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Comparing 3 Systems

S

SliderX4

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 26, 2002
Messages
143
I'm in the process of looking for a new home office box. For background this system will be used for design work, web and print, so it will be doing alot of Photoshop work and opening of large files such as TIFFs and the like. I won't be gaming at all on it, and not watching movies either. It's pretty much a straight business box, and I'm looking to keep it under $1K.

That being said I've found 3 boxes that have perked interest, and am looking for thoughts:

1.) Gateway GX7022E
Best Buy Open Box: $709 ( Missing Manuals and restore CDs)
Intel® Pentium® D processor 830
2 × 1 MB L2 cache
Installed: 2048 MB 400 MHz (PC3200) DDR memory (four 512 MB modules)
NVIDIA 6200 64 MB TurboCache video card
ATI Theater 550 Pro TV tuner card
320 GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA hard drive
DVD +/- RW, 16X Multi-Format Double Layer drive
16 DVD-ROM drive
8-in-1 Digital Media Manager

2.) Gateway GT5034
Best Buy Open Box: $1011 (Big Dent in Side Panel)
AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 dual-core processor 4200+
2000 MHz front side bus
L2 cache: 512 KB x2
Installed: 2048 MB 400 MHz (PC3200) DDR memory (four 512 MB modules)
Integrated Video
Integrated Audio
320 GB 7200 RPM IDE hard drive
Double layer 16X DVD+/-RW drive
16X DVD-ROM drive
9-in-1 Digital Media Manager

3.) Directron Aspect X1
Directron: $869 + 110 Shipping = $979
CPU: AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+ 2.0GHz Socket 939 dual core 64-bit processor with cooler
Memory: Corsair 1GB DDR400 Memory.
Hard Drive: Maxtor DiamondMax 10 300GB 7200RPM SATA hard drive with 16MB cache.
Optical Drives: Black Samsung 16x Dual Layer DVD Writer.
MotherBoard: ASUS A8N-VM Socket 939 Micro ATX motherboard with nVidia GeForce 6100 chipset, dual DDR400, PCI-E, SATA RAID.
Video: XFX nVidia 6800XT PCI-E video card with 256MB DDR3, dual DVI, and HDTV-out.
Audio: Onboard.
Case: Aspire Aluminum X-QPACK Computer Case. Silver w/ ATX 420W PSU and 3 side windows

I currently have a Gateway laptop and have been satisfied enough to consider them for a destop, I'm just not sure of Best Buy and the thought of an open box item. Directorn I've heard both good and bad about, but the shipping makes me cringe.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated as I've not bought a new box since my P3 600 that is being replaced was the hot new thing. Needles to say I'm a bit out of the loop.

Thanks in advance!

:cool:
 
That second gateway box should be $1049 new, I just recommended it to a buddy.

Personally, I'd stay away from Directron for systems. They are a parts supplier who for a fee will put the parts together. But I can guarantee you that the system you spec'd from them has not been through any amount of R&D, quality assurance, or validation.
 
Hey Chris,

Good to know on Directron. I was conisdering them less after reading on thier site that in order to minimize returns and shipping damage that they will only ship systems 3day or better. What didn't make sense was that a small system like that would still be over $100 and still anything can happen.

Given that #2 isn't that much of a savings vs. new, it might be safer to head that direction. My question though would be how is the upgradeability in the Gateway systems? For example being that it has integrated video, if I wanted to drop in a new graphics card or extra hard drive, will I run into any forseeable problems?

Lastly are the specs on #2 enough to overcome the $300 price jump over #1? The main difference I see is in the processor and graphics card, and is the difference in perfomance be noticeable?

Thanks!
 
SliderX4 said:
Hey Chris,

Good to know on Directron. I was conisdering them less after reading on thier site that in order to minimize returns and shipping damage that they will only ship systems 3day or better. What didn't make sense was that a small system like that would still be over $100 and still anything can happen.

Given that #2 isn't that much of a savings vs. new, it might be safer to head that direction. My question though would be how is the upgradeability in the Gateway systems? For example being that it has integrated video, if I wanted to drop in a new graphics card or extra hard drive, will I run into any forseeable problems?

Lastly are the specs on #2 enough to overcome the $300 price jump over #1? The main difference I see is in the processor and graphics card, and is the difference in perfomance be noticeable?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
That's a tough one...I'd call Gateway and verify you can get the restore disk for system #1. As for upgradeability, they should both have PCI-E x16 slots for graphics.

Performance wise an Athlon 64 X2 4200+ should win in most benchmarks, but seriously, I don't think you'd notice a $300 difference, I'd lean towards the $700 system, that seems like a good value to me.
 
SliderX4 said:
3.) Directron Aspect X1
Directron: $869 + 110 Shipping = $979
CPU: AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+ 2.0GHz Socket 939 dual core 64-bit processor with cooler
Memory: Corsair 1GB DDR400 Memory.
Hard Drive: Maxtor DiamondMax 10 300GB 7200RPM SATA hard drive with 16MB cache.
Optical Drives: Black Samsung 16x Dual Layer DVD Writer.
MotherBoard: ASUS A8N-VM Socket 939 Micro ATX motherboard with nVidia GeForce 6100 chipset, dual DDR400, PCI-E, SATA RAID.
Video: XFX nVidia 6800XT PCI-E video card with 256MB DDR3, dual DVI, and HDTV-out.
Audio: Onboard.
Case: Aspire Aluminum X-QPACK Computer Case. Silver w/ ATX 420W PSU and 3 side windows

I currently have a Gateway laptop and have been satisfied enough to consider them for a destop, I'm just not sure of Best Buy and the thought of an open box item. Directorn I've heard both good and bad about, but the shipping makes me cringe.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated as I've not bought a new box since my P3 600 that is being replaced was the hot new thing. Needles to say I'm a bit out of the loop.

Thanks in advance!

:cool:
Click to expand...

I think honestly you could do some more shopping for deals. When I worked for Dell, we always laughed at Gateway, and my suspicions are that their days are numbered. I am partial to the Aspire case system just because the case design is so very innovative and we work with them directly why I chose it for two of our systems. Last time I did market research, if memory serves me, note that Polywell, Abs, Systemmax, and us use the case for various systems. Any of these systems will be an age ahead of your dinosaur though. Hopefully my advice helps.
 
umm, the $900 setup only has a 3200+ (which is not, um...could be better)
so-so vid-card
doesn't seem too good either...

just my though
 
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