Hey guys i just did a few dell packages based on what they are offering now. Was wondering if you thought they were worth it. And which one is better.
Note: I dont really care about the operating system because im formatting it and putting virtual machines on

Package 1:
Dell Inspiron 530
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6550
OS: Pre-Loaded Windows Vista Home
MONITOR: Dell 22" Entry (E228WFP) Wide Screen Flat Panel LCD (analog & dvi)
MEMORY: 3GB(2x1gb, 2x512) NECC Dual Channel DDR2 667Mhz
HARD DRIVE: Dell Datasafe 160GB RAID 1
OPTICAL: 16x DVD/RW with Dual Layer Capabilities
VIDEO: 256mb PCI-e Nvidia Geforce 8600GT with dual DVI and tv out
WARRANTY: 2 years
TOTAL: 1463

Package 2:
Dell Inspiron 530
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
OS: Pre-Loaded Windows Vista Home
MONITOR: Dell 20" Entry (E207WFP) Wide Screen Flat Panel LCD (analog & dvi)
MEMORY: 3GB(2x1gb, 2x512) NECC Dual Channel DDR2 800Mhz
HARD DRIVE: Dell Datasafe 160GB RAID 0
OPTICAL: 16x DVD/RW with Dual Layer Capabilities
VIDEO: 256mb PCI-e Radeon HD2600XT Dual DVI
WARRANTY: 2 years
TOTAL: 1566

just curious for the extra 100 is quad core really worth it? i was also thinking of taking the video cards out and getting my own. cheers

To be honest, i'd avoid Dell and similar companies unless your mass deploying machines into an office/datacenter, or your new to computers. I say this, because while Dells support might be great, they're not exactly great in terms of performance. Putting in your own graphics cards? Probably not. Unless somethings changed in the last couple of years, Dell's arent designed to have parts swapped out or upgraded by home users i.e servicable by Dell only.

Check out a few stores around your area, with that budget you should get a similar PC with a bigger hard drive and a mid level graphics card.

Quad cores? No benefit to the average joe, unless you've heavily multitasking or doing several VM's as you said.

well i dont need a bigger hard drive because i just bought a NAS device to run over the network for storage. so theres gonna be nothing on the hard drive...also i really cant be bothered building my own. and the Dell's seem to have better packages than HP etc. also id rather just ring them and say 'its broken' than to have to go to a computer place and deal with all that crap where they try and fix it 30 times and dont. thats why i wanted the 2 year warranty.
so if i am going to be running virtual machines would you say the Quad core is worth it? and im gonna ask dell about upgrading capabilities

watch what size the cases they use are, if they are slimline you will find it hard to fit a decent graphics card in there.

No problem with dell, after purchase support is a big reason why many people choose dell.

yeah i was thinking about that. i know the inspiron 530S is like a slimline crappy one. but the one i was looking at, the 530 on the website seems to be a full size tower. and they sell them with the graphics card i was looking at buying. however they charge like 250 extra for a 100 dollar card and thats just robbery....does anyone know nething about the Gigabyte GF8600GT 512MB DDR2 128bit PCIEx16 2xDVI TV-Out HDCP SlnPIPE graphics card? its only 99 dollars at umart (brisbane) . That seems cheap for a 512mb card. i dont really know nething about it? but ive read that the geforce 8600GT are reasonable cards for their price. and im not a serious gamer or nething. so i dont need nething too ridiculoushttp://umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.p...2&sid=26444

yeah the 8600GT is almost 12 months old now. I run one on my PC; it does the job for my 17" monitor.

It can't handle high resolutions on intensive games such as Crysis though

would it handle a decent resolution on a 22" widescreen?? and what brand do you have? also ive heard the ones with that "piping" cooling stuff get really hot coz they dont have the fan. but i find those fans always stuff up and ur graphics card burns out. is gigabyte a decent enuff manufacturer? and is it worth the extra 120 or so to get the 8800....i dont really do gaming on PC so i dont really think i need nething better than the 8600 because i dont do games like call of duty and doom 3 or all those games that are ridiculous...and wateva other games that require something built by nasa to run.
so yeah what brand is yours? and have u had any issues with it?
cheers

yeah mines gigabyte, the passively cooled version (so its silent)

If you don't do massively intensive gaming the 8600 should be fine. If you do game the 8800 GT is quite a big step-up in performance and would suit a 22" monitor for gaming purposes.

It runs warm but it's designed to handle it that way.

i had an 8500GT previously (ie: the last 4 months before yesterday)

it was fine....crysis on LOW at 1680x1050 (22" yeh?)

COD4 on low all sweet etc

i imagine the 8600 will suffice

Nothing wrong with Dell, i have a 530 here, you can swap out parts these days easy.

forget the quad core, go the fasted duo core.

i got mine with a E6850 3.0ghz, 4 gig ram, 500gb HDD, Nvidia 8600GT, 22in screen etc etc

runs nice

cheers for all the input guys.
yeah i think ill go with the 8600GT just coz its cheap and has decent performance.
still havent decided to go the E6750 core 2 duo or the quad core....i just think the quad core will be better with virtual machines so i might go that....thanks everyone