Help on Prebuilt for Light Gaming

BecauseScience

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Oct 9, 2005
Messages
1,047
A relative has asked me to pick machines for his kids for Christmas. He wants to buy prebuilt systems bundled with monitors. Normally, I'd be able to find something in ten minutes but one of the kids is a light gamer. My experience with prebuilts for gaming is zero.

I'm thinking a 4870, 4890, or GTX 260 would be plenty but all I'm finding available for most Dell models are 4350's or worse. It looks like you have to get an XPS or Alienware to get a decent gpu. Can other Dell models handle real graphics cards?

Could he go with a Studio Desktop and buy a gpu separately?
http://www.dell.com/content/product...ktop-studio-mini?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn

What about an Inspiron 546?
http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/desk...d.aspx?refid=desktop-inspiron-546&s=dhs&cs=19

Will big gpu's fit? Can the PSU's handle a 4870, 4890, or GTX 260 ?

If not then what about a 5770?

Normally, I'd tell him to bite the bullet and spring for the XPS but he's buying one machine for each kid. To minimize "issues" it would be best to get the same base model for everyone and add only the gpu for the kid who games. The other kids have minimal needs so it would be a waste to buy XPS's for everyone.

Should I be looking somewhere other than Dell?
 
The stock Dell PSUs will only be enough power for a HD 5750 max.
 
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