More bang for the buck($3000)

[dhgunit]

What in the ****? Sorry, OP I am confused. You WANT to go ahead a buy a Dell?

That statement is just foreign to me, why would you WANT to buy a Dell?

Why? Are you not confident in yourself in building a computer? My first build took me about 6 hours, I had some problems installing a beta XP 64-bit (when it just came out) in a RAID configuration because no drivers existed for 64-bit.

Now it take 1 to 1.5 hours to complete a build.

How about this. I will build you something way better than a $3,000 Dell XPS for $2,000 and we will split the $1,000 you saved down the middle. Everyone wins. K?

Here is a Dell XPS 630 build for $3,048.

Case: Black Dell XPS
Motherboard: "Unknown" Dell POS w/ locked BIOS
Processor: Intel Q9450
Memory: 4GB Corsair Dominator DDR2 800
Hard Drive: "Unknown" 750GB HDD
Additional HD: NONE
Optical Drive: CD/DVD Burner
Video Card: 9800GT
2nd Video Card: 9800GT
Monitor: Dell 27 inch LCD
OS: Windows Vista Home Premium
Keyboard: Logitech G15
Mouse: Logitech G9



Now lets check out prices on a custom build:

Case: Newegg.com - NZXT TEMPEST Crafted Series CS-NT-TEM-B Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases
Motherboard: Newegg.com - Foxconn P45A-S LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards
Processor: Newegg.com - Foxconn P45A-S LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards
Memory: Newegg.com - CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory (Bumped up to DDR2 1066, couldn't find DDR2 800 Dominators)
Hard Drive: Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD7500AAKS 750GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives
Optical Drive: Newegg.com - LG Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner w/ SecurDisc Tech - CD / DVD Burners
Video Card: Newegg.com - HIS Hightech H485F512P Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards (Much better than 9800GT)
2nd Video Card: Newegg.com - HIS Hightech H485F512P Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards (And also 2 free copies of Grid)
Monitor: Newegg.com - Hanns·G HG-281DPB Black 28" 3ms Widescreen LCD HDMI Monitor 500 cd/m2 800:1 Built in Speakers - LCD Monitors (Highly recommended from me, just got it)
OS: Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD - Operating Systems
Keyboard: Newegg.com - Logitech G15 2-Tone 104 Normal Keys 29 Function Keys USB Wired Standard Gaming Keyboard - Keyboards
Mouse: Newegg.com - Logitech G9 Black 5 Buttons Tilt Wheel USB Wired Laser 3200 dpi Gaming Mouse - Mouse


Total: $1,969 including shipping. $1,889 after rebates. For a better computer.

But you do what you want to do.

 

[Joeyboy]

if you don't want to build it yourself but still want more choice then Dell, why not order from a site that builds custom gaming PCs?

I only know of UK ones but i'm sure you could google custom gaming PCs and see what you find, they generally charge less then dell, your still going to lose out on like $400-600 but it's a lot better then buying a dell and losing out on like $1000 and not being able to have much choice in what goes in it.

 

[wafflehammer]

Hey guys stop saying bad stuff about dell

Seriously, today I went to Walmart, and saw their XPS config, which has almost the same specs are my rig, and it was what? 100 bucks more expensive?
I actually believed it was a preety good deal. 100 bucks is worth all the hassle a newbie might get in the beggining.

This coming from the guy who messed himself over wanting an Alienware case and when he got it figured out it was **** after everyone told him it was.

And dhgunit, you listed the mobo twice in your build without a link to the CPU


Dude, seriously..some great builds are being recommended. I know you are probably thinking we are jerks, but in the long run it'd be best to go custom. Dhgunit's rig is like 10x better than the dell and cost over $1000 less, you can OC (that will increase the power more!), it's custom!!!, and it has a kick *** looking case....something dell will never have lol.

EDIT:

if you don't want to build it yourself but still want more choice then Dell, why not order from a site that builds custom gaming PCs?

This is a great idea too! It would cost you probably $100-150 more than buying a custom but you would still save around $900. You won't have to worry about messing anything up either. Ask Surgevel on this website, he has a company that does it. I'm sure he could give you some good estimates on the prices.

 

[Redmo0n]

Yeh that would be a lot better than buying a dell. Some of the pre built rigs from custom build company's are ok.

@ OP: Sorry for sounding harsh before but i really dislike dell. When i went to the shopping maul in my area after school there where a bunch of dell workers standing around a booth showing off the XPS machines. Just the look on there faces when people where in awe over how "leet" the computers where made me want to go kick their display table over. Also other company's (like HP) have ripped my dad off before and have made me bitter :laughing:

 

[Nagasama]

i think you guys drove the poor fella off...
but yeah i priced out a dell with an e7200, 320hdd, 2gb ram, 8800gt, and whatever mobo and psu they use for a customer, no shipping. then i went and figured an e8500, p5q pro, 4gb adata, 500gb seagate, a centurion 5, corsair 550vx, a 9800gtx, and vista premium and it worked out to be like, 75 bucks more for me to build it AND ship it. and im making about 350 bucks on the deal.
i had no idea i could be so competitive with them, price wise (i never tried to be lol)...but when you get into higher-end stuff, its actually easy to build and make money. when you get into low end, forget it...you cant do it for what they can (unless its for yourself).
OP well, as everyone else so vehemently stated, i would build it. save the cash. take your girlfriend on a trip with the 1800 dollars you save man.

to everyone else, you guys need to relax on the new posters here. not everyone knows they can build for so much cheaper. let them know that without being such ***holes about it.

 

[veg1992]

Dhgunit you put the Board twice

I'm done recommending Q6600's until Intel releases some good batches that don't overclock like B2 Phenom's...

I'm only recommending e8400/e7200 for the most part..

and guys lay off the new guy.. But if you are afraid to build it, you can pay a local buddy to do it, or try a better site to buy online off, like Cyberpower, or use NCIXUS.com, then choose the parts, and they'll put it together for $10

 

[Hoodstar]

What in the ****? Sorry, OP I am confused. You WANT to go ahead a buy a Dell?

That statement is just foreign to me, why would you WANT to buy a Dell?

Why? Are you not confident in yourself in building a computer? My first build took me about 6 hours, I had some problems installing a beta XP 64-bit (when it just came out) in a RAID configuration because no drivers existed for 64-bit.

Now it take 1 to 1.5 hours to complete a build.

How about this. I will build you something way better than a $3,000 Dell XPS for $2,000 and we will split the $1,000 you saved down the middle. Everyone wins. K?

Here is a Dell XPS 630 build for $3,048.

Case: Black Dell XPS
Motherboard: "Unknown" Dell POS w/ locked BIOS
Processor: Intel Q9450
Memory: 4GB Corsair Dominator DDR2 800
Hard Drive: "Unknown" 750GB HDD
Additional HD: NONE
Optical Drive: CD/DVD Burner
Video Card: 9800GT
2nd Video Card: 9800GT
Monitor: Dell 27 inch LCD
OS: Windows Vista Home Premium
Keyboard: Logitech G15
Mouse: Logitech G9



Now lets check out prices on a custom build:

Case: Newegg.com - NZXT TEMPEST Crafted Series CS-NT-TEM-B Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases
Motherboard: Newegg.com - Foxconn P45A-S LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards
Processor: Newegg.com - Foxconn P45A-S LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards
Memory: Newegg.com - CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory (Bumped up to DDR2 1066, couldn't find DDR2 800 Dominators)
Hard Drive: Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD7500AAKS 750GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives
Optical Drive: Newegg.com - LG Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner w/ SecurDisc Tech - CD / DVD Burners
Video Card: Newegg.com - HIS Hightech H485F512P Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards (Much better than 9800GT)
2nd Video Card: Newegg.com - HIS Hightech H485F512P Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards (And also 2 free copies of Grid)
Monitor: Newegg.com - Hanns·G HG-281DPB Black 28" 3ms Widescreen LCD HDMI Monitor 500 cd/m2 800:1 Built in Speakers - LCD Monitors (Highly recommended from me, just got it)
OS: Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD - Operating Systems
Keyboard: Newegg.com - Logitech G15 2-Tone 104 Normal Keys 29 Function Keys USB Wired Standard Gaming Keyboard - Keyboards
Mouse: Newegg.com - Logitech G9 Black 5 Buttons Tilt Wheel USB Wired Laser 3200 dpi Gaming Mouse - Mouse


Total: $1,969 including shipping. $1,889 after rebates. For a better computer.

But you do what you want to do.

So do you guys agree that this is the best I could get(no better options). Like I said I have $3000 to spend, but if I can't get better than that's good too. And yes I am not confident to put this rig together because how would I organize all the parts in the case. I don't want to ruin anything and end up wasting money. I wanna take things out and replace them with ease. I may just take it to be put together. Or I may learn by the time I end up buying em. Thanks for the help guys, but let me know if I can upgrade this anymore.

 

[Redmo0n]

Well basically that will do everything you could possibly want.

You could probably take the 2x 4850's out and just get a 4870x2 since it's in your budget. For the cpu you could go with a q9550 and you need a power supply with that, so get a Corsair 750tx.

That will annihilate any game. Building is really easy, but if you really don't want to do it, i think newegg builds for like $100.

 

[Prototype]

look at this post seems pretty good u wont need to spend $3000 just to play games unless u want to overclock very high and get over 20k 3dmark06

Official XS PC Rig Building Guide - XtremeSystems Forums

 

[Luke]

no, my build would be practically the best(but i would say go with the other on as this is a little bit overkill for a new builder) . But you could still go more on it. But since you have the money i would go for it. IF i added any more to it it would be overkill.

If you do not want to attempt to build your own pc ncix will build it for you, and you get to select the parts.

everyone else, you guys need to relax on the new posters here. not everyone knows they can build for so much cheaper. let them know that without being such ***holes about it.

I hope your not talking to me aswell, as i was trying to help.