"...it does regularly rev up when under stress. And, though it's only for brief periods, at these times the Studio XPS gets very noisy indeed."
Well there's the deal breaker for me. I was seriously looking at this PC because of the great spec. My current machine (Vaio SZ) is noisy as hell and constantly gives me low memory pop-ups; I'd install more RAM but 2 gigs is all it can take :( .
I think I made the mistake of getting 32 bit as opposed to 64 bit. I'm actually quite amazed, I never thought I'd need a lot of memory, but here I am...
I guess they can't offer anything higher than a 4850 (HD4870/GTX260) as that would compete too much with their vastly overpriced 'Gaming' XPS line...
Why not just buy a better card yourself, sit back, and enjoy all that money you just saved not paying for the 965.
@ Ohmz: Yes, the noise (and poor cooling this implies) is the one thing that prevented this Dell getting a recommended award. As to your Vaio, the memory issue is quite odd, as 2GB should be plenty for Vista to feel fairly happy. What do you use your PC for?
Also, considering Windows 7 can apparently run well enough on a netbook with 1GB of memory, waiting for this OS might solve some of your woes. That, or simply installing WinXP, which runs perfectly on my Desktop PC at home which also has only 2GB of RAM.
@ smc8788: The reasons being that upgrading to a better card (if it would even fit) would also require upgrading the 350W PSU. And since this case barely manages proper heat dissipation under stress 'as is', imagine what would happen if you added another major heat source...
But if you do upgrade the power supply and find a high-end dual-slot card that exhausts its heat out the back, it would be possible.
Yeah I guess it wouldn't be such a great idea then I forgot most pre-built systems only use the bare minimum for PSU's. Still, upgrading to a nice PSU over the generic branded one in the Dell wouldn't hurt, and I believe the 4870 is only 0.5cm longer than the 4850, though the GTX 260 is quite a bit longer. But at this point you might as well be building a system yourself if you are upgrading the PSU, and there is still the all-important issue of cooling, which is a problem for quite a few pre-built systems as they just don't seem to have enough fans or ventilation.
I picked up one of these systems over the weekend. From order to delivery was just 4 days. I used a 15% voucher through the small business site to get a similarly configured machine (no RAID array and only 3gb RAM) with a 23" 1080p monitor for only £688. That's insanely good value.
My first job was to swap out the weedy case fan for a XILENCE Red Wing 92mm Quiet Fan. As this fan is more efficient than the stock fan, it meant that the case temps where brought down significantly, causing the vacuum-like CPU fan to kick in less often. In any case, it's not really that intrusive, but it wouldn't be suitable as a HTPC.
The PSU might hold you back if you're after an all out gaming PC. It's very easy to swap out, but then the case is quite compact and I'd be worried about the heat levels in such a confined space. This is not the machine to buy if you're an enthusiast. The 4850 provides decent performance with everything (bar Crysis) at native 1080p, and it's quite plausible that you could swap it for a more powerful mid/high-end product when the next generation of GPUs appear.
Down sides? The case is on the flimsy side, but something has to give at this price. The monitor is billed as Dell's value option, but the image quality is superb, very rich colours and excellent viewing angles.
I couldn't build a PC like this with much change from £1000.
The 4850 has a single slot cooler which vents hot air back into the case. If you were to pick up something more powerful that had a double slot cooler which vented out of the case directly, it might even bring temps down. There is definately space for a longer card with double slot cooling.
Not sure if links are allowed, apologies if they're not.
This fan has has kept the noise and the temperatures within the case down, the main CPU cooler does not kick in as often now either. I'm trying to find a silent after-market cooler, but there don't seem to be any around at the moment.
@ Brian ONeill: I did not notice a constant whine on our sample, so I'd say it's your machine. As to telling which fan it is, that's easy: just disconnect the case fan and turn the machine on for a little while (the minimum time in which you can tell if this causes the whine, as you don't want your system to overheat). Then you'll know.
It has an excellent CFM rating, 2 very quiet 120mm fans (19.8 dB vs. 19 dB for the case fan you bought) and is generally considered the one of the very best coolers out there. The only downside is it is very expensive for a CPU cooler. The Noctua is only compatible with the LGA 1366 socket but there are others out there which can be used on both 775 and 1366 sockets, but some of these require an additional adapter.
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