Deal or no Deal, Dell (link/spec inside)

[drewjustforyou]

The Dell Online Store: Build Your System

Did all my checking on Tom's Hardware, Dell has a 1 day sale ending in 2 hours 50 minutes (and counting), Wondered if this was a good buy at 800$. Ive allways talked about building my own gaming rig, but this seems allmost (key word) to good to be true.

Im happy with the AMD Athlonâ„¢ 64 X2 Dual-Core 5600+ (an upgrade from the AMD Athlonâ„¢ 64 X2 Dual-Core 5000+, only 50$) on Toms Hardware, But im worried about the video card, the three options are NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE Integrated Graphics GPU, 128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8300GS (50 dollars), 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT-DDR3 (150 dollars). The only one I could do a Tom's check on was the 256mb, And it only did so-so when compared to some higher end stuff, I was wondering if I should just go with the stock graphics card, and save 150$, then upgrade it later.

What do you guys think? 2 hours, 44 minutes.

 

[b1gapl]

For that amount of money, you can still build a better spec computer, along with higher quality components.

 

[drewjustforyou]

Except for the graphics card being a rip, I really dont see myself saving to much building it myself, and though it isnt the Highest performance, Im not looking for the top of the line, It seems to me, if I were to build my own, most of the rigs that Ive seen in the 800 dollar price range are very comparable to this, except where the graphics card comes in. If I go to put in my own graphics card later, then this becomes a 650 dollar rig, which the price is definately right for? What do you suggest b1gapl?

Im only looking at doing this because of the 350 off. if this were a 1100 dollar computer Id definately be building my own.

 

[drewjustforyou]

nvm time is up... looks like its back to the building board

 

[b1gapl]

I'm glad you went with building instead. You'll learn more about the components, you're building with, and the parts are of higher quality, than Dell's.

What is your total budget?

 

[BlueHeaven]

What I started to notice with Dells special sales is that everything always ends up being the same price. Meaning, when they give you say a free XXXX upgrade, they raise the price slightly on one or a couple componets to match, then when the special is over, they start another special boasting the same thing about another "FREE" something or other. I think its mostly just slick advertising to intice people to buy fast before the deal is over constantly, and I think it works.

 

[drewjustforyou]

I'm glad you went with building instead. You'll learn more about the components, you're building with, and the parts are of higher quality, than Dell's.

What is your total budget?

Thing Is, Ive built computers in the past, Im certainly not new or afraid of the idea of doing it on my own, And while I do agree that higher quality parts will be put in if I do it myself (i.e. graphics card), I can allways swap them at a later time (like I was planning on doing with that 2 gigs of ram). Its nice to just have a finished project come to your door, especially on a busy schedule, that keeps me up till 1 a.m. when I can find all these great deals taht are about to end xD.

that and I really dont trust my living environment to build a computer in, the place is a disaster, and the cats basically have the run of it.

 

[b1gapl]

I see....well theres better pre-built places to check out, besides Dell. Like cyberpowerpc.com....They're decent, or so I've heard. Or ibuypower.com