Messing around w/Dell's Computer Customization - Can you build better?

2007-04-03 16:29:50

#1

commandochristian: Honda - The Power of Dreams; +293|6868|Michigan, USA

So I decided I'd check out randomly what Dell had as their top desktop system. And let me tell you, it's a beast:
PROCESSOR: Intel® Core™2 Extreme QX6700 (8MB,3.2GHz Factory overclocked)
OPERATING SYSTEM: Genuine Windows® XP Professional with re-installation CD
MEMORY: 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 4 DIMMs
HARD DRIVE: 320GB Performance RAID 0 (2 x 160GB SATA 3Gb/s 10,000 RPM HDDs) *Note: they had bigger.
ADDITIONAL HARD DRIVE Western Digital Raptor 160GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (10,000RPM)
OPTICAL DRIVE: Dual Drives: 48x Combo + 16x DVD+/-RW w/ dbl layer write capable edit
MONITOR: 24 inch UltraSharp™ 2407WFP Widescreen Digital Flat Panel
OPTIONAL SECOND MONITOR: 24 inch UltraSharp™ 2407WFP Widescreen Digital Flat Panel
VIDEO CARD: Dual NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800 GTX, 768 MB
PHYSICS ACCELERATOR: AGEIA® PhysX® physics accelerator
SOUND CARD: Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ XtremeMusic (D) Sound Card

(Base price was $5,489, but I definitely upgraded it )

Above configured price, w/out anything else (incl. printers, extra software, warranties) was: $7,248

I've heard it a lot around these forums that if you're looking to get a new desktop computer to buy the parts and build it yourself. Well, if you had the money, do you think at this moment, (i.e. not with parts not out yet), that you could build a better computer than what Dell has as their top XPS desktop? It also had some special cooling system (Click here) that they said:

Dell wrote:
The Dell XPS 710 H2C Edition has an innovative, two-stage cooling solution that helps cool the processor even at its highest mode, and does so more effectively than Dell’s air-cooling solution. The H2C hybrid cooling system combines a liquid radiator, a thermoelectric cooling module and control circuitry to optimize CPU cooling with minimal power. Ideal for gaming enthusiasts, the system is designed to help the XPS 710 H2C Edition stay cool in overclocked mode—up to 9 degrees cooler even when you clock it at bin+2 speeds.

So, to sum it all up, do you think you could build a better system with an $10,000 budget?

Last edited by commandochristian (2007-04-03 20:24:33)

2007-04-03 16:34:34

#2

Ender2309: has joined the GOP; +470|7027|USA

yes.

edit: with 10k, i could make that system look like a commodore 64.

Last edited by Ender2309 (2007-04-03 16:35:03)

2007-04-03 16:36:32

#3

Flaming_Maniac: prince of insufficient light; +2,490|7162|67.222.138.85

I could probably make that for around $5000, and with a better case.

2007-04-03 16:37:13

#4

reaper_654: confused??; +36|6752|ohio,USA

i love dells so i really dont care

2007-04-03 16:47:17

#5

commandochristian: Honda - The Power of Dreams; +293|6868|Michigan, USA

Ender2309 wrote:
yes.

edit: with 10k, i could make that system look like a commodore 64.

LOL Care to elaborate?

2007-04-03 17:43:40

#6

Flaming_Maniac: prince of insufficient light; +2,490|7162|67.222.138.85

commandochristian wrote:
Ender2309 wrote:
yes.

edit: with 10k, i could make that system look like a commodore 64.
LOL Care to elaborate?

Phase change, 2000w of power, maybe water cooled power supply, buy a custom paint job, 2 150gb raptors in RAID 0 and 2 150 gb raptors in RAID 1, phase change cooling, sleeved cables, fanless, and a host of other things you could do to a computer to make it better than that one.

2007-04-03 17:46:04

#7

norge: J-10 and a coke please; +18|6926

Flaming_Maniac wrote:
I could probably make that for around $5000, and with a better case.

$4g max, i just figured one out like that a few days ago

2007-04-03 17:46:28

#8

Mitch: 16 more years; +877|6981|South Florida

Flaming_Maniac wrote:
commandochristian wrote:
Ender2309 wrote:
yes.

edit: with 10k, i could make that system look like a commodore 64.
LOL Care to elaborate?
Phase change, 2000w of power, maybe water cooled power supply, buy a custom paint job, 2 150gb raptors in RAID 0 and 2 150 gb raptors in RAID 1, phase change cooling, sleeved cables, fanless, and a host of other things you could do to a computer to make it better than that one.

What does Phase Change mean?

15 more years! 15 more years!

2007-04-03 20:13:26

#9

CrazeD: Member; +368|7128|Maine

Dezerteagal5 wrote:
Flaming_Maniac wrote:
commandochristian wrote:

LOL Care to elaborate?
Phase change, 2000w of power, maybe water cooled power supply, buy a custom paint job, 2 150gb raptors in RAID 0 and 2 150 gb raptors in RAID 1, phase change cooling, sleeved cables, fanless, and a host of other things you could do to a computer to make it better than that one.
What does Phase Change mean?

It's a type of cooling. A refrigerator, air conditioner, etc use phase change cooling.

That system is a complete rip-off for $10,000. I could build twice that and then some for $10,000.

I'm not saying it's a slow system, but for one it's a Dell, and it's ridiculously over-priced, as are all Dell's products.

2007-04-03 20:15:34

#10

Flaming_Maniac: prince of insufficient light; +2,490|7162|67.222.138.85

CrazeD wrote:
Dezerteagal5 wrote:
Flaming_Maniac wrote:

Phase change, 2000w of power, maybe water cooled power supply, buy a custom paint job, 2 150gb raptors in RAID 0 and 2 150 gb raptors in RAID 1, phase change cooling, sleeved cables, fanless, and a host of other things you could do to a computer to make it better than that one.
What does Phase Change mean?
It's a type of cooling. A refrigerator, air conditioner, etc use phase change cooling.

That system is a complete rip-off for $10,000. I could build twice that and then some for $10,000.

I'm not saying it's a slow system, but for one it's a Dell, and it's ridiculously over-priced, as are all Dell's products.

Exactly. No matter what the price range, it will always be cheaper to build your own.

2007-04-03 20:20:51

#11

commandochristian: Honda - The Power of Dreams; +293|6868|Michigan, USA

CrazeD wrote:
That system is a complete rip-off for $10,000. I could build twice that and then some for $10,000.

I'm not saying it's a slow system, but for one it's a Dell, and it's ridiculously over-priced, as are all Dell's products.

Actually, let me put the price of the system listed... (gotta re-customize it :S) one sec...

2007-04-03 20:25:56

#12

commandochristian: Honda - The Power of Dreams; +293|6868|Michigan, USA

commandochristian wrote:
CrazeD wrote:
That system is a complete rip-off for $10,000. I could build twice that and then some for $10,000.

I'm not saying it's a slow system, but for one it's a Dell, and it's ridiculously over-priced, as are all Dell's products.
Actually, let me put the price of the system listed... (gotta re-customize it :S) one sec...

$7,248. That doesn't include any accessories like printers, or software (video/photo editing, or MS Office), or warranties. So $10,000 wasn't the actual price, it was just a nice random number lol.

2007-04-03 20:31:03

#13

Monkey Spanker: Show it to the nice monkey.; +284|6707|England

man the cooling system i want is £2000 = $4000, its a plasma cooling system (looks like a office water cooler) pumps plasma at -100o/c around your pc so you can clock the arse outta it. makes my oc'd opteron look like a speak and spell, they are actually meant for mainframe systems but some crazy dude in california has been using it for his home pc, i'll try to find the website again lost it on my last hdd format

Quote of the year so far "Fifa 11 on the other hand... shiny things for mongos "-mtb0minime

https://bf3s.com/sigs/f30415b2d1cff840176cce816dc76d89a7929bb0.png

2007-04-03 20:36:20

#14

commandochristian: Honda - The Power of Dreams; +293|6868|Michigan, USA

smuder201 wrote:
man the cooling system i want is £2000 = $4000, its a plasma cooling system (looks like a office water cooler) pumps plasma at -100o/c around your pc so you can clock the arse outta it. makes my oc'd opteron look like a speak and spell, they are actually meant for mainframe systems but some crazy dude in california has been using it for his home pc, i'll try to find the website again lost it on my last hdd format

Sweet. Please do your best in trying to find a link, sounds pretty cool

2007-04-03 20:43:00

#15

jermyang: I've Seen the Saucers.; +38|7195|Norcal, usa

can you tell me more about this cold plasma?
i'm not familiar with it.

2007-04-03 23:56:48

#16

_raab: Member; +28|6689|Western Aust.

Hmmm, I also recomend buying it and building it yourself, or going to a local computer store and paying them to build it for you.

Iv'e got a shitty old dell right now that im gonna take to this computer store, give em $1600 AU and theyre gonna take the old processor out, get an awsome case, put 2gb ram in, an 8800gts, motherboard, and 600W PSU. If thats not a bargain i dunno what is.

2007-04-04 03:12:32

#17

Coolbeano: Level 13.5 BF2S Ninja Penguin Sensei; +378|7219

jermyang wrote:
can you tell me more about this cold plasma?
i'm not familiar with it.

Indeed, last time I checked plasma was rather... warm.

2007-04-04 03:25:49

#18

bennisboy: Member; +829|7102|Poundland

I don't get why it says the max memory you can have is 4gb, whereas my normal dell desktop is capable of 8gb?

BF2S Forums Messing around w/Dell's Computer Customization - Can you build better?

Dell wrote:

Ender2309 wrote:

commandochristian wrote:

Ender2309 wrote:

Flaming_Maniac wrote:

Flaming_Maniac wrote:

commandochristian wrote:

Ender2309 wrote:

Dezerteagal5 wrote:

Flaming_Maniac wrote:

commandochristian wrote:

CrazeD wrote:

Dezerteagal5 wrote:

Flaming_Maniac wrote:

CrazeD wrote:

commandochristian wrote:

CrazeD wrote:

smuder201 wrote:

jermyang wrote:

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