Is this a good computer??

[Akhen]

I dont know about the 3 gigs of ram, windows supports it but in the end its unused,
2 gigs is better in my opinion, also make sure its a good brand of ram.
As for the graphic's card try and aim for a quatro series, though expensive they make up
in their great performance for graphic programs. If you cant afford one at least up it up a notch and get a 6800 GT that is considerably better.

[MattClary]

Here is the first problem. Don't buy a Dell. They are fine for your grandma or the barely computer literate, but not for most people on this board. You can never switch out the motherboard or power supply with a non-Dell item.

Dimension 9100:




Here is the second problem. The Intel dual core chips are a hack. I'm not an AMD fanboy, I run a PIV 3.0, but if I were buying today, I would only consider the AMD64 X2 chips.

Pentium D dual core 3.0 ghz processor

[InfamousX]

yea but its definitely worth it for the price... im paying less than half or what others are paying.

[MattClary]

Yep, a 300mhz Pentium II is a "good computer" if the price is right. ;)

[Srek]

If you are not into modifying your PC yourself you should be fine. CPU, RAM as well as graphicscard should suit you in by far the most cases.
You should note that most likely the system will not have optimal performance with 3 GB, since it won't be able to work with dual data rate. You will need 2x1 GB DIMM or 4x512 MB DIMM to make it work fast. If you want to use more then 2 GB in the future (maybe using XP 64 and a 64 bit 3D app) then you should gor for the 2x1GB option shince it allows you to easily upgrade to 4x1GB later on.
Cheers
Björn

[InfamousX]

i have 2 X 1gb chips and 2 X 512mb chips... i wont be able to use that completely?

[deathman20]

i have 2 X 1gb chips and 2 X 512mb chips... i wont be able to use that completely?

32bit version of windows limits usage of applications to 2gigs. So yes and no u won't beable to use it completely, unless you are going to use 64-bit version of windows, then on top of that usign a true 64-bit application would be the best to get full use of the memory.

But that should run at full speed with that, just as long as the motherboard doesn't reject the different sizes. Hopfully they are the same brand, that will hopfully eliminate potential problem of the 2 x 512 chips not working with the 2 other 1gig chips.

Truely not a horrible cpu, even though I wouldn't recommend Intel's currently since AMD is mopping the floor with them in almost every instance. You get what you can afford, but I'd recommend one of the X2 chips in a heart beat compared to a Intel D.

[InfamousX]

xp media center and xp pro can use more than 2 gigs right?

[CGTalk Moderation]

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.