New Home PC €500 - Dell or Build ?

jodaw

The time a come to upgrade the home PC and considering home far technology has progressed I could get something decent for the above amount.

I want something very responsive in normal use and good for multi-tasking and number crunching. Games as graphics are not too important and integrated grahpics or i have a HD 5450 which would be good enough for me.

I considered the best value would be in build a PC but then i came across a now hassle delivered to my door Dell PC. My current PC is a dell and in reality i am very happy with it.

Below is a Dell offer at the moment €489 delivered including a 24" monitor which would allow me to upgrade monitor at the same time.

http://www.dell.com/ie/p/inspiron-3847-desktop/pd?oc=cd84715&model_id=inspiron-3847-desktop



Specs:Pentium G3220
4GB Ram
1TB HD
Windows 8.1
24" Monitor
Considering that are selling the above monitor for almost
€300 on its own that is a great price. Ideally i would like 8GB (dell do not allow to customise) and SSD for OS but i think that the above system would be good enough.Could i buy this 2400 ram and install it in the above PC and run at lower frequency ???

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-128-KS

My question is can anyone recommend me a better spec system that i could build myself for the same price or is the off the shelf system too good to be beaten on price?

Any recommendations welcomed

DERPY DERPFACE

I believe you can customize Dell's but they make it as hard as possible. Look on the Dell forums and see what they say.

TerrorFirmer

That is an excellent price including the monitor really for a pre-built machine. It's also perfect for general use, unless by multitasking you meant editing and professional work in which case a stronger CPU would be better. If you meant media, office use, web browsing, etc, than it's perfect. 8GB isn't necessary at the moment if those are the tasks you are doing, 4GB is more than enough. An SSD would be ideal though, but nothing to stop you buying an SSD elsewhere and installing it. They have gotten very reasonable price wise.

You could self build for a similar price of course, yes. But as pre-built's go that is a very respectable offer.

jodaw

Thanks for the reply's guys,

TerrorFirmer : I was thinking that the price of the system is very respectable myself. I would not be doing any image editing or gaming or anything. Just need a good responsive system for dealing with large excel spreadsheets, internet etc...

One thing i would prefer is 8GB of ram and i anyone can direct me to exact instructions of how to do this with dell i would appreciate it. Last time i bought from Dell it was easy to customise.

Also would that 8GB kit go into that system. I realise the motherboard and processer is probably not compatable with 2400Mhz memory but would it still use the memory and the speed of the processor/motherboard?

DERPY DERPFACE

Check on the Dell.com forums. On my Dell you could upgrade the ram but only certain brands/ frequencies would work with it.

DERPY DERPFACE

Search uprgrading a Dell inspiron pc with a ssd and ram. It is basically an ad but could be useful. Also when I did a quick search all ram compatible were 1600 mhz.

Gadgetman496

Nothing wrong with that Dell for general use.

Just looking at the OP's link, I can't see either a buy button or add to cart option, what's the story with that?

jodaw

Good spot,

Strange one that as i had it in the basket a couple of days ago. Also there is no problem on the uk site.

Dell's site seems like pants to me. Not exactly user friendly

Gadgetman496

jodaw wrote: »

Good spot,

Strange one that as i had it in the basket a couple of days ago. Also there is no problem on the uk site.

Dell's site seems like pants to me. Not exactly user friendly

Actually if you take the e-value code and hit the shop on the red bar top of screen, it let's you buy but it's out of stock!

beauf

Dell site must be one of the worst sites I have ever used.

Redfox25

They really have cut down your options big time since the last time I used their site.

It seems you cant really personalise now

frankz

Is anyone used to the dell site? Is this one likely to come back into stock at that price??

Am I right in thinking it seems a great price for a reasonable pc (for everyday home non gaming use) with a monitor?

I cant see anything else similar in that price region.

beauf

I've seen similar offer to that on a regular basis on the Dell site over the last couple of years.

jodaw

Considering that a lot a people on here build from scratch for better value, I could not really put together a much better build from scratch for that price.

On their other systems without monitors that monitor is a 320 euro add-on.

I thought the price was good for the hassle free route together with windows 8.1.

It is a good system for that money but I will be waiting until that or equal is available again before ordering. It is strange because the exact build is available on the UK site. I cannot understand why it will not allow to order on the Irish site

Not extraordinary value but value nonetheless. The build from scratch route should only be for people with specific needs and a genuine interest. For the standard user it is a good system.

I asked if anyone could put together a better build for the money and no reply could put one together

estilen

What do you need more ram for? 4GB is more than enough for a home pc.
If you decide to get the Dell computer, you can't just buy any memory available. You either buy an exact, matching one or a whole new set of memories.

jodaw

estilen wrote: »

What do you need more ram for? 4GB is more than enough for a home pc.
If you decide to get the Dell computer, you can't just buy any memory available. You either buy an exact, matching one or a whole new set of memories.

Ehhh ... yes i know that

I would be using the extra Ram for creating a Ram Disk and running Virtual Mahcines. So yes. I could do with more Ram

estilen

Intel Pentium G3220 Box, LGA1150 - 48,87
ASRock H81M-HDS, Sockel 1150, mATX - 42,19 €
Corsair VS Serie VS450, Non-Modular, 80+ - 34,90 €
4GB G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9 - 31,77 €
Crucial M500 120GB SATA 6GB/s 6,4CM (2,5") 7mm - 61,46 €
BenQ GL2250 (monitor) - 99,00 €
Zalman Z3-Plus Midi-Tower - weiß, ohne Netzteil - 36,33 €
Seagate Barracuda 7200 1000GB, SATA 6Gb/s - 50,86 €

Total of €405,38, prices from hardwareversand.de as for now. Should get them cheaper through geizhals. Amazon is pretty good too. This leaves the money for Windows 8 and delivery. Includes an SSD and a monitor (a pretty basic one, Dell would probably do the same). The integrated graphics are not capable of running any games, but it does the job for home usage.
If you want really want more ram, then that's 30 quid more, look for 8GB Crucial Ballistix Sport 1600Mhz CL9 instead of that G.Skill stick.
The case I picked is really good for the price - it's cheap, can do some cable routing, nothing too fancy. Don't know your preference. I always pick this case in budget/not-gaming builds.

jodaw

Thanks for the effort in putting that build together

Problems with that is:

- Monitor is not comparable 22 v 24 ... dell selling the monitor for 300

http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=ie&cs=iedhs1&l=en&sku=732330

- Windows 8.1 (How much for a copy of this?)
- Keyboard and Mouse

Also time waiting for all parts to arrive and my time in building it. Also in future i would imagine a complete matching dell system would have less depreciation than a mix and match system.

Which brings me back to my original point that i could not find a comparable system for the same money.

Edit: Missed the SSD which is a plus

Serephucus

The SSD is actually a massive plus, and will speed up the machine over anything else you could upgrade.

Don't think of it as a "mix and match" machine. It's more like a car that's had a service, and had a couple of not-so-great parts swapped out for other ones (If you can't tell, I don't own a car. :P). Dell typically uses the cheapest parts they can get away with to make they're systems last just over a year (typical warranty period), where-as these parts are designed to last for anywhere from two to five years under warranty.

The Dell is the better value option, though a custom build would likely last you longer, and be easier to upgrade down the line.

estilen

I may be blind haha, but how do you get 489 delivered WITH a monitor? It says it's not included and the cheapest one available adds like €200, which bumps up the price to €608. The cheapest pick is like the most basic IPS panel I've seen, and more expensive than most of the better IPS panels.

SuperTortoise

I'm also not sure that includes a monitor?, when you select the drop down options it's not clear(to me anyway) it says "not included" and then "included in price" which is it!?

If that's NOT included then build your own pc, IMO what makes that good value for money is if it included the monitor. for 489 euro you will build a stronger pc that will last you much longer, yes it'll take a few extra days as oppose to buying off the shelf but IMO it would be worth the wait.

jodaw

They have now removed the offer including the monitor for the Irish site. The system showing on the site now is the exact same system but without the monitor. To add the monitor to the system currently on the site brings the total to 608. So the exact same system is now 608 but the offer of 489 is (out of stock)

Anyway i think Dell are now doing an Argos!!!

Either way they may just lose my order!!!

This got me thinking. My old system is 7 years old.

22" Monitor
E2140 1.6GHz Core Duo
250GB HD
1 GB Ram
Radeon HD 5450

Currently running XP very well and in reality it is in pefect condition. I need to run Win 7 or 8 since i want to use Office 2013.

So i was think maybe i could upgrade my current system and avoid my Dell order for another 3-4 years. Tough luck Dell.

SSD upgrade to run Win 7
Upgrade Ram from 1 to 4GB

Anyone think this would be a good option or a non-runner?

jodaw

SuperTortoise wrote: »

I'm also not sure that includes a monitor?, when you select the drop down options it's not clear(to me anyway) it says "not included" and then "included in price" which is it!?

If that's NOT included then build your own pc, IMO what makes that good value for money is if it included the monitor. for 489 euro you will build a stronger pc that will last you much longer, yes it'll take a few extra days as oppose to buying off the shelf but IMO it would be worth the wait.

It included the 24 inch monitor for that price hence the reason why i was saying was a good price. There would be no problem building a far superior machine for 489 but without the monitor.

beauf

jodaw wrote: »

...So i was think maybe i could upgrade my current system and avoid my Dell order for another 3-4 years. Tough luck Dell.

SSD upgrade to run Win 7
Upgrade Ram from 1 to 4GB

Anyone think this would be a good option or a non-runner?

Well maybe a year.

SSD you can bring with you to a new machine.

Depending on the motherboard or machine you might be able to upgrade the CPU for not much money.

estilen

Does your motheboard have SATA connectors? What RAM is it, DDR or DDR2?

DERPY DERPFACE

Could you please download speccy and post the summary here.

jodaw

Ram is 667Mhz DDR2.

I need to have a closer look at the motherboard and work out if the upgrade would be worth doing.

What would have been the top compatable processor in 2007? Processor is E2140 1,6GHz Core Duo

DERPY DERPFACE

Your motherboard is propably a socket lga 775 so the most powerful processor you could get would be a core 2 quad.

jodaw

Motherboard is Foxconn G33M02 which i think is this one

http://www.foxconnchannel.com/ProductDetail.aspx?T=motherboard&U=en-us0000319

So what options does that leave me? Think in the specs it is saying 4 X SataII. Is this what is needed for SSD install? PC seems to have one 2.5" bay free.

4 Ram slots with 2 X 512 667Mhz at the moment so the motherboard slash processor would take up to 800Mhz?

It is socket 775 as previous poster stated so the best CPU would be a Quad?

DERPY DERPFACE

The most ram it will take is 4 gigs as it is 32 bit. You would be looking for a second hand core 2 quad at at least 2.5 ghz. I cannot post links as I do not have 50 posts yet but search upgrading Dell dimension 9150 ram and click on the Dell forums one. I believe it will be informative. You have sata 2 so I am not sure if you can get ssds cheap that will give you a performance boost over a hdd.

beauf

Why a Dell 9150? That motherboard is a lot better and newer than the one in a Dell 9150.

http://www.foxconnchannel.com/ProductDetail.aspx?T=motherboard&U=en-us0000319

That motherboard looks like it will take all core2duo cpu's. Is that definitely the board?

They ask a lot for those c2d quads 2nd hand especially the faster ones. If you can afford it and have a decent psu go for it. (they need more power). I think the E8400 is a nice c2d chip, at a decent price. I had one and for office/web stuff it was brilliant.

jodaw

I have decide to upgrade and have gone with the following

32GB Transcend SSD SataIII Compatable
4GB Ram 800Mhz
E8400 processor upgrade

Overclocking is out with Mobo upgrade since the Bios on the Dell Mobo is very restrictive.

I am about to install Win7 32 Bit to the SSD and have run into a dilemma. The Dell Bios only has two sata controller options. IDE and RAID.

There is now AHCI option which would be best

Now i do not know which is best option

RAID mode which would provide AHCI but no Trim
Or IDE mode with Trim support

What would be best? I will be only running at Sata II speeeds