Del XPS 625 - gaming machine

[FourWheelDrift]

I'm looking at a new one, I can only upgrade my current machine a finite number of times

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/product...

The one I am looking at is the 2nd from the left - for £879.

Anyone have one of these? Or possible recommend a similarly specced or better machine for the same money?



And I'm not after another self build.

[Marf]

Looks ok, all I would suggest is that if you are buying a system with 4gb ram, go 64bit on the OS.

[FourWheelDrift]

Thanks. Yep, the OS isn't going to be an issue. I'll be running Windows 7 I think ASAP anyway. After the games I will be running on it are all compatible with it.

[Marf]

Also if its a gaming machine and you want some future proofing with regards to graphics oomph you might want to check if it has sli/crossfire capability on the board and if the PSU is powerful enough to support two cards.

Dells often use proprietary mobos and PSUs, or at least they used to.

Edited by Marf on Tuesday 22 September 12:49

[E36Rob]

Ive got the XPS 720 H2C, ok so its not the same machine mine is over a year old i have had no problems what so ever.

A friend of mine ordered a XPS 620 through me (as i have a dell business account) a year back and i was extreamly impressed with it. Also got it alittle cheaper than website price.

Feel free to email me at rob[at] wired remix [dot] com if you want me to get you a quote.

[FourWheelDrift]

Thanks Rob, I will do when ready.

[Mr_Yogi]

Don't fancy building yourself a new machine?

[_dobbo_]

How about this chappy:

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/desktops/250613/yoy...

[TheLemming]

Hate to say it, but it's overpriced and both the Processor and the GFX card have been superceded by faster kit.

Although the XPS case lighting is rather cool and software controlled, you're paying a big premium for it.

For the money I would expect a 965 black edition quad and a 4890. Bear in mind the 4890s are about to be superceded themselves by the 58 series coming out in October....

It's not far off (specification wise) what I was planning on building but it is a bit pricier for less.

[NewNameNeeded]

I recently bought a system from Overclockers (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/) and can strongly recommend them. Prices seem very competitive, delivery was super fast and everything was very well put together and packaged.

There were two little problems (they initially delivered the wrong day and forgot to include the Windows 7 upgrade voucher) and their customer support were absolutely superb at sorting these.

Would certainly purchase from them again.

[FourWheelDrift]

For the same price as the Dell XPS 625 I have found this spec from Arbico, it's a total PC Gaming recommended machine - http://www.totalpcgaming.com/hardware/arbico-elite...

AMD Phenom II x4 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz Quad Core CPU
Standard Heatsink & CPU Fan
Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P Motherboard
ATI HD 4890 1GB PCI Express Graphics Card
8GB Corsair PC12800 1600Mhz DDR3 Ram
1000GB 7200rpm SATA II Hard Drive
24x Dual Layer DVD +/- Rewriter
Internal Memory Card Reader
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio <---- I'll change this though.
2 Front & 4 Back USB Ports
Integrated 10/100/1000Mbps LAN
Choice of Windows Vista Home Premium OR Windows XP Home
Quiet Xilence 600W Dual PCI-E PSU
2 Years Return To Base Warranty

For £849.

[TheLemming]

FourWheelDrift said:

For the same price as the Dell XPS 625 I have found this spec from Arbico, it's a total PC Gaming recommended machine - http://www.totalpcgaming.com/hardware/arbico-elite...

AMD Phenom II x4 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz Quad Core CPU
Standard Heatsink & CPU Fan
Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P Motherboard
ATI HD 4890 1GB PCI Express Graphics Card
8GB Corsair PC12800 1600Mhz DDR3 Ram
1000GB 7200rpm SATA II Hard Drive
24x Dual Layer DVD +/- Rewriter
Internal Memory Card Reader
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio <---- I'll change this though.
2 Front & 4 Back USB Ports
Integrated 10/100/1000Mbps LAN
Choice of Windows Vista Home Premium OR Windows XP Home
Quiet Xilence 600W Dual PCI-E PSU
2 Years Return To Base Warranty

For £849.

That IS quite impressive

The 955 is superceded by the 965 as the full-fat Phenom 2 but only by 200 mhz (and they want another £55 for the 965 black).
4890s are going to get VERY cheap soon the moment there is a supply of 5870s in the channel (but are unfortunately the 5870s are twice the price at the moment).

Manufacturers site is here http://www.arbico.co.uk/Arbico-Elite-P2955-XL-Cust...

Just had a play with the configurator (most of the options are insanely expensive so add em later) - but I'd go for an Antec 900 case for an extra £45 with the appropriate extra fans (£6) and they charge an extra £15 for the Windows 7 upgrade voucher...

Total £915 for me.

[Mr_Yogi]

Although I haven't used them I read good things about www.pcspecialist.co.uk

Some very good prices for pre-built PC's, e.g.

Processor (CPU)
 Intel® Core™i5 Processor i5-750 (2.66GHz) 8MB Cache

Free Item
 FREE Operation FlashPoint D.R. Game (RRP: €49.99) with any Intel® Core™ i5/i7 CPU!

Memory (RAM)
 4GB CORSAIR XMS3 DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz - LIFETIME WARRANTY!

Motherboard
 GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2: DDR3, SATA II, 2 PCI, 1 PCI-Ex

Operating System
 Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium 64-bit + Windows 7 Upgrade Voucher (£84)

USB Options
 8 x USB 2.0 PORTS (6 REAR + 2 FRONT) AS STANDARD

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
 1TB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)

1st CD/DVD Drive
 22x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

Graphics Card
 1GB ATI RADEON™ HD 4890 PCI EXPRESS

Sound Card
 ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Network Facilities
 ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT

Memory Card Reader
 INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (READS XD, MS, CF, SD, etc)

Case
 STYLISH PIANO BLACK FUSION CASE inc. 2 FRONT USB

Power Supply & Case Cooling
 600W Quiet Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£59)

Processor Cooling
 STANDARD CPU COOLER

Firewire & Video Editing
 2 x IEEE 1394a FIREWIRE PORTS (1 onboard, 1 at back panel)

Warranty
 1 Year Return-to-Base incl 1st Month Free Collect & Return

Delivery
 STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time
 Standard Build - Approximately 11 to 13 working days

£741 inc VAT and Delivery.

[FourWheelDrift]

I saw those as well. Match the CPU, RAM and other couple of bits and it'll be the same as the Arbico.

Baring in mind 10+ years ago I bought a Gateway P300 for £3000 the prices of current machines are quite reasonable.


These are another lot I've been looking at - http://www.aria.co.uk/Systems/Gaming+Range

[Mr_Yogi]

Well If it was my money the spec would be:

Intel i5 or i7 on a P55 ir X58 motherboard
4GB DDR3
ATI HD5870

I noticed the pcspecialist offer to supply the system without a videocard so you could source one yourself, I assume other places can do the same too.

[flat-planedCrank]

FourWheelDrift said:

Baring in mind 10+ years ago I bought a Gateway P300 for £3000 the prices of current machines are quite reasonable.

But how much of that difference was their cow-effect packaging




If you are looking for a gaming machine, the new Ati 5800 series cards have just been released - the 5850's aren't that much more than the older 4590 (both those cards have a 2 year warranty).

5870 review (with simulated 5850 results in the game-testing sections) - http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ATI/Radeon_HD_5...


Cheers.

Edited by flat-planedCrank on Monday 28th September 15:12

[dwilkie]

Ginger6 http://www.ginger6.com are superb as well. The last PC I bought (admittedly some years ago though I still use it. Or the case anyway) from them was well priced, well specced, and they were fantastic to deal with. I know a few other people since who've used them on my recommendation too and they're all 100% happy.

[TheLemming]

Just done a quick check through Scan for this one:

£142 AMD Phenom II x4 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz Quad Core CPU
£0 Standard Heatsink & CPU Fan
£99 Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P Motherboard
£127 ATI HD 4890 1GB PCI Express Graphics Card
8GB Corsair PC12800 1600Mhz DDR3 Ram
£96 6GB Corsair 1333Mhz DDR3
£53 1000GB 7200rpm SATA II Hard Drive
£16 24x Dual Layer DVD +/- Rewriter
£5 Internal Memory Card Reader
£0 Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio <---- I'll change this though
£0 2 Front & 4 Back USB Ports
£0 Integrated 10/100/1000Mbps LAN
(Assuming you have the OS) Choice of Windows Vista Home Premium OR Windows XP Home
£40 Quiet Xilence 600W Dual PCI-E PSU
N/A 2 Years Return To Base Warranty
£60 Coolermaster CM690 case

£638 without an OS and 2 gig less RAM. This is a pretty good deal, but could be worth £200 to build it yourself.

[flat-planedCrank]

TheLemming said:

Just done a quick check through Scan for this one:

£142 AMD Phenom II x4 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz Quad Core CPU
£0 Standard Heatsink & CPU Fan
£99 Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P Motherboard
£127 ATI HD 4890 1GB PCI Express Graphics Card
8GB Corsair PC12800 1600Mhz DDR3 Ram
£96 6GB Corsair 1333Mhz DDR3
£53 1000GB 7200rpm SATA II Hard Drive
£16 24x Dual Layer DVD +/- Rewriter
£5 Internal Memory Card Reader
£0 Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio <---- I'll change this though
£0 2 Front & 4 Back USB Ports
£0 Integrated 10/100/1000Mbps LAN
(Assuming you have the OS) Choice of Windows Vista Home Premium OR Windows XP Home
£40 Quiet Xilence 600W Dual PCI-E PSU
N/A 2 Years Return To Base Warranty
£60 Coolermaster CM690 case

£638 without an OS and 2 gig less RAM. This is a pretty good deal, but could be worth £200 to build it yourself.

Or put that £200 back into the machine and get a 5870

[TheLemming]

flat-planedCrank said:

TheLemming said:

Just done a quick check through Scan for this one:

£142 AMD Phenom II x4 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz Quad Core CPU
£0 Standard Heatsink & CPU Fan
£99 Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P Motherboard
£127 ATI HD 4890 1GB PCI Express Graphics Card
8GB Corsair PC12800 1600Mhz DDR3 Ram
£96 6GB Corsair 1333Mhz DDR3
£53 1000GB 7200rpm SATA II Hard Drive
£16 24x Dual Layer DVD +/- Rewriter
£5 Internal Memory Card Reader
£0 Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio <---- I'll change this though
£0 2 Front & 4 Back USB Ports
£0 Integrated 10/100/1000Mbps LAN
(Assuming you have the OS) Choice of Windows Vista Home Premium OR Windows XP Home
£40 Quiet Xilence 600W Dual PCI-E PSU
N/A 2 Years Return To Base Warranty
£60 Coolermaster CM690 case

£638 without an OS and 2 gig less RAM. This is a pretty good deal, but could be worth £200 to build it yourself.

Or put that £200 back into the machine and get a 5870

Still think it's a very bad time to buy a video card. Nvidia should have some sort of answer to the 5870 before Christmas - which should serve to drive down the price of the 5870s if nothing else.
Id drop another £127 from the price and delete the 4890, stick with my 8800gt for another month or so and grab a 5870 when they look closer to £200 than the £300 they are sitting at right now.