Evaluating the New Dell Dimension Desktops

ForHisGlory · Post by **ForHisGlory** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 7:33 pm

I'm planning on buying a new computer in the near future and am currently interested in the new Dell Dimensions for their value and fast and quiet performance.

I'm not sure if any of you SPCR members have one of these computers, it seems that most of you would have your own custom built computer or something of the sort. If some of you have one of the new Dell Dimensions, I would like to hear a review from a fellow SPCR member.

I am very interested in Dell Desktops as it is within my price range, and I think its the best bang for the buck.

Here's a link to some of Dell's Deals:
http://www1.us.dell.com/content/product ... l=en&s=bsd

Also since Dell has switched to BTX, I believe it is much better than their previous solutions in building a silent and cool PC.

Here are some shots of what the Dell Dimension BTX designs look like:

Dimension 9100:
http://www.clubic.com/afficher-en-plein ... 35128.html
http://www.clubic.com/afficher-en-plein ... 35127.html
http://www.clubic.com/afficher-en-plein ... 35126.html

Dimension 5100:
http://www.billigdrucker.de/images/hard ... -offen.jpg
http://img.zol.com.cn/article/4/717/li0kexoRaTgoI.jpg

I have the same passions of building a fast, silent, and cool PC as you guys, but I'm not sure if my budget is the same as yours, thus I am turned to Dell. If you know of a better solution it would be much appreciated.

Toby

BillyBuerger · Post by **BillyBuerger** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 2:24 pm

My problem with Dell is that in the past, they've partially followed standards and partially not. Such as the old dimensions which used a PSU that had a physically standard ATX connector but used a different pin layout. I lucky noticed this before I fried any PSUs/Motherboards. I'm not sure if they're better about this now. I noticed the PSU in those Dells look to be a different size. They look taller. Could it be a BTX sized PSU? I don't remember BTX PSUs being taller than standard ATX ones.

I was also concerned about putting a hot running video card in there. As the CPU heats up the incoming air that then gets blown over top the video card. Seems it could be hard to keep it cool.

As for price, Dell's aren't that much cheaper. They have deals occasionally such as free LCD upgrade that make for a pretty good deal. I priced out a system similar to the 5150 on newegg. It turned out a little more expensive. $780 vs. $700 for the Dell.

Dell 5150 Equivilant

Then I also priced one with and AMD 64 3000+ (Venice). This was only slightly more expensive than the dell at $715. Plus, it would run *much* cooler than the prescotts that Dell uses.

Dell 5150 Equivilant (AMD)

Hellspawn · Post by **Hellspawn** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 2:42 pm

BillyBuerger wrote:My problem with Dell is that in the past, they've partially followed standards and partially not. Such as the old dimensions which used a PSU that had a physically standard ATX connector but used a different pin layout. I lucky noticed this before I fried any PSUs/Motherboards. I'm not sure if they're better about this now. I noticed the PSU in those Dells look to be a different size. They look taller. Could it be a BTX sized PSU? I don't remember BTX PSUs being taller than standard ATX ones.

I was also concerned about putting a hot running video card in there. As the CPU heats up the incoming air that then gets blown over top the video card. Seems it could be hard to keep it cool.

As for price, Dell's aren't that much cheaper. They have deals occasionally such as free LCD upgrade that make for a pretty good deal. I priced out a system similar to the 5150 on newegg. It turned out a little more expensive. $780 vs. $700 for the Dell.

Dell 5150 Equivilant

Then I also priced one with and AMD 64 3000+ (Venice). This was only slightly more expensive than the dell at $715. Plus, it would run *much* cooler than the prescotts that Dell uses.

Dell 5150 Equivilant (AMD)

I'm not that huge of a preassembled system fan (ha ha), but it is nice to have a central contact for problems/warranty replacement than 10-15 different ones for each part (if you assemble yourself).

Shadowknight · Post by **Shadowknight** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 3:04 pm

On the otherhand, between my experience and many other peoples, it would be simpler, and more effective, to solve a problem with a Dell computer by slamming your hard into the wall as hard as you can instead of contacting Dell support. That's providing you even get someone you can understand, which is to say without an extremely heavy Indian accent.

Hellspawn · Post by **Hellspawn** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 3:10 pm

That's why I'd pick a Gateway first. I've had 5 of them in the last 12 years and always a good experience. 2 Dells and both were average (but I can see how they could go to pot really quickly in support).

But this isn't about which company is perceived best, just thought I'd interject my 2c worth.

please · Post by **please** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 3:32 pm

My biggest complaint concerning Dell is if you want to modify or upgrade, you are more likely than not to find or get some conflict between 'Dell' stuff and non-dell stuff, could be hardware or software related.
Also, Dell always seems to lower the quality of the item you are 'upgrading'. For instance, they offer a Sound Blaster Audigy sound card upgrade($60 add on price), but only with 5.1 surround when the retail version is 7.1(~$60). Not what i call a bargain.
I have been recently helping a friend choose a system there(despite my pleas to build him one, he wants the middle-of-the-night tech support). I am appalled by another huge fallacy I see...the system we are looking at, the Dimension E510, to get 1gb RAM, it only comes in 4X256 sticks

. Future upgrades become very expensive. One must upgrade to the XPS series to get the desired config.
They also have 'interesting' fine print. The Video card offerings for the XPS400 series, base model "ATI X300 SE 128MB PCI-Express with 'hypermemory'". You have to click the 'more details' button to discover that the subscript reads that these cards have 32mb onboard memory and 128mb is the total when using the shared system memory. YEOW

This follows suit for the ATI X600 SE.

They are best for people who don't want to tinker with and improve a system. I guess that is why they sell so many.

teknerd · Post by **teknerd** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 3:33 pm

Dells work well and have a good value (i set my parents up with one with a long term warranty so they wouldnt have to worry while i was away at school).
Personally i would never consider buying one for myself for a number of reasons (cost for the high end systems, i like to build my own, noise, etc)
finally, noise, the new dimension 5100's are fairly quiet at idle. But as soon as you load the CPU you the fan goes to full blast and that is one noisy fan. Even though the system only has 2 fans (PSU and Case/CPU) the system is far louder at load than my custom built (see "current rig" in sig). This holds true even when my system is sitting next to me in my room and the dell is in another room 30 feet down a hallway.

ForHisGlory · Post by **ForHisGlory** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 9:51 pm

BillyBuerger wrote:My problem with Dell is that in the past, they've partially followed standards and partially not. Such as the old dimensions which used a PSU that had a physically standard ATX connector but used a different pin layout. I lucky noticed this before I fried any PSUs/Motherboards. I'm not sure if they're better about this now. I noticed the PSU in those Dells look to be a different size. They look taller. Could it be a BTX sized PSU? I don't remember BTX PSUs being taller than standard ATX ones.

I was also concerned about putting a hot running video card in there. As the CPU heats up the incoming air that then gets blown over top the video card. Seems it could be hard to keep it cool.

As for price, Dell's aren't that much cheaper. They have deals occasionally such as free LCD upgrade that make for a pretty good deal. I priced out a system similar to the 5150 on newegg. It turned out a little more expensive. $780 vs. $700 for the Dell.

Dell 5150 Equivilant

Then I also priced one with and AMD 64 3000+ (Venice). This was only slightly more expensive than the dell at $715. Plus, it would run *much* cooler than the prescotts that Dell uses.

Dell 5150 Equivilant (AMD)

I have never built my own computer so I do not have the experience or knowledge that you guys have about PSUs and Motherboards. What I do care about computers, is low power consumption as its always good to save money whenever possible. As far as motherboards go, so far I've only been worrying about the expansion slots on the mobos. I know the bios for Dells really suck as they limit tons of options compared to a mobo that you would buy retail.

I am not a gamer, although I used to be heavily into media stuff, music, burning movies, anime, stuff like that. My old computer with a Leadtek 6600 actually overheated one day when it was really hot and the sun was shining in my room a lot -_- That's when I realized how sucky the Dell chassis was. This computer was a Dimension 4700 so it was one of those ugly gray boxes. That's when I knew I did not want to keep this computer for the span of its life, so I sold it on craigslist.

I helped a friend buy and install a Dimension 5100. I'm actually really impressed by Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelator 950 that they have. I had the GMA 900 on my old computer, but when I played Starcraft, the graphics looked like crap, so that's why I bought the 6600. My friend played Starcraft it looked great on his comp, and it ran Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 Raven Shield on all the highest settings. The only thing I noticed when I checked the graphics on the game menu was that he didn't have the shadow stuff that nVidia has, but shadows are not worth $100.

The Dell deal they had last week was for $499 after rebate. This week they bumped it up to $549 after rebate.

Processor Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 630 w/HT Technology (3.0GHz,800FSB)
Operating System Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
Memory 256MB DDR2 SDRAM at 400MHz (1x256M)
Keyboard Dell USB Keyboard
Monitor 17 inch E173FP Analog Flat Panel
Video Cards Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelator 950
Internal Hard Drives 80GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
Floppy Drive and Media Reader No Floppy Drive Included
Mouse Dell® 2-button USB mouse
Network Card Integrated Intel® PRO 10/100 Ethernet
Modem No Modem Requested
Document Management Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
CD or DVD Drives -- Read, Write and Store Data Single Drive: 48x CD-ROM Drive
Sound Integrated Audio with Dolby Digital 7.1 capability
Speakers No speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system)
Productivity Software Pre-Installed No Productivity Suite - Corel WordPerfect® word processor only
Security Software Pre-Installed No Security Subscription
Digital Music Musicmatch by Yahoo!™ Music - Entry level music software
Digital Photography Corel Photo Album™ 6 Starter Edition - Organize and Edit your photos
Dell Service & Support Plans 90 day On-Site parts and labor, 90 day phone technical support
Onsite System Setup No Onsite System Setup
Internet Access Service 6 Months of America Online Membership Included
Mail- In Rebate $100 Mail In Rebate
Miscellaneous Dimension 5150
Financial Software Pre-Installed No QuickBooks package selected- Includes limited use trial
Operating System Backup & Recovery PC Restore recovery system by Symantec
Purchase Intent Purchase is not intended for resale.
TOTAL:$649.00

My Dimension 4700 was basically the same deal as this with a 19 inch screen and I spent a good load adding a NEC DVD burner, 1GB of RAM, Leadtek 6600, and a Creative Audigy2 ZS. I think in the end, it came out to be around $1000. But I don't think that Dell intends users to upgrade their computers that much as when I finally added the sound card in, my case was really cramped and it was probably pushing out a lot of heat and the 1 Rear Exhast fan couldn't cut it. So yeah, I sold it all and just kept the sound card because I like it.

So for the next computer, I just want a fast CPU, 1GB of RAM, I'll add a DVD Burner and my sound card and that will probably be it. The Dimension 5100 will probably suit me best and the wiring is a lot neater than the 9100, although if there is a huge deal on the 9100, I'll just have to get that.

ForHisGlory · Post by **ForHisGlory** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 9:58 pm

teknerd wrote:Dells work well and have a good value (i set my parents up with one with a long term warranty so they wouldnt have to worry while i was away at school).
Personally i would never consider buying one for myself for a number of reasons (cost for the high end systems, i like to build my own, noise, etc)
finally, noise, the new dimension 5100's are fairly quiet at idle. But as soon as you load the CPU you the fan goes to full blast and that is one noisy fan. Even though the system only has 2 fans (PSU and Case/CPU) the system is far louder at load than my custom built (see "current rig" in sig). This holds true even when my system is sitting next to me in my room and the dell is in another room 30 feet down a hallway.

First, I thank you for your reply as its always good to get a 2nd opinion. I have only seen the 5100 on idle, and I was so amazed at its silence. I could not even tell it was on. I have not experienced any SPCR computers so to my knowledge, that 5100 is the quietest computer I've heard. I was so impressed with this new BTX technology. Anyway, I'm gonna go to my friend's house and hear what the comp sounds like on full load. The only times my computer have been on full load was when I was installing a game or program, or when I clicked the Mozilla icon like 2 minutes straight and opened up like 300 Mozillas. I don't game so yeah. I'm gonna try the Mozilla thing at my friend's house. If you guys have an easier way to put the comp at full load tell me because my friend will probably think I am nuts.

Shadowknight · Post by **Shadowknight** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 10:02 pm

download CPUburn, and open multiple copies until your CPU is running at 100% usage constantly.

sgent · Post by **sgent** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 1:24 am

their support is fairly bad....

Today, I like HP's, and Sony's. HP has excellent support if you upgrade, and Sony tends to have the best "overall" deal IMHO. They are more expensive, but you get more computer for it.

Evaluating the New Dell Dimension Desktops

Evaluating the New Dell Dimension Desktops

I'm not a huge fan of Dells