![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Time for a new PC?
I'm looking at getting myself a new PC, primarily for gaming. The current one has undergone some heroic rescue efforts and it's still bombing out on me randomly. (*)So the question is what do I want in a moderately priced gaming box? It's probably going to be a Microsoft OS, and preferably Windows XP.(**) My baseline for this right now is the Dell XPS 630 with a dual NVIDIA GeForce 9800 card. That comes with XP pre-installed - I'd rather not do my own downgrade if I don't have to. Price new from Dell is $1400.
The question is whether I can beat that without going out and building myself a white box, which I would really rather not do. I loathe messing with PC hardware and I don't mind paying for someone else to Just Make It Work.
Other things I looked at:
Dell's Optiplex line - too limited video options
Dell's Precision line - lots more expandability, but pricey. Even the low-end T3400 comes in around the same $1400.
PC Connection HP/Compaq line - doesn't let me customize the machine. The HP SmartBuy xw4600 looks pretty close in terms of specs but is weak on the graphics and only about $300 cheaper.
One option I've heard discussed, but can't seem to find reliable data on: buy a Mac and dual-boot it with my personal copy of XP installed in the other partition. That's intuitively appealing but I'd need a lot more data on current Macs and dual booting than I can find this morning.
(*) I'm pretty sure the problem is a bad video driver. The fact that my motherboard is so old I had to get a retro card for which ATI doesn't seem to make new drivers is part of the problem.
(**) I don't particularly want to start an XP-Vista debate. I just don't see what Vista buys me, and I do see a lot of problems. One of the advantages of getting a name-brand PC is that they come with licensed media to put Vista onto the box if I decide to do that later.
no subject
I certainly won't try to steer you towards Vista, but XP is no longer supported, which means that new games may well not run on it.
Windows 7, the follow-up to Vista (and rumored to be the reason why more effort has not been put into fixing Vista) is coming out soon. If you can hang on just a bit longer, that will likely be worth it in the two-to-three-year time frame.
no subject
Why? DirectX 10 don't run on XP. Only Vista.
For what it's worth, Win7 is really just a cosmetic rehash of Vista with some new shinies tacked on: it should certainly be a better user experience but it's the same thing under the hood.
no subject
That said, if you know of a better (cheaper?) Vista-only gaming box I'm willing to look at it. XP is a preference but not the only factor.
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
All the deals I looked at included basic mouse/kbd, and a couple had pretty sweet-looking LCDs but none of those packages were right in the important dimensions.
no subject