mrd5477
02-25-2007, 12:38 PM
Hey,
I'm looking to upgrade my very old Tiny machine and I'm quite interested in some of the Dell deals. The main purpose of getting a new machine is to use my PC as a PVR to record TV (can't get Sky+ in my flat), if i can play a few games then great but I'm not a serious gamer.
I have already found some extra RAM from Crucial to take me from 1Gb to 2Gb but I am looking for some advice about the TV Card and Graphics card.
Dell offer a 256MB ATI® Radeon® X1300 Pro graphics card for an extra £70
and a coupe of different TV Cards: Integrated Analogue TV tuner PCI card and Dell™ (MCE/Premium/Ultimate) remote control (£41) or Integrated Hybrid (Analogue/Digital) TV tuner PCIe x1 card and Dell™ remote control (£105).
I reckon I could get something cheaper away from Dell but am not sure what to go for within the same (or lower) price range.
For the TV card I have found a KWorld PE 310 which I can get for about £60-70. I like the look of this one as I can have either digital or analogue inputs. Any opinions on this?
As for Graphics cards there are so many I have no idea where to start. I think 256Mb will be enough but what can you recommend for £50-£70?
The rough spec (subject to some haggling with CS) will be:
Intel® Viiv™ Core™ 2 Duo E6300 Processor (1.86GHz, 1066MHz, 2MB)
VIsta Home Premium
1024MB Dual Channel DDR2 533MHz [2x512] Memory
160GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 8MB DataBurst™ cache
16X DVD+/-RW Drive
Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 3000
Integrated Audio with Dolby Digital 7.1 capability
Many Thanks,
Martin
I'm looking to upgrade my very old Tiny machine and I'm quite interested in some of the Dell deals. The main purpose of getting a new machine is to use my PC as a PVR to record TV (can't get Sky+ in my flat), if i can play a few games then great but I'm not a serious gamer.
I have already found some extra RAM from Crucial to take me from 1Gb to 2Gb but I am looking for some advice about the TV Card and Graphics card.
Dell offer a 256MB ATI® Radeon® X1300 Pro graphics card for an extra £70
and a coupe of different TV Cards: Integrated Analogue TV tuner PCI card and Dell™ (MCE/Premium/Ultimate) remote control (£41) or Integrated Hybrid (Analogue/Digital) TV tuner PCIe x1 card and Dell™ remote control (£105).
I reckon I could get something cheaper away from Dell but am not sure what to go for within the same (or lower) price range.
For the TV card I have found a KWorld PE 310 which I can get for about £60-70. I like the look of this one as I can have either digital or analogue inputs. Any opinions on this?
As for Graphics cards there are so many I have no idea where to start. I think 256Mb will be enough but what can you recommend for £50-£70?
The rough spec (subject to some haggling with CS) will be:
Intel® Viiv™ Core™ 2 Duo E6300 Processor (1.86GHz, 1066MHz, 2MB)
VIsta Home Premium
1024MB Dual Channel DDR2 533MHz [2x512] Memory
160GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 8MB DataBurst™ cache
16X DVD+/-RW Drive
Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 3000
Integrated Audio with Dolby Digital 7.1 capability
Many Thanks,
Martin