@Forte:
Okay…I'm pretty stumped at choosing my new comp.
Here's the specs.
First is a Dell Dimension 3000 with Intel Pentium 4 processor with HT technology,3.0Hz and 1MB L2 Cache
17" flat panel monitor(E173FP)
256MB shared DDR SDHRAM
40GB Hard drive
16X DVD ROM
Integrated Intel Extreme Graphics 2
Dell A215 Stereo speakers
1 year warranty
Can be upgraded to a 48X CD/DVD Combo drive,Dell A425 Speakers with Subwoofers....Costs $2449
The other one is a Dell Dimension 9100 with Intel Pentium D Processor 830 with Dual Core Processor 3.0Hz,
Intel 945P Express Chipset
17" Flat Panel Monitor(same as above)
512MB DDR-2 SDRAM at 533MHz
80GB SATA Hard drive
48X CD Burner/DVD combo drive
128MB ATI Radeon x300 SE HyperMemory
Dell A425 Speakers with subwoofers
1 year warranty
Can be upgraded to 1GB DDR-2 SDRAM at 533MHz
Costs $3899
So...which one do you guys think I should get for my money?
Both machines have terrible graphics cards, if you're considering gaming. Integrated video or "turbocache" and "hypermemory" cards actually use the system's memory…. the "128Mb" card may only have as little as 16Mb on it, and steals the rest.
I notice very little memory there too.
What I'd get, personally:
-I wouldn't go for Dell, because Dell doesn't do Athlons. I also hear they overcharge for memory upgrades.
-An Athlon 64 at like 3200 or 3500, or an Athlon X2 at 3800. Get socket 939 and PCI-express mainboard, and you'll be able to upgrade to the fastest Athlon FX and X2 chips, and the . USD 300 or so for a 3200, heatsink, and board, maybe less.
-1Gb of memory. A 1Gb kit will cost less than 100 USD. Get a matched pair of 512M sticks, so you can install it in "dual-channel" mode for better performance.
-A stand-alone graphics card. Either an x800 series or a 6800 series, costs between USD 130 (for the slowest 6800s) to 200.
-160Gb hard disc. Serial ATA is still not a performance boost of note, but you can get a 160Gb Seagate (best warranty in the industry) for about 90 dollars.
-DVD burner; a decent 16x one will run you like $50, and the CD or DVD reader is still $20, so you're not saving much by not having one.
Here's an interesting consideration: What about a secondhand monitor? There are a lot of very nice, few-year-old, "refurbished" 20-21-22" flat-CRTs out there, for between USD 100 and 250 or so. It won't cost significantly more than the 17" LCD, but you'll get true blacks (the nature of an LCD prevents it from making really black blacks), more screen space (equal to a hypothetical ~19.5" LCD depending on model) and more resolution flexibility.
I can see if you don't have the time, but building it yourself can save you money, because you can choose where to economize on parts you don't need the best of. You can also recycle bits of your old machine, like the input devices, the disc drives, and possibly the case and power supply. You might try inquiring at small local computer shops which do build-to-order.
