Help me configure my new PC

[Self Made]

I'm looking for an excellent, state-of-the-art machine, but not an extravagant (e.g. gaming) one. I don't do anything extremely resource intensive like gaming or video editing. When doing my regular work (I spend a lot of time on the computer) I keep a few applications open at the same time, e.g. Word, Firefox, and Outlook. For poker, I'm currently playing two tables and running PT, Pahud, and a handgrabber. I could see myself playing four tables over two rooms eventually. I'm considering a Dell XPS 410, which is their high-end consumer model (their XPS 720 gaming machine is more expensive). What options, below, should I choose?

Processor:
- Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor E6320 (4MB L2 cache,1.86GHz,1066FSB) [subtract $50]
- Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E6600 (4MB L2 Cache,2.4GHz,1066 FSB) [Included in Price]
- Intel® Core™ 2 Q6600 Quad-Core (8MB L2 cache,2.4GHz,1066FSB) [add $100]
- Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E6700 (4MB L2 Cache,2.66GHz,1066 FSB) [add $250]

Memory:
2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 2 DIMMs [Included in Price]
2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 2 DIMMs [add $50]
3GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 4 DIMMs [add $150]
4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 4 DIMMs [add $270]
4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 4 DIMMs [add $320]
<font color="red"> I've always heard that memory is the most important thing, but also heard that Vista can't access a full 4 GB.</font>

Hard Drive:
- 320GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™ [Included in Price]
- 500GB Performance RAID 0 (2 x 250GB SATA 3Gb/s 7200 RPM HDDs) [add $70]
- DataSafe 250GB (Includes main hard drive plus a hidden reserve hard drive) [add $70]
- 500GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™ [add $80]
- DataSafe 320GB (Includes main hard drive plus a hidden reserve hard drive) [add $170]
- 640GB Performance RAID 0 (2 x 320GB SATA 3Gb/s 7200 RPM HDDs) [add $170]
- 750GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™ [add $190]
- DataSafe 500GB (Includes main hard drive plus a hidden reserve hard drive) [add $330]
- 1TB Performance RAID 0 (2 x 500GB SATA 3Gb/s 7200 RPM HDDs) [add $330]
- DataSafe 750GB (Includes main hard drive plus a hidden reserve hard drive) [add $540]
- 1.5TB Performance RAID 0 (2 x 750GB SATA 3Gb/s 7200 RPM HDDs) [add $540]
<font color="red"> Is RAID 0 a good idea? Is it much faster than a single drive? I guess it would fail at twice the rate of a single drive, but I've never had a hard drive die. The XPS 720's offer a 10,000 RPM WD Raptor drive or RAID 0 array, 160/320 GB respectively, as an option. </font>

Video Card:
- 128MB nVidia GeForce 8300 GS [Included in Price]
- 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT-DDR3 [add $100]
- 256MB nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS [add $200]
- 768MB nVidia GeForce 8800 GTX [add $600]
<font color="red"> The 8300 isn't listed on nVidia's web site. All are DirectX 10. They say the 8800 offers about twice the performance as the 8600, but isn't as good for DVD/Blu-ray playback (not something I expect to do anyway).
I just got a 1600x1200 monitor, which is great for poker, but for other work I wish I had something wider to do two things at once. I'm thinking of getting a cheap second monitor with the Dell and running them both. It looks like model 8600 or higher offers two outputs for dual monitors.</font>

Vista version:
- Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium [Included in Price]
- Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate [add $149]
- Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate + Belkin Easy Transfer Cable [add $188]
<font color="red"> Remote access looks like the only Ultimate feature I'd be interested in, but I can get that free from LogMeIn, so I'll probably get Home Premium. </font>

Optical Drive:
- Single Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability [Included in Price]
- Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + 16x DVD+/-RW w/ dbl layer write capable [add $30]
- Dual Drives: 48x Combo + 16x DVD+/-RW w/ dbl layer write capable [add $40]
- 2X Blu-ray Drive [available in most expensive configuration]
- Dual Drives: 2X Blu-ray and 16x DVD-ROM Drive [available in a more expensive configuration, add $30]
- Dual Drives: 2X Blu-ray and 16x DVD+/-RW w/ dbl layer write capable [available in a more expensive configuration, add $50]
<font color="red"> Should I get a Blu-ray drive? It looks to me like they'll win the standards war, but it could take a few more years. </font>

Keyboard and mouse:
<font color="red"> Do you think there is any advantage to a cordless keyboard and/or pointing device?
None of their keyboard options are ergonomic, so I may continue to use my old keyboard. </font>

Optional Ports:
- Serial &amp; PS-2 PCI Adapter [add $10]
- IEEE 1394 Adapter [add $30]
<font color="red"> Would I need the Serial &amp; PS-2 PCI Adapter to run my old, non-USB, keyboard?

They have a UPS for $56. Is that worth it?</font>

Bluetooth:
- Dell Bluetooth Wireless Media Hub (13-1 Media Reader w/Bluetooth 2.0 EDR) [add $40]
- Dell Bluetooth Wireless Media Hub + VOIP Stereo Headset [add $90]
- Dell Bluetooth Wireless Media Hub + Keyboard/Mouse [add $100]
- Dell Bluetooth Wireless Media Hub + Keyboard/Mouse + VOIP Stereo Headset [add $150]
<font color="red"> Media reader, bluetooth, and headset aren't things I use right now, but I think I'll get them just because I might use them.

Any need for a floppy drive or modem?

I'll probably skip: physics accelerator, extra-cost sound cards, TV tuner and remote, and keep my current speakers.

Dell offers the usual security software options, but I hate overly-intrusive, resource intensive security software. Do you think the free stuff is good enough? E.g. ZoneAlarm, Spybot/AdAware, Alwil Avast (a recent test showed the latter to be significantly less resource-intensive than other antivirus software).</font>

[TheJubilantMale]

ram recommendations (might be biased as its a ram manufacturer site): http://www.crucial.com/support/howmuch.aspx

[Beavis68]

I have seen some results that show now improvement on "consumer" benchmarks, including some video game benchmarks on Vista Ultimate above 1GB on the Intel Core2 processors. The upgrade to 800MHZ FSB may be a good one. The quad core processors also show decent improvement in benchmarks.

[downrange]

Not trying to pick on you but non-overclocked Core2 gets the highest value from 533MHz RAM, marginally lower performance from 667MHz and a marginal increase for 800MHz. So if you can't get 533MHz, 800MHz isn't worth the extra cost.

http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=get...mp;articID=472

OP, all those defaults are probably fine (we have similar usage).

Forget about RAID. And for consumer PCs Raptors are hugely overrated IMO considering how much storage you trade away for a questionable performance increase.

Nvidia cards are x3xx for low end, x6xx for midrange and x8xx for higher-end. GS is generally inferior to GT. If you could get a 7600/7800GT instead of the default I'd take that otherwise the $100 upgrade might be worth considering (check tomshardware.com for video comparisons and maybe the default is fine for you).

I don't use windows except for pokering and IMO vista is xp+paint job+trouble; if xp is an option I'd take it.

My brother got me to try a wireless kb/mouse combo and you couldn't pay me to go back to corded. Logitech LX710 is a nice set.

You didn't write anything that makes me think you need UPS.

I don't know what a bluetooth media hub is but if you don't need it, why buy it? Get it from newegg.com or something if/when the need arises.

Unless the security stuff is free I'd use something like avg.

[Beavis68]

[ QUOTE ]
Not trying to pick on you but non-overclocked Core2 gets the highest value from 533MHz RAM, marginally lower performance from 667MHz and a marginal increase for 800MHz. So if you can't get 533MHz, 800MHz isn't worth the extra cost.



[/ QUOTE ]

That is why I said "maybe" good info.

Why skip RAID? RAID stripping is good for access time improvements and Mirrored RAID is instant backup.

[Bremen]

[ QUOTE ]
Why skip RAID? RAID stripping is good for access time improvements and Mirrored RAID is instant backup.


[/ QUOTE ]
I am convinced speed improvements from 10K/RAID0 are (mostly) placebo effect. I still use some 5400 drives and the only diffence I can tell between them and my 7200.10 Barracudas is that the Barracudas are larger (I know the Barracudas are quite a bit faster, but I would never notice).

RAID 1 is definitely useful though.

[Beavis68]

I had a raid10 (0+1) system at work but I have no idea what kind of actual improvement I get from it.

[Self Made]

The RAID 0 array is actually the cheapest 500 GB drive option they offer. It would seems to be a no-brainer, in that size range, if RAID 0 offers any speed benefit.

I think I'll probably go for the fastest Core2 Duo over the quad core. From what I've read it sounds like the extra clock speed may be of more benefit than the extra two cores, which don't give much benefit in most situations. But I'm no expert, or I wouldn't be here asking about it.

Not sure about the memory. Is there much advantage beyond 2 GB? I'll probably go for at least 3 GB.

Probably I'll go for an 8600 video card. An extra $4-500 for the 8800 seems like a lot. Though if I'm running Vista and two monitors I wonder if it might have real benefits. I hear the Aero interface is pretty demanding.

[Beavis68]

I have a four gigabyte (3.2GB usable) system at work and even working on 500MB data sets I never use more than 1.5GB of RAM

[Freakin]

DEFINITELY don't get the blu-ray drive. I doubt they'll win the standards war (assuming there is an actual winner) and drives are still VERY overpriced.