Just bought an XPS gaming system

R

recordingpro

New Member
Hey guys. Before you laugh and say I blew my money when I could have built one for half the price, let me say that I have already built several computers and I was just too lazy to mess with it this time. Plus, I was curious to see if the XPS gaming desktops were as good as their hype. I haven't actually received it yet, so I'll let you know how I like it when I do get it.

Here are the specs:
Intel core2 Q6600(2.40Ghz, 1066FSB) w/Quad techno and 8MB cache
4GB DDr2 SDRAM 800MHz
24inch monitor(dell)
Dual 768MB nVidia GeForce 8800GTX
WD, Raptor 160GB 10K SATA, 16MB databurst cache
Additional HD->320 GB 7200 rpm
X-Fi PCI sound card
XP Media Center(cuz vista is not ready for gaming yet, IMO)

My question for the masses is this....
In regards to the RAM I listed above. Dell messed my order up for the RAM. I actually ordered the following:

2GB of Corsair Dominator DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz OC'd to 1066MHz -2DIMMs.

Now I have a dilemma...Should I keep the 4GB of regular RAM or have them fix it and give me the 2GB of Corsair RAM? They are both the exact same price. I guess my question is....Which is better?
 
Out of pure curiosity, how much did you pay for the rig... I was looking at XPS lappys for my gf but she ended up with a pretty sick HP.

In regards to your question... there is no need for the 4gigs of ram (how much can XP Media Center even recognize?)... go with the 2gigs of nicer stuff.
 
The only thing I can say is that Dell overcharged you big time, I'm guessing you paid at least $3000 for that machine.
 
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dell delayed its inspiron and xps line. if this includes the desktop line prepare for a LONG wait :) dell need to hire more people or open a new plant.
500 for that monitor you can get the 28 inch for that price :) with discounts of course. 500 a pop. hopefully you bought at least 4 year warranty on that thing.
 
Well I payed $4,700 for the rig to put the curiosity to rest. And yes, I know I could have built one for half the price, but like I said, I was too lazy and I had the money so I spent it. The more important thing here is which RAM to go for. I got one reply on the RAM saying I should get the nicer RAM...Is that everyone else's take on it?

"you got screwed over."
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I don't feel "screwed over" because I got a pretty badass rig with the click of a button. At least we can all say that the rig itself is smokin hot, right?
Anyways, thanks for the replies. I'm gonna go with the nicer RAM unless one of you thinks it is a better idea to go with the regular RAM with more memory.

how much can XP Media Center even recognize?
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I believe its a little over 3G that XP can use. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
 
I bet you could have got a similar system from IBuyPower it Cyber for a lot less.... jesus i bet they made 50% profit on that :eek:
 
As for your RAM concerns, I say keep the 4GB of regular stuff, especially if they are the same price, I'm running 2 gigs of value RAM and it works almost exactly the same as my friends Corsair XMS.

And $4700 is absurd for that machine, like ThatGuy said, IBuyPower could do the same for about $1500 less.

EDIT- Just put one together on iBuyPower, it cost $3800, but this is what you get:

Intel Q6600 Quad core CPU (4 x 2.4GHz)
Dual 8800 Ultras (comes overclocked)
Asus Striker mobo
4GB Corsair XMS RAM
22" LCD
150GB 10k RPM Raptor
320GB 7200 RPM HDD
DVD-RW
DVD-ROM
Soundblaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer
Liquid Cooling
NZXT Lexa Blackline Case
850 Watt Thermaltake Toughpower PSU
Logitech X-540 5.1 Surround Speakers
Windows Vista Premium
 
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Yea I just check ibuypower and built the same rig (better monitor, water cooled, 7.1 speaker system) for 800 bucks less... not the end of the world but hey... 800 bucks.
 
I honestly don't think I got that bad of a deal anyways. The specs I gave were just the bare essentials. I failed to mention the following:

3yr in Home Service, Parts and Labor, 24X7 Phone Support
3yr Accidental Damage Coverage
Microsoft Office Home and Student
15 months of Norton
Dual Optical Drives
13 in 1 Media Reader w/ Floppy

I mean this stuff adds up guys...PLUS...its a Dell and that means no funny business like some of these independent companies do.
 
recordingpro said:
Well I payed $4,700 for the rig to put the curiosity to rest. And yes, I know I could have built one for half the price, but like I said, I was too lazy and I had the money so I spent it. The more important thing here is which RAM to go for. I got one reply on the RAM saying I should get the nicer RAM...Is that everyone else's take on it?



I don't feel "screwed over" because I got a pretty badass rig with the click of a button. At least we can all say that the rig itself is smokin hot, right?
Anyways, thanks for the replies. I'm gonna go with the nicer RAM unless one of you thinks it is a better idea to go with the regular RAM with more memory.



I believe its a little over 3G that XP can use. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
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no one should be that lazy...
if you had the money why not build a way better machine for the price of that XPS?
 
no one should be that lazy...
if you had the money why not build a way better machine for the price of that XPS?
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There's not much that could make this rig "way" better. Don't get me wrong, there are better gaming machines, but not that much better. And if I wanna be lazy, that's my option. I work hard developing software to make money so I can spend it on wutever I want. So quit worrying about how much I spent on my rig and start discussing the good/bad experiences that you have had with the damn thing. Yall sound like my mom. And I'm not lazy in general, I have a full time job and a wedding to get ready for, so I didn't have the time to worry about designing/building/testing/troubleshooting a new rig. So please lay off and tell me what you think about the Dell gaming systems and which ram you think I should have gone for. Re-read the first post plz and then answer my question.
 
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recordingpro said:
Well I payed $4,700 for the rig to put the curiosity to rest. And yes, I know I could have built one for half the price, but like I said, I was too lazy and I had the money so I spent it. The more important thing here is which RAM to go for. I got one reply on the RAM saying I should get the nicer RAM...Is that everyone else's take on it?



I don't feel "screwed over" because I got a pretty badass rig with the click of a button. At least we can all say that the rig itself is smokin hot, right?
Anyways, thanks for the replies. I'm gonna go with the nicer RAM unless one of you thinks it is a better idea to go with the regular RAM with more memory.



I believe its a little over 3G that XP can use. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Click to expand...

Oh, no doubt, nice rig, your paid what? Wait until the cheap Dell PSU fries b/c of the Dual 8800's, I remember someone on here had an 8800 rig from Dell and it was only 380W. Good Luck...


It took me 30 minutes to put my rig in the sig together....
 
This is wuts in the Chassis:

1KW Power Supply - SLI, ATX2.0, EPS12V, SSI industry compatibility
Externally available: 2 Optical (5.25), 1 9-in-1 Media Card reader (2 x 5.25) & 1 Floppy (3.5)
Internally available: 4 x 3.5 (HDD)
Memory DIMM slots: 4 available
(H x W x D): 22.5” x 8.6” x 24.25” (with stand); 21.86” x 8.6” x 24.25” (without stand)
7-slot BTX motherboard (12.6" x 10.5")

Anyone else wanna try and shoot it down now?
 
Haha, I think he gets the point ladies.. He could've built a much finer machine had he built himself, avoided crappy dell PSU's, whatever. He admits this, how bout we help him decide what RAM to go with?

It really depends on what you're doing and how long you expect to keep this machine. I really doubt you'll notice the difference between that "nice" RAM and standard pc6400 in anything except benchmarks and the most RAM sensitive apps. RAM speed and latency marks have the smallest effect on actual performance, you'd be surprised. On the other hand an extra 2Gb's of RAM could do wonders in the future should you need it.. You don't need it now of course, but I guess it's a decision between something you'll hardly notice, and something you don't need yet.
 
It really depends on what you're doing and how long you expect to keep this machine. I really doubt you'll notice the difference between that "nice" RAM and standard pc6400 in anything except benchmarks and the most RAM sensitive apps. RAM speed and latency marks have the smallest effect on actual performance, you'd be surprised. On the other hand an extra 2Gb's of RAM could do wonders in the future should you need it.. You don't need it now of course, but I guess it's a decision between something you'll hardly notice, and something you don't need yet.
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THANK YOU HERMESLYRE......FINALLY SOMEONE ACTUALLY HELPED ME!
I was getting tired of people telling me what I "should've" done instead of helping me with what is "already" done. I'm a technical person and I understand all the drawbacks to buying from Dell vs. building my own...I've done both. I just wanted to know about the RAM...thats all.

To answer your question "hermie", I plan on keeping this rig for at least 3 to 4 years...it oughta last me that long. So now you got me thinking about leaving it as is and just taking Dell's messed up order as an upgrade, and take the 4GB instead of the really nice 2GB...can we call this case closed? or does anyone have another opinion?

Also, enuff with the crappy PSU's...I can replace a PSU easy peasy japanesey...no worries.
 
RAM speed only travels as fast as your system bus allows it to. So you would need to over clock it to benefit from any type of over clocked ram anyways, which in general OC'd hardware is pretty much just a sales pitch and doesn't offer any real world performance boost.

The 1 thing Dell does offer over building it yourself is support and warranty. You build something yourself and you mess it up then you are pretty much screwed. Most places may let you exchange it with a 15% restocking fee.
 
Far out, Everyone your such pains in the ass!

He Got What He Wanted!!

I suggest you go with the 4GB Ram, It will be running Dual Channel anyway

The performance you will notice from that vs the 2GB Better stuff will not be noticeable,

As Tlarkin said, Ram Speeds only travel as fast as your System Bus can Carry.

Go With The 4GB, It will be needed in the Years too come.
 
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