Is the computer in this link good- http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Dell+Studio+XPS+X8300-1225NBK+Desktop%2C+23%22+LCD+Monitor+%26+3-in-1+Printer+Package/9999154800050004.p?id=pcmprd154700050004&skuId=9999154800050004&st=dell%20studio&lp=7&cp=1
These are the things I am asking…
Is it durable?(will it last long)
Is it good for gaming?(can it play most games on a medium to high quality?)
Is the value good?
Is it good for schoolwork?
Is the processor good?
Is the graphics card good?
and most importantly…
Is it better then this laptop considering all the questions I asked above- http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-m11x/pd?refid=alienware-m11x&cs=19&s=dhs&st=alienware%20m11x&dgc=ST&cid=52212&lid=1344047&acd=sc2CV3xMB,7340767150,901pdb6671
Please consider that this laptop is extremely small and it has no place to put a disk in. (You must buy all your games from the internet)
Printer Media, Computers & Internet
July 25th, 2011 on 8:13 am
Is it durable?(will it last long) Yes Dell is mostly considered durable computers
Is it good for gaming?(can it play most games on a medium to high quality?) NO, the graphics card in that computer sucks
Is the value good? Looks like a decent price for the specs it has.
Is it good for schoolwork? Yes, almost any computer is.
Is the processor good? Yes, an i5 is a good processor
Is the graphics card good? No and NO
The only thing the Alienware will be better at than the Desktop computer is gaming. I would go for the desktop and upgrade the graphics card.
July 25th, 2011 on 8:13 am
Hi, im not actually regarding the questions besides the Gaming one, i would make sure any games you are to play can run on Windows 7, i nearly got a computer for a game called Darkfall Online and it doesnt run on windows7.. close one indeed. Just a heads up to watch out for it incase you find out the same might happen to you but only too late
July 25th, 2011 on 8:13 am
Ok, to answer your questions:
Is it durable? That’s debatable. Personally I’ve had lousy experiences with Dells. I know people who have had Dells for years and been happy with them. It’s seems like your odds are about 50/50 with Dell.
Good for gaming? Based on the specs I’d have to say it’d do. That Core i5 is going to be ‘good enough’ for most games available. Ditto the Intel HD graphics (though if you want to do serious gaming drop the extra money on a Radeon or nVidia card). The 6gb of RAM is well above the requirements for any game I’ve looked at. Overall the system won’t be a smokin’ gaming system, but you’ll be able to play at least. You’re not going to get a ‘good’ gaming system for under $1000 anywhere unless you build it yourself. There are a few games out there that have issues with Windows 7, but based on the experience of a friend of mine (who does way more gaming than me), a quick call to the support for the game usually clears them up. Really old 16 bit games aren’t going to run at all on it, but then you wouldn’t be looking at a new maching for 15 year old games.
Is the value good? I’d have to say yes.
Is it good for schoolwork? It’s way overpowered for schoolwork unless you’re taking a class that requires more than just Office. That said, though, overpowered means it’ll handle it just fine.
Is the processor good? I’m an admitted AMD fanboy, so I haven’t kept up on Intel processors very well. I believe that the current top of the line one is a core i7, but higher numbers don’t always mean as much as you’d think. The core i5 is probably one or two generations out of date, but generations in processors fly by so fast that the new ones are out of date before they’re really broken in a lot of the time.
Is the graphics card good? Intel graphics have gotten markedly better in recent years. I don’t know how they currently stand, but I believe they still lag behind nVidia and Radeon cards. I can’t speak to this issue with much athority though.
July 25th, 2011 on 8:13 am
No, that desktop is not good for gaming. You will need to add a dedicated graphics card to it for gaming. A decent gaming video card would be $100 and I would NOT buy a Video Card at Best Buy because they charge an extra $50 to $100 for a video card. The desktop has an Intel HD graphics chip on the motherboard. That intel chip is very weak when it comes to gaming.
The main selling points the desktop offers is the LED monitor and the fast Core i5-2300 processor. With all of that it’s an ok value.
It appears that the desktop has a 460w power supply so you should be able to add a video card to it. The Radeon 6750 would be a good choice. Once you added a video card it would be a good gaming computer and it would beat out that laptop.
Yes, that little laptop is capable of playing games but it wouldn’t handle newer games all that well.
I’ve only owned 1 Dell computer and it lasted for 6 years. I got rid of it because it was too slow. I’m sure it should last a long time.
It will do fine for schoolwork.
IF you’re going to buy this online you should check out newegg.com. You can definitely buy a system there. You would have to buy the monitor and speakers separate from the desktop. You could probably get a better monitor from there and you may not have to pay sales tax if you live in the right state.
All in all, I’d keep looking around because both of your choices aren’t good for gaming. You have to remember that the Graphics card accounts for 75% of your computers gaming power.