A new system - some advice please!

osaddictosaddict London, UK
edited April 2007 in Hardware
Right, I have seen a rather good offer:

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?b&c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&oc=D04E06a&fb=1&vw=list

And I am highly tempted to go for it - come on- around £500 including home premium vista AND (the selling point) a 22" widescreen TFT.

OK so I know DELL components aren't what they used to be (my current dell is 7yrs old and has coped pretty well) BUT at that price - it will be a significant improvement on a 7yr old P3 with 640mb ram :p

I want to add more memory than the current 1gb, someone told me that with DDR2 modules:

1. I should NOT mix and match brands - i.e. 1 dell 1 crucial = no no
2. I should use matched pairs
3. I should NOT use all 4 slots on the mobo
4. I should NOT have a 2x crucial 1gb and 2x Dell 512.

In essence he thinks that I should either bit the bullet and give dell 70 quid for a 2gb model, or sell the 2 512's that come with it and buy 2gb from crucial...

What do you think of the spec, and most importantly, is my friends advice on the DDR 2 correct and wise?!

Thanks!

Comments

  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited April 2007
    Your friend's advice on the memory was very good.

    Considering the computer includes the 22" monitor, it would seem that's a good price, but then, I don't track UK/European off-the-shelf computer prices. I'm a little concerned about the processor - nothing wrong with it, but that's either near the bottom of the performance scale or is Intel's entry level Core 2 Duo CPU. I guess that's one economizer to keep that Dell's price attractive. Also, don't plan on heavy duty gaming with either of the video card options for that computer. If you are mainly interested in multitasking, internet use, office applications, and no more than moderate gaming, that computer would probably would work well for you.

    Please tell us what your intended use for your new computer will be, how long you anticipate keeping it, what future uses you might have for it, and if you think you might want to upgrade its hardware in the future.
  • osaddictosaddict London, UK
    edited April 2007
    Thanks Leonardo, as I thought, my friend is rarely wrong, sometimes overly pedantic, but hardly ever wrong!

    As for the use of the machine, some find it unbelievable when I say I never game on a pc - but hey, I've had this very pc I am typing on right now since March 2000, and I've never gamed on it one bit! (unless you include solitaire :p )

    My main use is plain every day surfing, all be it with a fair few tabs on the go and some tunes in the background - but nothing major.

    I used to edit photo's a lot in photoshop and edit some wav files in adobe audition. I'd like a machine that can do these tasks fairly easily, I also occasionally encode video in to different formats.

    The fact that I can do all the above (all be it slowly) on a P3 750mhz with 640mb of ram suggests that it will be quicker on the proposed machine :)

    I was also told by my friend that I could overclock the processor to get near 6600 specs (If the dell mobo allowed it)

    To give you an idea- to make a pc with slightly better spec and decent quality components would cost around 600 GBP for the base unit.

    The 22" screen retails for 307 at dell...... hence why I am tempted (even though I think I could live without a 22" screen :p )
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited April 2007
    s for the use of the machine, some find it unbelievable when I say I never game on a pc -
    I find it believable. Except for occasional pinball or Space Invaders, I don't game on my computers.
    I used to edit photo's a lot in photoshop and edit some wav files in adobe audition. I'd like a machine that can do these tasks fairly easily, I also occasionally encode video in to different formats.
    If it were me and I wanted to perform those tasks more than once a week, I'd spring for a faster processor than the one you've selected. Sure, the Dell you picked would a LOT faster than your current system, but for a new machine, why not a faster processor for your encoding? Your other uses though, would be met quite nicely with the selected processor.
    was also told by my friend that I could overclock the processor to get near 6600 specs (If the dell mobo allowed it)
    Which it will not. Not at all.

    Considering the monitor that comes with that package, it's a very good deal in my opinion.
  • VicarVicar Icrontian
    edited April 2007
    If you can afford it increase the cpu spec to Intel® Viiv™ Core™ 2 Duo E6300Processor. Overall the spec is not too bad for the price.

    Just my 2pence worth.
  • osaddictosaddict London, UK
    edited April 2007
    Already purchased it - all as stock but with 2gb ram rather than the advertized 1gb

    Should be a bit of an upgrade on a 7 yeart old P3 dell!
  • VicarVicar Icrontian
    edited April 2007
    Hope you have lots of fun with it:D
  • osaddictosaddict London, UK
    edited April 2007
    It's looking like its going to be a lot of fun getting vista to work properly.

    We have a laptop here with home premium and some desktops with business vista - I tried to rename a .sys file - it wouldn't let me - right mare, I had to follow this:
    Here's a more robust way of swapping in the XP usbaudio.sys driver, lifted from the support page of another peripheral manufacturer whose product failed to work on Vista:

    1) Obtain the usbaudio.sys file from a Windows XP machine (in c:\windows\system32\drivers)
    2) On the Vista machine, click Start, type cmd in the search box and press Ctrl, Shift & Enter so you get a "root" command shell window
    3) Type cd \windows\system32\drivers and press Enter
    4) Type takeown /f USBAUDIO.sys and press Enter
    5) Type cacls USBAUDIO.sys /G "Your Username":f, press Enter, and Y when asked. (Note the quotes around username)
    6) Type del USBAUDIO.sys, press enter
    7) Copy the XP version of USBAUDIO.sys to c:\windows\system32\drivers
    8) Type cd c:\windows\system32\DriverStore\FileRepository\wdma_usb.inf_9ce240de, press Enter
    9) Type takeown /f USBAUDIO.sys, press Enter
    10) Type cacls USBAUDIO.sys /G "Your Username":f, press Enter, and Y when asked. (Note the quotes around username)
    11) Type del USBAUDIO.sys, press Enter
    12) Copy the XP version of USBAUDIO.sys to c:\windows\system32\DriverStore\FileRepository\wdma_usb.inf_9ce240de
    13) Connect the USB audio device that was failing - it should now work
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited April 2007
    I think you will enjoy your new computer very much. It will meet all your needs with power to spare.

    Sorry, I can't help you with Vista. Zero experience for me on that OS.
  • osaddictosaddict London, UK
    edited April 2007
    I'm getting experience at work - its quite cool but time consuming atm!
  • osaddictosaddict London, UK
    edited April 2007
    The system is sitting at home waiting for me - whilst I'm sitting at work!! Arrgh!

    What Anti-Virus do you guys reckon I should wack on before I unleash it on the web?
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited April 2007
    AVG 7.5free
    It works, and it's free.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited April 2007
    osaddict wrote:
    The system is sitting at home waiting for me - whilst I'm sitting at work!! Arrgh!

    What Anti-Virus do you guys reckon I should wack on before I unleash it on the web?

    On the strange occasion that I use an AV engine, AVG is my choice as well.
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