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?
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.
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.
That card is actually a good one for the money: http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/12/03/best_graphics_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.
http://ati.amd.com/products/radeonhd2400/index.html Seems good enough for games like Doom 3. Also seems better than the nvidia 8300 GS.
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
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.
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.
What would be good specs for encoding recorded shows (from DVD recorder) into DivX? 2.2Ghz CPU, 2GB RAM?
