Dell Inspiron 530 setup

pcaddict Suspended due non-functional email address

Is this PC setup from Dell good? I plan to record TV and possibly DVB on it. Is there anything that should be modified?

Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2Ghz CPU
Windows Vista Premium OS
20" LCD Monitor
2 GB RAM
320Gb HDD
DVD Writer
128Mb ATI Radeon HD 2400 Pro GPU
Integrated 7.1 Sound Card
Dell PCIe Hybrid (TV+DVB) TV tuner with Remote

Any suggestions?

fasfrank

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AfterDawn Addict

It should work OK for what you intend to do with it. I'd go with the E6550 Processor though.

I went to Dell and played with their "Select my Parts" feature on the Inspiron 530:

Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E6550 (4MB L2 Cache,2.33GHz,1333 FSB)

Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium - English

20 inch E207WFP Widescreen Digital Flat Panel

2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz- 2DIMMs

500GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™

16X DVD+/-RW Drive + Roxio Creator 9 Premier-Ultimate Burn/Authoring

256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT-DDR3

Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ XtremeGamer (D) Sound Card

ATI Theater 650 PRO Combo Analog/Digital TV Tuner with Remote Control

Dell USB Keyboard and Dell Optical USB Mouse

No Floppy Drive Included

56K PCI Data Fax Modem

$1,548

I build my own so I know what you are getting for the money. You could build a much better PC for this amount. There is nothing wrong with buying one though. You get a warranty and tech support. That's worth something.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 08 Dec 2007 @ 23:39

My website- http://www.dvdplusvideo.com featuring Guides by Alkohol, bbmayo, ScubaPete and me.

pcaddict Suspended due non-functional email address

Does the GPU i listed good for games like Doom 3?
The setup I posted costs:
NZD: $1,486.13
If you didn't know, I live in NZ. Your setup must of been from the Dell USA website.
Thx anyway.

fasfrank

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AfterDawn Addict

That card is actually a good one for the money:
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/12/03/b...card/page2.html

I'd want something more for gaming though. I think Dell might have the new Radeon 3850 available. That will add another $140.00 US at least to the price.

My website- http://www.dvdplusvideo.com featuring Guides by Alkohol, bbmayo, ScubaPete and me.

pcaddict Suspended due non-functional email address

Yeah well i plan on staying around $1500 NZD.

pcaddict Suspended due non-functional email address

http://ati.amd.com/products/radeonhd2400/index.html
Seems good enough for games like Doom 3.
Also seems better than the nvidia 8300 GS.

pcaddict Suspended due non-functional email address

I am thinking to get a 256MB GPU instead.
Which would be better for games?

nVidia GeForce 8600 GT or the
ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT.

I think the ATI is better as i think it has HDMI. HDCP

pcaddict Suspended due non-functional email address

Here is a log of prices for this setup: (NZD)-(Dell NZ website)

12/8-$1,480.50
12/9-$1,486.13
12/13-$1,485.00
12/15-$1,499.63
12/21-$1,611.00 !

They add in 'free upgrades' so it seems like value.
As it gets closer to Xmas, the price rises. It's all about making money.

pcaddict Suspended due non-functional email address

What inputs would this card have? I couldn't find anything on the Dell website. Would it have any RCA inputs?
It does have tv and dvb-t antenna inputs.