You would think a 2 MP phone cam would take a better photo.

http://www.longam.net/sh4/moto_0008.jpg

Hey, I like that computer!

Does your blue light scheme often fail to come on?

No, it has always worked every time, and I shutdown at night.

Never. The light scheme's on the XPS730 are super bright. Can light up my living room nicely. :03:

longam is that your woofer on the PC? I hope not. :D

My desk looks like a bomb hit it and then another one hit it again to finish what was left. :rotfl:

Yea, that's one of my speakers. I know its a Bad thing to have a magnetic device close to you HD. :doh:

I'm going to put up a shelf on the wall someday so I can put my Amp and speakers and a few other things up off the desk, just never enough room....

Re Norton Ghost. I use it and have never had any problem with it interfering with any of my other programs.

Presently located in sunny Huntsville, Alabama.

Ha ha, look at me, the master of procrastination :woot: This week I finally cut the cord with my old Gateway and moved it off my desk and into the retro room. Yeah, it takes me 2 months to set up a new PC and transfer the apps...mainly I have to get used to using the new PC with the old one watching closely. :88)

Heh ya I just finished transferring over to my laptop. Though mind you I have somewhat better excuses (been up to my neck with university for the last two months, and I also set up dual boot with xp & vista on a system that only has vista drivers available)

I'll have to take some photos now that everything is set up

I just found this thread because I am needing a new pc and subsim has always been the place to find trusting advice.. I have a couple of questions.

@Neal
1. I did not see a soundcard listed. Are you just using the onboard sound? If so, any complaints?
2. Dual video cards but no cooling system other that what Dell calls "standard"? If you got standard cooling with that case is it proving adequate?


@You techies. Some here recommended the I7 intel processor. For strictly gaming comparison, doesnt a high end duo core do as well or does it depend on which I7 you get? Are there game titles that actually take advantage of a quad core?

To give me a base, compare these 2 ...for gaming.
core 2 E8500 vs a Core 2 Q8300
Any advantage at all for this quad over the duo core?


Building my own just isn't an option.:cry:

.......thanks in advance. :yep:

1. I did not see a soundcard listed. Are you just using the onboard sound? If so, any complaints?

Onboard, I believe, but works the same, AFAICT.

2. Dual video cards but no cooling system other that what Dell calls "standard"? If you got standard cooling with that case is it proving adequate?

Yes, I can play games all night, and the system seems fine (what is that red glow coming from under the desk...?) It is very quiet, but I suppose it is working ok.

Arma II actually recommends a quad-core for optimal performance, it could be an indication that the industry is moving to support more than 2 cores effectively. Getting a quad-core is still more future-proofing than being practical when it comes to games IMHO. It won't hurt, but it's not strictly necessary (yet).

I7 is powerfull, the most powerfull core on the market, but it's not designed with gaming in mind (though it is indeed faster than Core 2). Personally I have 0 interest, but that has a lot to do with the fact I would have to get a new MB with a different socket to fit the CPU. And there lies IMO the main concern: get an older board, and you won't be able to upgrade in the future, since the new CPUs don't fit those boards. Another thing is that the Core 2 quad-cores aren't true quad-cores, they're 2 dual-cores stuck together. I7 quad-cores are "true" quads. I7 also has the memory controller on the CPU instead of in the MB northbride (AMD has been doing this for years btw).

If you don't feel like going I7, go for Phenom II. If you don't want AMD, go for I7 anyway so you can upgrade in the future. Better than buying an entirely new system... again. (something you'll be doing anyway if you go with Intel, but that's a different story)



Why is building your own not an option? :06:

Thanks for the answers guys, I appreciate it.

Keeps us posted, Rick!

This is a bad advice. Intel is going to ditch the low cost i7 920 when the lynnfields come out in september.
Those that will want to upgrade their i7 920 will be looking at 500$ cpu's. Thats no upgrade path at least looking at it from a "consumer" perspective.

The only real option if you want future upgradability is to go with the phenom 2 platform. On the Intel side you still have socket 775 which is pretty good (not top of the line), but still you can make yourself a pretty good pc. Buying into i7 is going to bring you to a brick wall with no upgrade possibile (unless you consider spending 500-1000 $ for a cpu a normal thing).
Socket 1136 (for lynnfields) is a better option but it isn't clear what upgrades you will be able to get in the future.

I wasn't aware of future Intel ploys, just pointing out Socket 775 has no upgrade path. So Intel is switching sockets yet again for their new CPUs? Than you understand what I meant with "something you'll be doing anyway if you go with Intel, but that's a different story". I wish they would just stick with a socket for a while, buying a new motherboard everytime you want to upgrade is pretty annoying. :yep: