GS and the 256MB ATI Radeon X1300 Pro? Real world differences as opposed to paper spec, and is the GeForce worth paying €150 extra for?

TerrorFirmer

X1300Pro - low end.
7900GS - Solid mid range.

The 7900GS is a much better card, but I don't know if I'd go an extra 150 on top of the X1300Pro for it. Worth it I suppose, as it saves you the hassle of having to sell the X1300 and then buy a new card.... The X1300Pro is an ok card, if you're either not gaming, or don't mind playing games on medium to low settings depending on demands of the game. Stuff like Half Life 2, Counter Strike Source run pretty well at relatively high settings, so it might do the job for your depending on what you want to do...

Guy:Incognito

Just came across this on Komplett and reckon it might be a better option, any thoughts? No monitor but still, components seem a bit better.

Any recommended changes to make?


http://www.komplett.ie/k/config.asp?ConfigSystemId=10206

Guy:Incognito

Right I need to stop looking now, too many options

Komplett have 2 gamer systems, one an AMD the other an Intel. When I customise them and have identical spec bar the processor the price is within €2 of each other. Only thing is the AMD one is the Athlon 64 X2 5600+ 2.8GHz and the intel is the core 2 duo 2.4 GHz. All other specs are the same. Cant see any reason not to go with the faster athlon for the same money, what do you guys reckon?


Komplett AMD Gamer €1377

Samsung SpinPoint T166 250GB SATA2
Samsung SpinPoint T166 250GB SATA2
Corsair Value S. PC5300 DDR2 2048MB
Corsair Value S. PC5300 DDR2 2048MB
NEC DVD±RW burner AD-5170 IDE Black OEM,
Corsair Powersupply 620W Black, ATX/EPS,
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ 2.8GHz Socket AM2
Turbine V54 Gaming case, Sidedoor with
Asus CROSSHAIR, nForce 590 SLI, DDR2,
Gainward GeForce 8800GTS 320MB GDDR3 GS,
PC with no operating system



Komplett Intel Gamer 1379

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4GHz Socket
Samsung SpinPoint T166 250GB SATA2
Samsung SpinPoint T166 250GB SATA2
Corsair Value S. PC5300 DDR2 2048MB
Corsair Value S. PC5300 DDR2 2048MB
NEC DVD±RW burner AD-5170 IDE Black OEM,
Corsair Powersupply 620W Black, ATX/EPS,
Turbine V54 Gaming case, Sidedoor with
Asus P5N32-E SLI, nForce-680i SLI, ATX,
Gainward GeForce 8800GTS 320MB GDDR3 GS,
PC with no operating system

irlrobins

The Intel is still faster despite having a lower clock speed. You can no longer use clock speed as a way of determining the faster processor. Things like L2 cache, number of cores, FSB, etc determing the overall speed.

Use this comparison chart to compare two processors over a variety of tasks.

Guy:Incognito

irlrobins wrote:

The Intel is still faster despite having a lower clock speed. You can no longer use clock speed as a way of determining the faster processor. Things like L2 cache, number of cores, FSB, etc determing the overall speed.

Use this comparison chart to compare two processors over a variety of tasks.

Cheers, might shell out the extra €75 and get the intel machine with the 6700 processor.

SickBoy

You need to understand that clock speed isn't everything when it comes to comparing CPUs. The intel Core 2 Duo can do more per clock cycle than the AMD Athlon X2 which makes it a more efficient processor.
Check out this link to see what I mean...

irlrobins

SickBoy wrote:

You need to understand that clock speed isn't everything when it comes to comparing CPUs. The intel Core 2 Duo can do more per clock cycle than the AMD Athlon X2 which makes it a more efficient processor.
Check out this link to see what I mean...

Plagiarism!

SickBoy

irlrobins wrote:

Plagiarism!

AlmightyCushion

Just to let you neither of those machines have a monitor or an OS so you will need to factor that in to the overall cost if you need them.

Guy:Incognito

AlmightyCushion wrote:

Just to let you neither of those machines have a monitor or an OS so you will need to factor that in to the overall cost if you need them.

yeah I know I specifically removed the os and didnt add a monitor because I already have both.

nodger

Stekelly wrote:

Dell™ 22" Black Wide Flat Panel (E228WFP) - UK/Irish

I placed an order with Dell for a similar system yesterday... just be aware that there's a lead time of 2-3 weeks on this particular monitor. It's worth the wait, but it's a bit of a bummer when you're looking forward to getting the machine.

[edit] Apparently they are in stock... my entire order watch dispatched today.