Author Topic: Before I Buy This, Tell Me ... (Read 233 times)

Jilseponie Wyndon · « **on:** February 12, 2007, 06:38:51 pm »

I am going to be purchasing a Dell XPS 410 System. I am looking for input and comments on compatability and running NWN and NWN2. Funds are limited. Here are the components:

Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E6600 (4MB L2 Cache,2.4GHz,1066 FSB)
Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium (Doesn't offer another version)
1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 2 DIMMs
320GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
Single Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability
19 inch Ultrasharp™ 1907FP Digital Flat Panel
256MB nVidia GeForce 7900 GS
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
56K PCI Data Fax Modem (No cable here DSL through standard phone line)

Looking to purchase this weekend ... Current comp is 5-6 years old. Any help would be appreciated.

~ Jil

Stephen_Zuckerman · « **Reply #1 on:** February 12, 2007, 06:49:18 pm »

I would suggest buying those components yourself, and putting it together.

And I would also advise rather going with XP Pro or a Linux derivative than Vista.

The system you describe there, just to field a wild, uneducated guess, would run you upwards of fifteen hundred dollars (I'm guessing much lower than I actually think it would be) from Dell.

Buying the components individually (and perhaps getting a cheaper LCD monitor and cutting back on that hard drive) WILL cut that price down, if you shop around. I would advise against going to the big stores. Find a quality hole in the wall, run by a family from where this stuff is all made. It's the sort of place I get my components from.

----------

BUT I REREAD THE POST.

And oh, heck yes. That'll run NWN and NWN2 as high as they'll go. That baby'll blow you away in terms of performance ALMOST as well as it'll blow you away when you look at the pricetag.

All of that said, I make no pretense about not being biased against Big Computer Companies.

Marswipp · « **Reply #2 on:** February 12, 2007, 06:53:13 pm »

I might buy something like that only if it is a reasonable price. ( Less than $1,599.99 ) Alas, I would most likely build my own, and spend about $900.00.

Eorendil · « **Reply #3 on:** February 12, 2007, 06:54:41 pm »

I work for a company that works exclusively for Dell. One of the other techs hates putting together his own machines and so buys from Dell. *shrugs* He says he's had very little trouble with his XPS system. I'm just too much into tweaking, modding and building.
Anyway.. component-wise it'll do you good. While I'm an AMD fan I'm familiar with the improvements and performance advantages of the Core2 Duo Intel processors. I don't think you'd have trouble running NWN and NWN2 but I'd trash Vista as soon as I got it and install XP Professional if it were me. Again, that's just me. I've had no experience or tell of how well or if NWN and NWN2 run on Vista.

Fatherchaos · « **Reply #4 on:** February 12, 2007, 07:15:13 pm »

Hi mate,

I looked over your specs and would concur with the posters above. Component wise, this machine will do nicely to run nwn and nwn2. However, I noticed that you had a 56k modem included as part of the specs with the tag line "No cable here DSL through standard phone line"

If you intend to use the computer for faxes and dialup, perfect. If you have no such intentions then I do not see why the 56k modem is required for you to use DSL. Typically, dsl provides you with a network modem that you then patch into directly or via a router. Mabey taking out the modem can save some cash.

Also, vista will need to be the first thing on the chopping block. Windows xp pro should be your operating system of choice for nwn and nwn2, as in recent postings I've read that both have had serious problems with Vista (all from google, feel free to confirm).

Lastly, be sure to read through the multi-cpu sticky over on the forums at nwn.bioware.com. Some issues may present themselves that are easily solvable with a new cpu driver and setting processor affinity in the nwnplayer.ini. I'll post the link if your unable to find it.

Jilseponie Wyndon · « **Reply #5 on:** February 12, 2007, 07:53:52 pm »

Ok, I live out in the boondocks almost and yes I fax many things. As for building myself a unit .. heh ... technologically impaired I'm afraid. VERY impaired. As for the VISTA, maybe a phone call to order they would install the pro instead, if thats what you think would suit the needs here.

Stephen_Zuckerman · « **Reply #6 on:** February 12, 2007, 08:23:46 pm »

It's not as hard as most people would think, Jil. The hardest part is making it go once it's all together.

I gave a friend of mine an old harddrive of mine, and he was freaking out about not knowing how to install it. I told him the two plugs to put into it, and he stared at me for a few moments before asking "is that it?"

Putting a computer together is pretty much all like that.

If you've got a friend within an hour's drive, just about anyone who CAN would be willing to put your computer together for the price of pizza and some drinks. *Chuckles.*

Vista, though, aye. It needs the axe, badly.

Fatherchaos · « **Reply #7 on:** February 12, 2007, 08:51:26 pm »

I both agree and disagree with Stephen here. If you have some experienced friends nearby, feel free to put a call out to them. However, do not, under any circumstances, buy cheap or low quality hardware. What would seem like a good deal today can lead to tomorrows nightmare. I can confirm this from my 12+ years in the field of engineering, the fact that not one of my servers or systems have had major problems (knock on wood) and that many of the systems I've serviced have suffered from the discount component issue. Also, before you buy any component from anyone, read the reviews on it. Everything from motherboard to mouse. Newegg,chumbo,zipzoomfly,provantage,tiger-direct,cds,svc,crazy-pc (forgetting a few others that I deal with) those would be great sites to buy from overall if you want to order your components.

That said, if you don't have an experienced hand to guide you through that first run, I would highly advise a system with a warranty. The dell may be your best and safest option.

Of course, the internet is flooded with reliable machines, so you may also want to consider alienware, falcon northwest, and a few other reputable system manufacturers.

Laldiien · « **Reply #8 on:** February 13, 2007, 03:15:41 am »

Heya Jil. Good for the new hardware upgrade. Nothing makes the heart sing like hearing the fan wind up for the first time. As for Dell vs. Home built, I am squarely in the "build it yourself" camp. That being said, if you are uncomfortable building it, don't. If someone held me down, put a gun to my head and forced me to buy a PC made by someone else, I'd by Dell. Good product, good warranty, good support.
And now the other shoe. from THIS website.
1.51: Neverwinter Nights Windows Vista compatibility issues. (All versions) (Back to Top)
All versions of Neverwinter Nights to v1.68 are not compatible with Windows Vista and have been blocked from installation by the operating system. BioWare hopes to address this issue in a future NWN patch release
Get XP Pro, if you can.

Eight-Bit · « **Reply #9 on:** February 13, 2007, 06:01:58 am »

I was unaware that Dell updated their FSB speeds to something that actually took advantage of the processors they crammed in them.
Jil, if you don't know any tech-savvy people, and don't want to go through any sort of trial and error that usually comes with building your firstcomputer, just go with this.

Talan Va'lash · « **Reply #10 on:** February 13, 2007, 11:36:44 am »

Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E6600 (4MB L2 Cache,2.4GHz,1066 FSB) Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium (Doesn't offer another version) 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 2 DIMMs 320GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™ Single Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability 19 inch Ultrasharp™ 1907FP Digital Flat Panel 256MB nVidia GeForce 7900 GS Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio 56K PCI Data Fax Modem (No cable here DSL through standard phone line)

Green means good to go Red means you should reconsider (see notes below) Orange means, depends on what exactly the orange line means.

OS - Try not to end up with vista... I've managed to avoid even looking at the thing but everyone I've talked to thats running it has only complaints to offer about it. Also as mentioned above NWN2 might not run on it, and it's slower than XP. Ram - Does that mean 2, 1GB sticks of ram for a total of 2GB? or 2 sticks for a total of 1GB (making each one 512MB?) I'd recommend 2GB total, but if you're only getting 1GB it would be best to get 1 stick of 1GB rather than 2, 512MB to leave room for expanding it later (your motherboard will only have a certain number of slots for ram most likely something like 4.) Posted by 8Bit:

Quote

Jil, if you don't know any tech-savvy people, and don't want to go through any sort of trial and error that usually comes with building your first computer, just go with this.

I support this statement.

egoober · « **Reply #11 on:** February 13, 2007, 12:47:47 pm »

The comments above seem to sum it up pretty well. Talan's comment about the RAM is spot on.
The XPS's are good, solid, systems. They may not be quite as fast as a home-built machine of similar Spec, but you certainly win on ease of installation, and price. Economies of scale seem to have resulted in a situation where Dell's products often come out cheaper than buying the components would be!

I'd only add a this: If budget allows, consider the option of going for an actual soundcard, rather than the onboard one. Many people don't realise the massive impact that audio hardware acceleration has to a game's performance - even a cheap Creative Audigy 2 card will give MUCH higher performance the the one on the motherboard. Just don't expect it to work with Vista, the only Creative cards with half-way decent drivers for Vista are the newer X-Fi cards.

Personally, having run it for a time, I like Vista. The interface is nice, and certainly the inbuilt security is a welcome change. However, backwards compatibility is questionable, and it's hardware demands are considerably greater. A Vista system IS going to run slower than an equivalent XP system.

For the record, I've had no problems (other than performance related to the hardware on which it was installed) running both NWN and NWN2 under Vista. I'm trying to remember if I did anything unusual to get NWN working, and nothing comes to mind......

Oh, and one last thing. If you go for a Dell, the first thing you should do after getting it up and running, is go through Add/remove Programs (in Control Panel) and remove all the rubbish you will never need, which Dell thoughtfully clog every new system up with.

YMMV, IMHO, and all other disclaimers apply!

lunchboxkilla · « **Reply #12 on:** February 13, 2007, 02:00:44 pm »

Ok, the dell XPs systems are... how can i put this....Crappy.....
Fid your going to buy a computer.. Build it. If i was going to buy my newst current computer it woulf of cost em around 10,000 and thats the pricing from one website that makes the world's most powerfulest pcs...Granted my parts arn't but it onlyu costed me around 4000, that's a savings of 6000

But if your lacking the skills to put a PC together....
Gateway Pcs are really sturdy

The thing you could do is buy a Gateway® DX430S
Intel® Core™2 Duo E4300 (1.8GHz 800MHz FSB 2MB cache, non-HT)1

• Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium (32-bit)
• 1024MB 667MHz Dual-Channel DDR2 SDRAM (2-512MB modules)
• 160GB 7200rpm Serial ATA II hard drive w/ 8MB cache
• Gateway 19" Widescreen HD LCD Display
• 16x Double-Layer Multi-Format DVD±/R±RW/CD-R/RW recorder
• Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator X3000 with Maximum 384MB Shared Memory (Dynamic Video Memory Technology)
• Integrated Intel® 7.1 high-definition audio
• 15-in-1 Memory Card Reader
(link here http://www.gateway.com/products/gconfig/prodhmseries.asp?seg=hm&gcseries=dx430&clv=Img )
Once gotten Upgrade it wiht gfx card ($150-$600)
a gig stick of ram
and slap another 160 Gig hd into it
There are other cheeper PC out there iun gateway but I would call them and ask if they have PCI express slots.
Note: you can change Vista to XP for free
But please Stay away from dell I never have any thing good to say about dell pcs..

Jilseponie Wyndon · « **Reply #13 on:** February 13, 2007, 04:58:20 pm »

Ok, the 1gig mem is 2-512MB modules. And I only have about 2,000 True to work with. I spoke with Dell and they said that Vista comes with everything but Microsoft has a program they call a Rollback to get you Xp pro. I tried alienware, falcon northwest mentioned by Fatherchaos but the units were quite expensive and had parts of a lower grade than what Dell offered. I know many folk that have gateways and wish they bought otherwise. And no ... I know no one that builds systems. I live out in the boonies ... just wildlife out here. Heh

Talan Va'lash · « **Reply #14 on:** February 13, 2007, 07:26:39 pm »

I'll build you a sweet box for 2000! heh

I just ordered parts for a similarly spec'ed machine for $550 US (Although thats with no OS and no monitor.)

AMD A64 X2 3600+ AM2 1.9G
Nvidia 7600 256MB
2GB ram, 2x 1MB
DVD +-RW/ CD-RW
160GB WD HD

Went with the audio on the motherboard but.. I was on a very tight budget.

hawklen · « **Reply #15 on:** February 14, 2007, 01:48:33 am »

I disagree on the lower grade comment there. Dell builds for bulk. The others for quality and performance. I havent been in the hardware game in a year or two. I usually build mine from the ground up. As for vista..dump it. dump it fast. stick with XP. I dont like an OS telling me Im an idiot, and let it do things that I am far more capable of doing. *&^&* MS Oh good luck on your system whatever you choose!

lunchboxkilla · « **Reply #16 on:** February 14, 2007, 02:56:18 am »

GATEWAY PLEASE!!!

Im going to stress this and tell you not to get a dell please i beg of you not to get a dell gate way has XP instead of Vista

please please please for the love of lucinda don't get a dell you will regret it till you get a new pc

If your head on for getting a dell, get a people Pc if they still exist... becuse than you know it stinks then pretending it doesn't stink and then admits to it a week later.

vitor · « **Reply #17 on:** February 14, 2007, 11:53:57 am »

TV's suggestion isthe best i've seen here, cheap and works.As i know, AMD processors are better then Intel. 2 GB ram (2 x 1GB). DVD (obviously =P), 80 ~ 120 GB HD (i use a 40GB,i have no prob until current moment, there's no need for 250GB and such... unless you download things all the day and everyday). About the video card.... that's really important, I would choose a XFX GeForce 6800 ULTRA (the Memory Bus: 256 bit, only ultra versions from XFX have this feature, others are 128 bit, or you may get 7900... or even one of Series 8,butthat can be really expensive).
About Dual Core Processors, some time ago i've been reading a forum about nwn2, people said it doesn't have support for it, so it runs using only one of them. I don't know if that have been fixed, so im not sure about that.

lonnarin · « **Reply #18 on:** February 14, 2007, 12:25:09 pm »

Quote

lunchboxkilla - 2/14/2007 2:56 AM

Im going to stress this and tell you not to get a dell please i beg of you not to get a dell gate way has XP instead of Vista

please please please for the love of lucinda don't get a dell you will regret it till you get a new pc

If your head on for getting a dell, get a people Pc if they still exist... becuse than you know it stinks then pretending it doesn't stink and then admits to it a week later.

on a related note... http://cad-comic.com/comic.php?d=20021109

Talan Va'lash · « **Reply #19 on:** February 14, 2007, 12:38:18 pm »

meh I've had good experiences AND bad experiences with both gateway and dell.

It's basically a crap shoot if you end up with a piece of hardware thats got a mfg. error in it or not...

Get it, put it through the paces and if ANYTHING remotely seems to be weird or not working return it for a new one within the first 14-30 days depending on your return policy. A good thing to check (on xp at least not sure how to get to it in vista) is the event viewer. it's basically the system log and if there are errors after running a few days something might be wrong.

Go to Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Event Viewer

Things with red ! signs are bad