desktop to go with Dell 24"

[Yoshi63]

I've decided to purchase the Dell 24" LCD monitor, and need to customize a desktop to go with it. It will be mostly for poker, along with some music/surfing/ect.. Since I've never owned a higher-end monitor like this, I'm unclear on how they affect the need for certain hardware.

1) CPU: AMD dual-core or Intel C2D? How fast for things to run smoothly (ie 3800+/1.9 GHz, 2MB cache)
2) RAM: 1G enough? 2G?
3) Video card: (NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE Integrated)/(Integrated Intel 3100) or upgrade to (128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8300GS)

Just hoping to inform myself since I haven't bought a new desktop for 4-5 years.

[kerowo]

CPU doesn't have much to do with monitor performance, the higher the number the better. Probably more value at the 2nd highest number than the highest number.

Ram, more is better go for 2G.

Video card, you don't want anything that says integrated in it's name. For a 24" monitor I wouldn't get anything with less than 256MB in the name. If you have to skimp on something for budget reasons skimp on this last.

[Beavis68]

Definitely go with the Core 2 Duo, how fast is a matter of budget, but anything labeled C2D will be fine.

I have seen some benchmarks that show that going over 1GB of ram doesnt help most benchmarks even on Vista Ultimate but I like 2GB.

The problem with on-board graphics is that you usually only get a VGA plus and you want a DVI.

That 8300 card appears to be ultra low end, how much are you paying for it?

If you want to save money I would say get a 7300 series or a 7600.

if this is a built system sure, it will do the trick for you. If you want to play games you should probably upgrade it to the 8600 though.

[Yoshi63]

ty Beavis and kero.

There's an option for a 256MB card w/ two vgi outputs for an extra $150, so I'll probably get that. I may opt for an additional monitor at some point.

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E6550 (4MB L2 Cache,2.33GHz,1333 FSB) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium edit
MONITOR 24 inch UltraSharp™ 2407WFP Widescreen Digital Flat Panel edit
MEMORY 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz- 2DIMMs edit
HARD DRIVE 320GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™ edit
OPTICAL DRIVE 16X DVD+/-RW Drive edit
VIDEO CARD 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT-DDR3 edit
SOUND Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio edit
KEYBOARD & MOUSE Dell USB Keyboard and Dell Optical USB Mouse edit
FLOPPY & MEDIA READER No Floppy Drive Included edit
MODEM & WIRELESS 56K PCI Data Fax Modem edit

Total is $1209 after coupons, but the monitor alone is worth ~$600, so it's basically a $600 system. I could downgrade the CPU to a 2MB 2.00 GHz to save $100, but I'm not really on a budget and the 4MB 2.33 GHz seems significantly better (what exactly does the 2MB or 4MB do?)

Finally - how strong a power supply should all this require? It doesn't say what is included with the system, but I will ask support tomorrow.

Thanks again!

[pvn]

[ QUOTE ]
Video card, you don't want anything that says integrated in it's name. For a 24" monitor I wouldn't get anything with less than 256MB in the name. If you have to skimp on something for budget reasons skimp on this last.

[/ QUOTE ]

Unless you're going to be doing a lot of 3D games, the amount of graphics RAM you have is pretty meaningless. Any modern PCI-E graphics adapter will drive a 24" monitor for "regular" windows stuff just fine. Hell, some integrated chipsets include DVI-out, these would work fine too. There are exceptions, of course, but this is mostly on older hardware. My thinkpad T43p, (Pentium M 1.7GHz with Radeon M300 graphics) has basically a defective graphics subsystem, and puts out a crappy DVI signal, which drives my 24" display nutso at 1920x1200. But that's pretty old hardware. Anything new should be just fine.

VGA is NOT good for 24" monitors, because 1920x1200 is technically out-of-spec for VGA. It works with some, but not others. I have a radeon X1300 that drives my 24" just fine over VGA, and I have other adapters that don't work at all over VGA.

[pvn]

BTW, I think you're doing things right by selecting the monitor first then building the rest of the system around that. THe display is the most important part of your system for 90% of users, it's worth getting that right even if you have to cut corners elsewhere. Too many people buy whizbang whatever CPU and never really fully use it, but buy some crap-ass display that they end up looking at for five or six years, never knowing what they're missing.

The Dell 24" is a very nice display. You won't be disappointed.

[Yoshi63]

[ QUOTE ]
BTW, I think you're doing things right by selecting the monitor first then building the rest of the system around that. THe display is the most important part of your system for 90% of users, it's worth getting that right even if you have to cut corners elsewhere. Too many people buy whizbang whatever CPU and never really fully use it, but buy some crap-ass display that they end up looking at for five or six years, never knowing what they're missing.

The Dell 24" is a very nice display. You won't be disappointed.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ty... I decided to scratch the C2D since I dont really care, and go with an AMD processor. I'm getting the GeForce 256MB because it has two dvi(?) outputs and I plan on getting an additional monitor at some point.

It ends up being like $650 for the monitor and $250 for the system, so... weeeeeeee

[Nato76]

What system did you end up going with? I am trying to have the same setup.

[mattnxtc]

Ill jump in and say that I just purchase the Inspiron 530 (should arrive today) that came with the 24 inch monitor.

It seems like a good deal and I paid like $1260 with a 3 year warranty and 3gigs ram.

[Nato76]

[ QUOTE ]
Ill jump in and say that I just purchase the Inspiron 530 (should arrive today) that came with the 24 inch monitor.

It seems like a good deal and I paid like $1260 with a 3 year warranty and 3gigs ram.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not bad. What 24 inch monitor did you get? What is the resolution on the monitor?