BF2S Forums Im gunna buy a Dell XPS 730x for $3499!! [Comparison]

A $1000 CPU but only a 9800GTX+ video card?

The i7 920 is probably more than enough along with a GTX285 or 295.

I'm trying to persuade someone to stay clear of Alienware at the moment. ($1699 base price for the machine he wants)

Kmarion wrote:

Your friend doesn't trust you to be his support.

I know. Prevention is the best medicine so to speak. If I built a computer for him, I would install all the best freeware anti-virus, malware, spyware etc etc.

As long as you have a data backup, there isn't much to worry about really.

TopHat01 wrote:

Isn't much you can do beyond that...

Torture.

Can anyone say CPU overkill... meh convince him to let u build it. get yourself $50 (or up to $200 if ur a cunt ) out of it with the promise that u will help him if he has any issues.

Im_Dooomed wrote:

JUST KIDDING! But a friend of mine wanted a new computer. I told him I can put a nice one together for him and he said, "Nah, I think I'm just gonna buy a dell." That's like saying, "Nah, don't worry I'm just gonna kill myself."

If the price difference doesn't persuade him....

After so many times of doing it for myself and others, I can understand not wanting to build a computer. If everything doesn't go perfectly, it can turn into an extremely time-consuming task, especially if you have to wait on parts RMA.

If he's going to pay a grand extra rather than build it himself, he should probably go with a boutique store like Digital Storm. They have the tools, training, supplies and customer support, whereas your 'mom's friend's 9-year-old son' has pure luck. They dedicate more time into building and testing and you get all software discs, including the OS. Here's a similarly-priced configuration (to Dell) with more features. Seriously, an Extreme CPU and a 9800? I guess Dell's planning on selling upgrades.

http://www.digitalstormonline.com/compl … ?id=247413
Some parts I'd get separately, like a Blu-Ray drive and a 1TB 32MB cache enterprise-class storage drive.

Disclaimer: I'm not trying to sell; it's just an alternative.

Last edited by unnamednewbie13 (2009-02-14 02:56:06)

it looks like smooth creations make some pretty cool stuff but their probably overpriced too.
they have the base system (motherboard, psu, case etc) and let u choose ur own video cards, processor, ram and hdd ... it looks like a decent option if ur going prebuilt

Last edited by Little BaBy JESUS (2009-02-14 23:52:00)

Im_Dooomed wrote:

JUST KIDDING! But a friend of mine wanted a new computer. I told him I can put a nice one together for him and he said, "Nah, I think I'm just gonna buy a dell." That's like saying, "Nah, don't worry I'm just gonna kill myself."

ANYWAY. I put together a comparison from newegg for him. ALL the same components that come in that particular XPS model (besides the fancy red case) at a cost about $1200 LESS then the XPS. Granted, they didn't say what brand of memory used, or what brand HDD, but I just went with a Western Digital the same size, and some OCZ memory same speed etc etc. Also, I don't know what kind of cooling system Dell is boasting about, but I'm sure an aftermarket CPU cooler would suffice.

XPS 730x

My competitor:
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/1545 … st1tv4.jpg
http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/5792 … st3cv4.jpg

Is there something I'm missing here? Or is there really that much of a difference? I guess, you pay for the tech support and warranty shit, but seriously, everything you buy new has factory warranties anyway.

So, how's it look?

If the price difference doesn't persuade him....

Only thing I see that is missing is a monitor. He probably has one. I only pointed that out cause you had a mouse and keyboard picked out for him.

I'm not sure on the parts though because I don't know anything about Dell Xps's even though there overpriced and your just paying for the name.

Last edited by Obiwan (2009-02-15 00:46:00)

Yea.... if you buy pre-built... you're basically paying for labor to put it together (which i'm fairly certain it's 90% together right off the bat anyway... just waiting to put the other optional parts in), the exclusive case, and the brand name.  The last brand-name computer i bought was a Sony Vaio.... which had an Intel Celeron in it.  Not EXTREMELY bad for several years ago.... but it also had a crappy 5400 RPM hard drive in it, as well as one of the two optical drives not always being detected if i just restarted the computer.  usually would have to shut down and turn back on.  My current computer has just kinda been a constant upgrade from that basic PoS.

Like it's been said.... if he's dead set on buying a Dell with a seriously overpriced CPU and seriously underpowered 9800GTX+ to go with it.... don't think you'll be able to change his mind.  Would be good for both of you if he did change his mind, and you could probably save him nearly $2,000 if you convinced him to drop the crappy i7 965 for an i7 920 or 940..... but some people are just... well.... stubborn.

Im_Dooomed wrote:

Little BaBy JESUS wrote:

Can anyone say CPU overkill... meh convince him to let u build it. get yourself $50 (or up to $200 if ur a cunt ) out of it with the promise that u will help him if he has any issues.

to be honest, i was gonna tell him id do it for free. Just because I need practice and dont feel right charging him, especially if i run into problems. It's better to say, "Hay, im doin this for free, don't expect it all to go perfectly! Don't worry, ill fix it..."

rather then, "Hey, well i did charge u $100, there are problems, whats that? No, no...I know what i'm doin. Thats why ur paying me of course!!>....."


if he wont let me build it, then i'll def mention to him another website like digitalstorm.

I just say, "Right, if you want me to I'll build it for you. The cost will be...pizza !"