I've been meaning to do this for a while and finally bit the bullet today.
Ordered a new Dell.

This is what I got, they said Feb 9th I should have it:

Dell Dimension XPS Gen 4
Pentium® 4 Processor 570 with HT Technology (3.80GHz, 800 FSB)
Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional
1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz (2x512M)
250GB SATA Hard Drive
Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + 16x DVD+/-RW w/ dbl layer write capable
WordPerfect® Powerful Word Processing
19 in 1905FP Dell Ultrasharp™ Digital Flat Panel Display
256MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) nVidia GeForce 6800
Sound Blaster Audigy™2 (D) Card w/Dolby 5.1
Dell A425 Speakers w/Subwoofer
Dell Multimedia USB Keyboard
Dell Optical USB Mouse
56K PCI Telephony Modem
Integrated Gigabit Ethernet
4years limited warranty,plus 4 years Next Business Day Onsite Service

** It was either this or a custom flame job for the truck

I'll let you guys know how it is after it arrives.

 

I've got one i will sell real cheep
If you read the "hacked" thread you'll know what i'm talking about

 

Yeah, what do you plan on doin with that sucker? That's alot of power and real estate for surfing the web

 

BAH!! I wish you would have said something about buying a dell!!!! I have a special discount code I can give out that gives you 30% off

(I get it through my school)

 

Ive had my dell about 3 years now. Im going with an alienware next.

 

Always buy every bit of RAM you can afford....Windows sucks it up.

Good job getting XP Pro and not home. Pro is definitely the better choice.

I just bought their new XPS (blue case) about a year ago.

Very nice system....

I've thought about an Alienware for my next but my wife gets nice options from Dell through her company...and interest free loan for 2 years.

Congrats.

 

One math type program I use takes an enormous amount of computing power.
It makes millions of calculations, and the faster my processor is, the less my wait time is waiting for the results.

It's like a high end chess program but for backgammon.
Anytime I need to analyze a position or a sequence of moves, I enter it into the program, adjust the parameters, and then "wait, wait, and wait".

The lower the accuracy, the faster the speed, everything is a compromise.
This is why I wanted the fastest chip I could afford - to speed up my wait time.

If I didn't use that software, my current Dell 1.7 would last me for many years to come.

Price? bleh, almost 4k Canadian.

Thanks for the offer Joe, but I don't think your coupons will work over the border.
I wish they would!

I already have my current pc sold for $700, and my wife was going to buy a flat panel for hers, so she's inheriting my current 17 inch flat panel, and her old 19 inch monstrosity is getting sold with my tower.

 

Hey Habibi,
What are you using? Matlab, an Astronomy program or is it a CAD type program? Is it Linux based?

I use the same types of programs


There are alot of programs that uses "millions of calculations "

Craz3d has a good question. You have a dual FSB at 533 MHz and 1 gig RAM. You need to optimize the routine handler for your the best thru-put and RAM usage.

Why didn't you go the RISC processor route?

It's faster at half the specs. Like a Sun workstation.

I'm looking at getting the new Apple computer compact for my Grand-daughter. It doesn't have the vulnerabilities of the MS systems and will emulate MS programs. No nasty pop-ups.

All that said, "Dude!!! I just got a DELL" as well. Great upgrade from my 880 MHz machine.

Enjoy

 

Congrats!! I got my Dell about 4 months ago and I am liking it sooo much better than the POS HP we had!

Enjoy

 

Suggestion wanta buy a good used PC, or Laptop really cheap? Go to a big College Town, around the end of the semester, the College kids will sell you their computer, mostly laptops, really cheap, and they just tell their rich parents that they lost it. Or try the resale shops in any College Town they have tons of them, I got a IBM Think Pad for only $250 College kids will sell you ANYTHING for cash.

 

Has it been 4 months already?
Seems like yesterday you ordered it. I remember the thread like it was yesterday.
Btw, what software came standard with yours?
I didnt spring with any software because I'm sure I have the CD's for office small biz edition around here that came with my current desktop, or maybe my laptop, so I figured I could just use that instead of buying it again.

 

I know it's a little late for it now, but if you have any ability to work inside a computer you should build your own. The reason I say this is not because it's cheaper and easier to customize, but you have the ability to overclock it to squeez every ounce of processor power out of it.

Example being, I built and AMD Athalon 64 3000+ system at 2.0ghz. With the overclocker friendly motherboard and a big ol heatsink on the processor I can get 2.4ghz out of it easy. That's a %20 gain in raw speed. You can also put faster ram in it and overclock the entire bus system. I don't know what program you're using so I couldn't tell you if you would have been better off with the AMD 64 or Pentium. The AMD 64 has a different kind of memory controller (on chip) that really dominates with some memory intensive stuff.

Anyway, for future consideration. That Dell will more than likely kick the snot out of your old computer. If you're gonna buy a big name PC, Dell is the best IMHO.

 

I agree with Viper....if you want the absolute best you can get you need to build your own....but....

You need to thourghly research each component and try to find out how each component works with others.

The upside is you know exactly how your computer is built and you control its final specs and speed.

The downside....time and having to deal with multiple vendors for warranties.

I built my own for years but I deal with these headaches every day and when it came time for my own...I was frankly too lazy to bother building another one. I've been happy with my Dell.

 

Must be nice having that kind of money....ALIENWARE is expensive. If you look up the word "expensive" in the dictionary, it has a URL to ALIENWARES website.

 

Yep it would be nice having that kind of money, but im a monthly payment type guy.