Dell Desktop or Custom build for GF?

[Dalius]

Hi. My gf wants to get a desktop, so I've been doing some research as to what the best bang-for-your-buck is. Price range is from $600-850~, the lower the better of course. I found a Dell Boxing Day deal which is pretty sweet, and then I tried to build a 'cheap' custom build (which didn't end up so cheap but the parts seem to be better than the Dell build). So I'm wondering if you guys think this Dell is okay, and if you think Dell sucks and I'm better off just tweaking the custom build around, that's cool too. I'll be putting my old nVidia 8800GTS 512 into either build so I don't need to factor video card into either builds. Just lookin' for other people's opinions here.


The Dell: $679
Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q8300 (4MB L2, 2.5GHz, 1333FSB)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
20" Dell ST2010-Black High Definition Monitor
4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz- 4 DIMMs
500GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
Integrated Intel® GMA 3100 Graphics
16X DVD+/-RW Drive

Custom (No OS): 731.01
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P
CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 630 Retail
RAM: Crucial 4GB PC3-10600 DDR3
GPU: nVidia 8800GTS 512MB
Hard drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB
Optical drive: Samsung SH-S222A/BEBE
Case: Antec NSK4482
Speakers: Logitech Z313 2.1
Monitor: BenQ E2220HD
Mouse: Cheap ass Logitech mouse

Builds will be used for general office documents, video watching and light gaming. I have no experience with Dell personally, my brother has a Mini10 and it's pretty nice

 

[SilentLunatic]

I purchased a Dell system for my grandmother. I used a promo code out of the Sunday paper insert and nabbed her an awesome system with a 8800GTS as an upgrade for a little extra $$ and she couldn't be happier. I found on doing customer budget builds, they can usually get the same thing from Wal-Mart for a little less, but most people don't understand that integrated video is my nightmare...and that I always to to get at least some form of a dedicated GPU in it.

Just figure up prices for similar systems, and decide from there. It's always more rewarding to build your own system.

And on the dell of my grandmothers....I added an 80mm case fan once it arrived as it only had a CPU cooler with no case ventilation!

 

[Dangman]

For light gaming, go prebuilt.

Wait, what PSU will you be using in that custom built?