Just my opinion:

 

Maybe Dell knows something we do not, ie.  future DX10 cards will have phys x on them or maybe dell didn't sell enough to AGEIA physX cards on previous machines to justify the hassle/cost.  I don't think you need one at this point as the demand is not there and if they are not integrated into dx10 cards, when the time warrants one I'm sure the price will drop.

 

I'd go with 4 gigs if you can afford it as vista will support it. But if it's a choice between a better processor or video card, go with the better processor.  You can always upgrade the video card and ram later.  I'd go with the cheapest card dell offers and grab a dx10 card from a retailor.

Do not buy the Aegia physics accelerator.  First, the usefulness of the card today is close to zero -- certainly not worth the cost and loss of a pci slot.  Second, I have a very high level of confidence that physics processing technology will end up developing in a different direction, using the CPU, the GPUs, etc.  There's just no way the big boys like Intel and Nvidia and AMD/ATI (and even Microsoft which is in this game too) are going to let Aegia's standalone card become the solution of choice.

 

Funny by the way that Dell offers this useless physics card but still is not selling the 8800 video cards in their boxes.  The new GPUs would provide an enormously greater benefit to your gaming experience. 

 

I hear a lot of talk about how it takes Dell longer to offer new video cards because of their rigorous testing, but these are off the shelf parts.  Nvidia and the card manufacturers do a lot of testing already before these cards hit the retail market.  Not to say that there won't be glitches or a need for drivers to mature with new technology, bu my strong suspicion is Dell's testing has nothing to do with the quality of the video cards and everything to do with the fact that you never know whether or not a new piece of technology is going to work in Dell's cut-corner, gimped-down motherboards.

Read the XPS 700 issues thread! You DON'T want an XPS 710... they face the same problems as the XPS 700 does. DO NOT buy an XPS 700/710...

Aivas47 u are 100% correct in all yout Points about Dell  .  i read on a tech site some where that some 8800 GTX cards have better support for physics

I would like to thank all you guys for your input and recommendations in reference to my AGEIA physX accelerator and memory amount (2 or 4 gigs) questions. I have a much better understanding of it now and will not! include it in my online XPS 710 or XPS 700 build.---- However I have also taken vbc_bnt 's advice and have read many of the XPS 700 Series issues thread, Mobo, On Off switch, etc,etc,etc,etc,. I have decided to hold off on the purchase of the online XPS 710 build. At least until these issues are corrected and or resolved to some degree! --- Again "Thank You All"! very much for your informational input and "Help"!  -----  Respectfully,  Robert_Allen

No problem, many of us rely on this forum for help and advice.  The least we can do in return is weigh in if there is a question on a topic with which we may be familiar.  Thanks for posting your thanks, the friendliness and courtesy of (most) participants is a big part of what makes this forum such a good one. 

 

Good luck with your purchase whatever you decide to do.  One additional comment:  rumor is the next XPS model, the 800, will be based on Nvidia's new 680i chipset.  You might want to follow the reviews (and forum postings too of course!) on that and consider waiting a bit longer -- early indications are the 680 based motherboards will be far superior to the 590 models on which the XPS700/710 is based.