get part info 55

Well, it wasn't my intention to get into this, but since you guys asked, here it is. (My apologies to other people for this long post)

It was not my intention to bash Dell, other than their tech support, but point was that they charge quite a bit for extra RAM. After all, if I do buy a system, it would be a Dell.

It's awfully hard to compare apples to apples, and the same quality of apples at that. Thats why I asked about brands of motherboards and DVD burners in my other post.

Originally, my option of "building my own" is really an upgrade of my existing system. However, to try and make a good comparasion, I've included the basic items that the Dell has, as though I were building a new one. After all, if I build my own, I'd need to sell-hand down to someone else my existing one (minus OS and other software).

Motherboard,CPU,RAM,HD,DVD burner from zipzoomfly, all free shipping

For a non-Pentium D (regular P4 w-HT)

Intel BOXD915PGNL 915P P4 800FSB LGA775 DDR ATX Motherboard w-Audio, LAN, Serial ATA Retail $95.50

Corsair TWINX2048-3200 2GB DDR400 XMS3200 Memory w-Black Heat Spreader Retail $206.00

Intel Pentium® 4 541 Processor Prescott 3.20GHz, 800MHz FSB, Socket 775, 1MB Cache Retail $226.50

Total for 541 3.2ghz: $528

If I got a Pentium D 3.0ghz: (note: this is different MD-RAM than what I first looked at, would need to look deeper, but this appears to be what I would use, at a quick glance)

Intel BOXD945GNTLKR945G P4-Pentium D-Celeron D 1066FSB LGA775 DDR2 ATX Motherboard w-Audio, Gigabit LAN, Serial ATA Retail $138.99

Corsair VS2GBKIT533D2 2GB Kit DDR2-533 PC2-4200 Value Select Memory Retail $144

Intel Pentium® D Processor 830 3.0GHz, 800MHz FSB, Socket 775, 2x1MB Cache, Dual Core Retail $314.50

The memory, while I used zzf-corsair's configurator, seems low (plus its "value"), so I'll bump it up to $206 to be on the safe side.

Total for Pentium D 3.0ghz: $659.49

Now, as I discuss below, I would use my retail XPpro either way, so no cost added either here or added onto the Dell.

Office: I would use My office either way, so no difference there.

Burning software: I would probably stay with my existing Nero, although I would at least try Dell's...what, Sonic? I'm not sure how to list that.

Motherboard would have onboard audio and LAN.

DVD burner, would probably use my existing, but in order to try and compare to Dell, add: Sony DRU800A Internal Double Layer & Dual Format DVD Burner Retail (which, btw, comes with Nero bundled, so I don't have to try and adjust for Dell's Sonic after all) $63.99

Maxtor DiamondMax 10 6L160M0 160GB Serial ATA 7200RPM Hard Drive w-8MB Buffer $80.25

Video: Haven't priced these, but I'm not a gamer, so I'm going to buttume $100

So, $872.24 for the P4, $903.73 for the PentiumD

I would use my existing case, but for comparasions sake, lets add this case: Googlegear 501AW-300P4 Mini-Mid Tower Case (Beige) Retail $48

I just bought a Princeton LCD 19" monitor: $300. (although I'm strongly leaning towards taking it back and get the Dell ultrasharp, either with a system or by itself)

So, grand total: $1220 for P4, and $1252 for the Pentium D

All the above items are free shipping.

Dell: XPS 400 P4 540 3.2ghz 2gb RAM default video, 128PCIexpress 160gb HD (bumped up from default of 80gb) dual drives 16xDVD & DVD+--RW (bumped up from DVD & CDRW) (I don't need dual drives, would prefer one DVD+--RW) 19" Ultrasharp LCD, bumped up from regular 19" Ultrasharp (+$80) everything else default, no Office software.

XP Home, because I would not pay $119 extra for Pro, I have retail XPPro, If I bought this, I would just get XPHome, then wipe and install my XPpro.

Isn't the "free" shipping actually $24?

$1389+$24 shipping for the above package from Dell.

$1559+$24 shipping if I went for the $170 upgrade to Pentium D 3.0 ghz.

So, compare: Dell P4: $1413 build; $1220 Diff: $193

Dell PentiumD $1583 build $1252 Diff: $331

This doesn't even consider that Dell charges Sales Tax (5% in my state). To offset that, though, the monitors don't match in quality.

Ok, have at it, check my math and snipe away.