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May 10th, 2004 13:00
Whats the diff between XPS and 8300 dimensions?
Hi all,
I just configured both an XPS and an 8300 dimension, with identical hardware (except for the monitors because I have no control over the default monitors offered, the XPS's default monitor is the 17in (16.0 viewable,.25dp)M782 CRT Monitor and the 8300's default monitor is the 17 in (16 in viewable,.27dp) E773c CRT Monitor ) and the price difference is a staggering $500 !!
Why? The FSB is the same, the processors are the same, why would I pay an extra $500 for an XPS, there has to be a pretty good reason, Mike Dell isn't stupid? :)
Thanx in advance for clarifying this for me.
Later.
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shunney
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May 10th, 2004 13:00
Message Edited by shunney on 05-10-2004 03:41 PM
cyber_surfer
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May 10th, 2004 14:00
I believe I read the power supply is larger also.
If you are a big gamer you may experience heat problems with the 8300 case. Based on what others have reported. Not an easy case to increase airflow in.
I have three of those cases and have no problems. My son's machine is 2.4GHz P4 with 512MB ram and an ATI 9700 Graphics card. He has had no heat problems in a full year of operation. Newer faster CPUs and graphics cards may be another story.
shunney
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1.4K Posts
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May 10th, 2004 14:00
I forgot about the psu, the 8300 has 305w, the XPS has 460w...
A friend of mine is the biggest gamer i know (gaming constantly) he has an 8300 with a 9800XT and has no heat issues, but the new vid cards would probably run better in the XPS case... Still $500 extra, i can't believe that
DumDeDum
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May 10th, 2004 16:00
Thanx guys,
You confirmed my suspicions.
As for the extra fans and power supply, the system is supposed to be operational as it is configured by the user and shipped and even if the heat might be an issue, if you check the prices for the extra warranty, to upgrade to a 3 year warranty is only an extra $169.00, heck, if you want to sweeten the deal for complete peace of mind, you can throw in the CompleteCare Accidental Damage Service to 3Yr Lim Warranty for an extra $59 !!
I dunno, to me that seems a much better deal. I don't care for the flashy XPS tower. I'm not big on looks and nice paint jobs, its a pc not a car.
Peace.
TomXPS
1.3K Posts
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May 10th, 2004 22:00
Depending on when and how much memory you order the XPS can be a better deal or almost. When I ordered my XPS Dell had a Quad Memory upgrade dell so the 2GB XPS was just about the same price as the 8300 with the same monitor. For pricing comparison price without the monitor.
The benefits of the XPS are:
Anyway I think you find eithe Dell to be a fairly decent computer, and not too badly priced. I usually had custom build system buid for me by a system builder. But the pricing of the XPS when I ordered it was failry good. Had no issues so far in 5+ months. Ordered a 4550 for my wife about 1.5 years ago, with no problems.
DumDeDum
102 Posts
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May 11th, 2004 00:00
Thanx Tom,
Quick question, you said
How is that different from the raid configured on the 8300 ?
Thanks.
TomXPS
1.3K Posts
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May 11th, 2004 01:00
From what I know on the 8300 DELL uses a Promise PCI card for the RAID option. With the XPS the SATA controller uses the Intel Chip set for the RAID. The 8300 has SATA ports on the mother board also but no RAID support. If you look at the XPS spec Tab on the Dell sales site it show the XPS having the ICH5 chip set, the 8300 does not mention this. I added another SATA drive and cable and setup my own RAID 0 after receiving my XPS. The Intel Application Accelerator (Raid Configuration Program) allows you to migrate your existing data to the new RAID I configured after installing the drive. Read the manual for more information.
Here is a link for more information on the Intel Chip set used on the XPS:
http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/iaa_raid/
PDF Manual Link
http://support.intel.com/support/chipsets/iaa_raid/sb/CS-009333.htm
Good luck on your Dell purchase.