.................or has it???

 

If you look at my computer specs you will see the DELL STUDIO XPS 8000 purchased in 2009 for approx €1000. The only component I changed was the Video Card because the original ( Geforce GTS240 OEM) gave up.

 

Today I went searching around for a potential upgrade and I came across the DELL XPS 8500. For the price I fail to see what the huge difference is between this and my current three yr old PC. Is the advertised CPU and faster memory worth the investment in this upgrade?

 

I should point out that I am not interested in overclocking, I use to be into all sorts of tweaking in a previous life but I'm really not interested ( possibly afraid) in spending very valuable time inside in a PC case anymore.

 

Okay, is the i7-3770 a major improvement over the i7-860, not considering overclocking.

To answer your specific question. Yes, the 3770 is much better. That 7570 is not great, though.

 

Have you thought about different options from other companies? I love my Dell laptop (it's very high end), but I personally wouldn't spend the money on a Dell desktop. For the same price, you can get a smaller company to build a stronger system and safely overclock it for you. Something that specific Dell system will never, ever be able to do. Plus, higher end Dell desktops are very much overpriced.

 

Again, I'm not knocking Dell systems. They've come a long way in the sense of cooling and aesthetics, it just doesn't seem a great option especially considering your purposes.

Hey Anthony

 

I got the xps 8500 in April, Only the €1400 verison with the 2gb ATI Radeon 7770. It was a bit of a disappointment with the 2600 i7 that it was initially released with. I see it’s a 3770 now which might make a difference the 2600 is awful

 

Don’t get me wrong it’s a rock solid pc and great for everything else with its ssd and Intel rapid storage technology. But as far as fsx running smoothly I think it could be better.

 

I think the biggest problem with my xps is the Ati card.It can’t seem to handle clouds too well thus slowing the fps.

 

If I was in the market again today for a new PC with similar price range id have a long think about buying one of the non “big brands” on komplett.ie

 

I Know it’s easier said than done, especially these days but if you can increase your budget I think this would be the way to go.

 

http://www.komplett....70/details.aspx

 

I know it’s a ridiculous price for a pc with no OS but better then getting junk software/freeware pre installed.

 

It seems everything in this hobby of ours is expensive. :rolleyes:

This seems a bit more sensible then my previous post €949 with W7 OS

 

http://www.komplett.ie/Komplett/product/computers/80005749/medion_akoya_p5374e_i7_3770_8gb_64ssd%2b1_5tb_gtx550/details.aspx

This seems a bit more sensible then my previous post €949 with W7 OS

 

http://www.komplett....50/details.aspx

 

Thanks for that Stephen. It certainly looks like better value.