Quick, before the forums go! What kind of Dell should I get to best play SL?

Yes, it's going to be a Dell. I've been advised lots of other things in the past, but I just can't cope with all the possibilities.

I do have a shiny new Dell catalogue here, though, and a husband who is fed-up enough with the downstairs computer to be willing to spring for a new one for me, so he can get this computer.

So, guys, if you were going to get a Dell that you wanted to be the best at playing SL, what would you look for?

Details, please! I can use all the advice I can get!

coco

If you insist on a Dell, here is a good one that will run SL just fine - assuming you can match it up with the fastest cable internet connection you can find and afford.


Dell Dimension XPS 700


The box should run around $2200 - 2300. Of course you can add upgrades, such as vid card, more memory, etc.... You could probably run the price upwards to $3000.

Check out the tech specs. It is a pretty hot system. Comes with a monster 750 watt power supply, and is even set up to run 2 vid cards, including the new Series 7 nVidia cards.

Thanks for the advice, Elwor!

My cable . . . isn't so hot. In fact, it's Charter Cable Sucks. Works sometimes, sometimes not. Works, sorta, most of the time. But there isn't anything I can do about that. I could get rid of some of the computer-side problems I have, though.

coco

Anything with a PCI-express slot and at least a gig of RAM. Get one with a decent videocard for the PCI-express slot or buy a decent card aftermarket.

My Dell is 3 years old and it runs SL, BF2 and Eve online just fine. If I max out the graphics on SL it gets a lil more laggy but it handles 100m view distance,local lighting bump/cloth and particles just fine.

2.8gig P4
nividia 6800gt
1 gig ddr

You can get a much better set up than this for way under $1000

$3000 for a system is insane. It's total overkill. If I ever considered paying $3k for a computer Dell would be waaaaayyy down on my list.

Best advice I can give you is build your own and do NOT buy a Del. My RL live in owns a PC shop and I am her techie. More Dells come through this door for repair during thier warranty period, which mysteriously seems to not get honorred properly, than all other brands and white boxes combined.

They're really shitty about supporting BIOS updates. Mine only has 2 slots for RAM which also sucks.

iI'm not a Dell lover by a long shot but I can buy a decent lease return Dell for less than I can scratch build so I like em for that. I haven't had any problems with my laptop or desktop. The thing with Dells is you're kinda stuck using their shit or compatiable for upgrades. For instance, one type of RAM work fine and the same shit, different brand name doesn't work at all. I'm a cheapskate on computers so it works for me, but your milage may vary.

Weigh the options between the XPS700 and XPS600. I recently got an XPS600 after a lot of hard thinking and got a lot more system for the money than I would have if I had gone for the XPS700. Both are really nice, but to me it looks like the XPS700 is great if you plan on upgrading and switching stuff around a lot. But, for the money, you can just get the XPS600 decked out from the start and not worry about it much. I love my XPS600.

Absolutely. I have an XPS 400 with 2 gigs RAM, Pentium-D, Radeon, SATA, and I love it.

I have a XPS 1710 lappy, which I love. The first thing I did do after delivery was a nice fresh install of Windows to get rid of all the bloat.

My last PC was a Dell ( was impatient on getting a dual core), it left a lot to be desired to say the least. I love to tinker in the guts of my PC..so short of replacing the mobo, PSU,case, and cooling the upgrade options are few and far between.

It would be a good PC for normal, everyday use, I've had no problems with it in that sense.


But also if your doing payments, figure out the payment term vs. how long the installed parts will be useful for ( to you). I typically overhaul my system every 6 months or so, but I always need the new toys .

Well, I should mention that because my husband is in graduate school, we also get a discount on Dell through his school. Which we also got for my daughter, who is in college, through hers.

That's why I really need advice on a Dell. (That, and because Dell is what I know, and I'm not a real techy person.)

Don't know if dual processor or whatever that is is vital, either. I believe I've heard it's irrelevant to SL, but I can't help but think it would be a good thing to have in general.

The computer I'm using now is a four-year-old Dell, one I had built for my mother, who was old and couldn't see all that well. Consequently, it has a very good graphics card for its day, NVideaGEForce something or other (very old now), and that has enabled me to have fewer problems with graphics than other people sometimes do - but little else that's good.

So I am pretty sure that I should get an NVidea graphics card with it; just not sure which one, though.

I always get the long-term (what I view as probable life of the computer - for my purposes, that is - say four years) support contract.

Thank you so much for the advice - taking notes.

In a conversation last night, a friend asked me if I were going to wait for Vista, which he thought MIGHT come out after Christmas. That sort of thing worries me, too. The things in the Dell catalogue have something that says 2005 (I forget which thing, and I don't have the catalogue in front of me), and that has held me back a bit.

I don't think I would wait for Vista, though, having been an ME survivor in the past. Vista could turn out to be similar; no real guarantee ahead of time about that; so I'd then have to wait even longer for the reviews, too.

I don't mind spending enough to get something really good that will likely do a four-year run. So in that sense, money isn't a problem. On the other hand, I don't want to pay for things that aren't really worth it, just out of ignorance.

And I for SURE want to make sure that the Dell I get is optimum for playing SL.

coco

Coco - to echo some of the things others have said here, in a nutshell:



Money Saving Tip: Instead of getting a Dell with an nVidia card built in, get one with a "Free PCI Express Slot". If you call Dell with a specific computer in mind, customer service should be able to tell you if it has one.

Then, once you get your computer, take it over to Best Buy or CompUSA - and have them install a nice nVidia card of your choice for you. (Or pay a neighborhood kid to do it for $20). Dell tends to substantially markup their addons, and mandating an nVidia card pre-installed may limit your choices.


Hope this helps!

Thanks so much, Travis!

coco

Heck, do that for the RAM too. Dell RAM is expensive as a "Get out of Hell Free" card. They want something like $150 for a 1 GB chip for my laptop which I could get elsewhere for $90! (Prices have probably gone down since I looked).

And good advice on Dell:
Make sure you buy the "business solution" or better, the low end consumer models suck balls and Dell, despite warenty, doesn't real support them. Also get one that's been out for a few months and ISN'T stocking the shelves of Dell Outlet stores like unwanted puppies--those systems aren't good when aquired for free.

I don't know what the business type desktop is, but for laptops it's the Latitudes--Aviod the Inspirion! It's not a travel computer! Heck, it's only supposed to be used something like 8 hours a week!

And, yes, I am very happy with my Latitude D600 and the service Dell has been providing me with it--I had it shipped to CA (from PA) and back with a replaced CD drive (the anti-theft screw was overtightened when the on-site tech replaced my motherboard)--in less time than predicted.
Prediction: 3 days.
Actual: just over 2. It went out Tuesday night I had it back Friday morning.