Is Dell Desktop good for hardcore gaming?

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Ryou-kun

Limp Gawd
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Do you guys think "Dell's Desktop" good for gaming?
Like "XPS 8300"
I want to get one to play "BF3, Crysis 2, and other FPS/RTS/etc games."

Can their qualities last longer for gaming?
 
Its ok, if you wanted a Dell get an Alienware... Any reason why you are not building your own??
 
+1 on the Alienware, though this time i chose to hunt for a case and build my own.

I found a Area-51 ALX (best OEM case ever IMHO) 5 months ago and bought my Sandy Bridge parts myself, found a nice CPU+mobo+RAM+GPU combo before it arrived. Very happy with everything.
 
+2 on alienware -

The XPS series are a pretty decent level for computing but are by no means the best choice for your gaming needs. Im with ahtlonXP ---why are you not building your own? its simple and usually cheaper depending on what you go for.
 
Here is my thoughts:

If buying an OEM computer get one with an ATX standard configuration. Something like a HP etc. I would also do some googling of the model name to find out any what is the power supply.

Many people including myself have bought machines via Slickdeals and simply have added more memory or replaced the graphics cards.

I would say in this day an age board failures are rare in desktops and the part that is the most questionable is the power supply in any OEM machine.

The problem with ordering something like a Dell Dimension 8300 for gaming is that Dell probably charges and arm and a leg for custom configurations because those orders arent in bulk.

What does this mean? It means if you want to get a 8300 with a 5850 be prepared to pay about 100 dollars more than what the 5850 goes for in market value.

The cost of building your own is almost not worth it if your budget is below 1000 dollars or you don't have existing parts. My brother works at intel that is a major reason why I still build and because I am not good at anything else building/repairing wise :)
 
^+1
Reminds me of that Simpsons episode where Flanders watches Lisa on Witchipedia and said; She's teleconferencing the devil on a pc from hell. And his kid said I think it says Dell lol

But back to your question. Dell pc with avg gaming hardware cost a fortune. Plus Dell are clever as they leave you with a hardware upgrade path that equals 1 cpu jump. They don't want you to stuck a new chip in there they want you to buy a new system from them. Its cheaper anyway to build your own one
 
also Dell tends to give you a PSU that will just handle the hardware you order, so dont think about ordering a low end card and putting in a higher end one, unless you go with alienware.

but as said, any reason your not building your own?
 
my first pc (that I bought with my own money) was an emachines. It was a microATX tower. I built and have kept building at least 5 computers in that tower upgrading either part by part or 100% rebuilds.

I agree with what was said above about making sure it is an ATX (or microATX) standard so it can be built on or upgraded at some point.

IMG_7444-1.jpg

the white one has since been converted to water cooling. (my wifes PC)
 
If you have no idea how to build a pc or want something prebuilt so to save time then an alienware is a good choice but be prepared to spend lots of money. Otherwise you would be better off making your own.
 
Ryou-kun said:
Do you guys think "Dell's Desktop" good for gaming?
Like "XPS 8300"
I want to get one to play "BF3, Crysis 2, and other FPS/RTS/etc games."

Can their qualities last longer for gaming?
Click to expand...

Go for the Alienware, I would say :D
 
SticKx911 said:
my first pc (that I bought with my own money) was an emachines. It was a microATX tower. I built and have kept building at least 5 computers in that tower upgrading either part by part or 100% rebuilds.

I agree with what was said above about making sure it is an ATX (or microATX) standard so it can be built on or upgraded at some point.

IMG_7444-1.jpg

the white one has since been converted to water cooling. (my wifes PC)
Click to expand...

That is really nice. I never dabbled into the custom cutting/dremal work etc.
 
Yea, I prefer Dell for gaming PC. Because Dell has some specialty for gaming PC.
 
If you must have a Dell for a prebuilt system for gaming, I'd go with an Alienware of some sort because otherwise you'll have to replace a PSU/GPU and at that point you might as well build your own.

Honestly, if you want a gaming prebuilt I'd recommend Puget Systems, Maingear or Velocity Micro.
 
That's another good point, pick up a copy of maximum PC, there'll be ads for a dozen different good PC makers, but you do pay a premium for the quality they offer.
 
look on the Dell outlet home for some good deals on Alienware Desktops...
 
If you don't mind the extra costs/prefer the customer support; sure for with Alienware. But it's definitely cheaper and far more customizable if self-built.
 
My current PC is an Alienware Aurora (i7 920). Works pretty well.

But you must know that Aurora is a micro ATX system and expansion is somewhat limited. You can run SLI/Crossfire but you won't be able to add any other cards. Cooling is decent with the included liquid cooler for the CPU. The PSU in the Alienware's are actually much better than the ones you'd find in the XPS/Inspirion desktops. Mine is 875W and I loaded 2 Radeon 5870 with the OC'd 920 and had no issues.

If you want better expansion, get the Area 51. It's a full size tower/ATX.
 
I use a Dell Precision WorkStation T5500 for gaming and it handles everything I throw at it. Just replaced the ATI FireMV card with a Radeon 6850 - all good.

If you do go ahead with the Precision desktops, keep in mind that you can't use anything above a 6850 because of the power plug locations on those boards.
 
Its a Dell but it's still just a PC you get what you pay for. The major thing is the power supplies, they generally use shit PSU's.
 
next-Jin said:
Its a Dell but it's still just a PC you get what you pay for. The major thing is the power supplies, they generally use shit PSU's.
Click to expand...

I don't believe that is the case.

Most of the stuff in Dells and HPs is pretty much just modified boards made by the same people who make products for the build it yourself crowd.

I think it is impossible to compare failure rates, but generally with a prebuilt manufacturer you have the ease of having support. With a build it yourself machine you are on your own.

Dell still cross ships, which is pretty rare these days.
 
My Dell XPS I630 has worked great for me. I am getting out of gaming though and want to sell it and get something else.
 
I usually find that OEM's will give you bad "bones" when they send you a pc. A good example of this is when I opened up an expensive dell hexa core system(to add a hard drive), it only had 2 hard drive slots and a very low end power supply that could never handle a video card(not that I tried). OEM's will only put the bare minimums to keep a system running, so its usually better to build your own if you want a gaming pc. On the other hand, if you only want an office pc its almost impossible to beat them on price.
 
roaf85 said:
I don't believe that is the case.

Most of the stuff in Dells and HPs is pretty much just modified boards made by the same people who make products for the build it yourself crowd.

I think it is impossible to compare failure rates, but generally with a prebuilt manufacturer you have the ease of having support. With a build it yourself machine you are on your own.

Dell still cross ships, which is pretty rare these days.
Click to expand...
At this point it might be similar, but the cases are usually not that good, with 250 watt power supplies and very limited expansion. Dell was also known for including bad caps on a ton of boards in the early to mid 2000s, they would never really fess up to it and just ship out more crap to you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague
 
Dell didnt include bad caps, the board maker would of been the one, had it been MSI Asus or Foxconn at that time making their boards.

the 250w PSU is usuallly based on what the person orders, they arent going to put in a 500W PSU for a single harddrive dual core rig with 2G of ram... it would be a waste.

Dell has little reason to go cheap cheap on parts because it would result in more RMA's and lost buisness, as said they use %90 the same parts you and i buy at the store...
 
roaf85 said:
The cost of building your own is almost not worth it if your budget is below 1000 dollars or you don't have existing parts. My brother works at intel that is a major reason why I still build and because I am not good at anything else building/repairing wise :)
Click to expand...

quoted for truth.....
 
I would generally stay away from HP, Dell and the like..
Super over priced for what you get and the quality of the components in them is atrocious.

My suggestion would be to build it your self and save a lot of money but if that is not an option take a look at some PC boutiques like CyberPower or OriginPC
 
I don't think any Dell can play BF3 at max settings. If you want pre-built maybe look at Alienware or Ibuypower.
 
Oh it's nothing like that, lol.
It's just that I wanted to see if the XPS is a good PC because I wanted to get a new PC real bad and Dell has a "Monthly Pay" thingy where my dad can pay 20-50 bucks a month to equal the amount.

Well, I'm waiting on March because I'll be build my new gaming PC xD
 
custom build is way to go!
often pre builds just give you the minimum required to run whats there, upgrading is a chore :(
 
Alienware area 51 desktop, but any person in there right mind would take that money for the dell prebuilt and make a big bad liquid cooled CPU/GPU(S) and triple the quality of the components used by Dell/Alienware.
 
I would just make sure you get the specs you want for the games. Look at the highest specs on your games. Then raise it, because you know you're going to want a new game. Or just look at TOTL computers. Depending on how much you're willing to spend, no matter the brand of computer, there is one out that you can game on. The difference is the specs. You can't use a stock Dell for gaming unless you go Alienware. Which isn't as expensive as you think. Now that it was bought by Dell.
 
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