"Why Should I...?"

[maxcavsm]

Okay, I just finished my first computer build about four months ago. Works great, good stats, saved me money, etc.

Meanwhile, my office mate wants to buy a new computer. I told him that he should build his own computer for gaming, as it should save him money, etc.

He then showed me this deal from Dell that he's getting:

Dimension 5150 Desktop with 2.66GHz Dual Core, 1GB, 80GB, 19-inch LCD Monitor
$769 with Free Shipping
Price is $559 after $410 instant discount. Free Shipping!
256MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon X600 SE HyperMemory
# Features Include: 2.66GHz Pentium D Dual Core Processor
# Windows XP Home
# 2GB Memory
# 80GB Hard Drive
# 16x DVD-ROM
# 19-inch LCD Monitor

Uh...? Meanwhile, my build was:

MSI K8N Diamond Plus Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI X16 ATX AMD Motherboard
Geforce 7800GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice 1.8GHz Socket 939 Processor Model
CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200)

And that with a case, etc cost me over $1000, no monitor, no DVD drive (had a plug-in)

So now I'm on the fence here. While I'm sure that my build would be faster than his computer by a long shot (I think?), I can't really justify him dropping a grand when he can save $250 AND get a flat screen to boot.

Someone help. I'm feeling dumb here.

[glc]

The Dell has a Hypermemory video card (shares system ram). It will not perform anywhere near as well as your 7800GT. The Dell also does not have a strong enough power supply or case cooling to run a high end video card. It also has a low end dual core processor, it only has a 533 FSB.

In order to game well with a Dell, you need to step up to the XPS line. That 5150 is a heck of a deal for a general use machine (and it's every bit as fast as yours), it just won't be a strong gamer.

[FLG]

Yep, I just did a build better then one of there $2,300 XPS line...saved about 800$. Its quite hard to really beat the big companies on budget machines, but even spending more on that IMO is worth it.

[Cricket]

Yeah, I believe you can save money at the high-mid to high end range and maybe even the mid-range systems, but you won't beat companies like DELL or Gateway at the budget end of the spectrum unless you go with really cheap rubbish parts (which I won't do).

Cricket

[maxcavsm]

Okay, thx gang. I'll let him know.