Which system would you buy?

[olobay]

Hi,

I'd like to get some opinions on which system is faster, which one is a better value. Both are from Dell.ca. Prices are in Canadian $.

System 1:

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ i7-860 w/VT (2.8GHz 8MB L3 Cache)

OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Professional, with Media, 64-bit

HARD DRIVE 1TB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™

MEMORY 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz - 4DIMMs

VIDEO CARD 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTS240® (DVI, DVI, S-video)

OPTICAL DRIVE Single Drive: 16X (DVD+/-RW) Burner Drive

SOUND CARD Integrated 5.1 Channel Audio

$1139

System 2:

Intel® Core™ i7-920 processor(8MB L3 Cache, 2.66GHz)

OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit

MEMORY 12GB Tri-Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz - 6 DIMMs

HARD DRIVE 1TB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive

GRAPHICS CARD nVidia GeForce GTS 240 1024MB

OPTICAL DRIVE Blu-ray Disc (BD) Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD)

SOUND CARD Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

$1418

This computer will be used for regular internet surfing, word processing, emails, and the odd video encoding/editing and Photoshopping.

I understand it's a bit overkill but I am kind of futureproofing my computer for a few years. So which system would you guys prefer for a pretty solid, fast computer?

If anyone has a better system for a better value located in Canada suggestions are appreciated. I'm not going to buy from the USA and pay customs charges and exchange conversion when I import it to Canada.

Thanks.

[CoffeeFiend]

This computer will be used for regular internet surfing, word processing, emails, and the odd video encoding/editing and Photoshopping.

I understand it's a bit overkill but I am kind of futureproofing my computer for a few years. So which system would you guys prefer for a pretty solid, fast computer?

A bit overkill? A plain old P4 could handle most of that just fine. The boxes I threw together for the kids last year for $300/ea should handle all of that perfectly for several years (dual core AMD with 4GB of RAM). This is way, WAY beyond overkill. It's like swatting a fruit fly with a 50 megaton atomic bomb. Also, the price isn't exactly hard to beat, especially if we don't pick a 1:1 equivalent of what Dell sells (which I wouldn't really want to buy) but what seems like a better choice.

For the same price as the top machine:

Intel Core i5 750 Quad Core Processor Lynnfield LGA1156 2.66GHZ 8MB Cache Retail Box $218.99

Gigabyte P55A-UD3 ATX LGA1156 P55 DDR3 2PCI-E 2PCI RAID GBLAN CrossFireX USB3.0 SATA3 Motherboard $145.99

2x Corsair XMS3 TW3X4G1333C9 4GB DDR3 2X2GB DDR3-1333 CL 9-9-9-24 Dual Channel Memory Kit @ $109.99/ea

Western Digital WD1001FALS Caviar Black 1TB SATA2 7200RPM 4.2MS 32MB 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM $97.99

Powercolor Radeon HD 5750 PCs 700MHZ 512MB 4.6GHZ GDDR5 2XDVI HDMI DP DIRECTX11 PCI-E Video Card $134.99 (a 4850 is also a good pick, as fast, cheaper, but not DirectX 11)

Samsung SH-S243D/BEBE 24X Black DVD Writer SATA OEM $24.99

Antec Three Hundred Mini Tower Gaming Case 300 ATX 3X5.25 6X3.5INT No PS Front USB & Audio $49.99

Antec Earthwatts 650W Power Supply ATX12V V2.2 EPS12V Active PFC 80PLUS 120MM Fan $69.99

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64BIT DVD OEM $99.99

PC Assembly and Testing with 1 Year Limited NCIX System Warranty (PRE-CONFIG WIN. OS If Purchased) $50.00, skip this if you don't mind doing it yourself to save $50

Total: $1112.90 CAD

The CPU is still well beyond overkill, the motherboard is above and beyond anything Dell will sell you at any price, and you do get cutting edge features like SATA3 and USB3 which the Dell doesn't have, the hard drive is MUCH faster than the Dell's (4.2ms seek time, dual processor, twice the cache), the case is better than any Dell (but for $30 extra or so you could get something extra nice), the power supply is a LOT better quality than what you'll find in any Dell, has LOADS of power to spare should you ever decide to add a fancy video card & more drives and so on, and it's significantly more power efficient too (save on your power bill), great quality RAM, you get a "next generation" DirectX 11 video card (the other is a 10.1) that's about twice as fast, and 7.1 sound like the more expensive rig. You also get a faster DVD writer -- add about $75 if you want a Blu-Ray combo drive instead (not that I would really bother yet). Even though the CPU is slightly slower, it's still ridiculously overkill for those needs, and the faster hard drive and video card will make it faster than the Dell at most tasks anyways. And should you want to change any part, you can actually do it at cost, and not the ridiculous prices Dell charges (you also have a LOT more choice). If you have $ to spare and want extra speed then I'd also consider a good SSD.

Edit: although personally I would build a cheaper system (it's still beyond ridiculously overkill), just like puntoMX said.

Edit2, to reply to puntoMX's edit2: nothing, that's what's in my kids' boxes

[puntoMX]

Okay, one thing I got to say: Build your own and use it for 3 years or so, you will be more future proof keeping half the cash inside your walled and go for a 500-600CAD system.

Just my 0.01 (half of 0.02 ).

EDIT: let me read what CoffeeFiend has to say .

EDIT2: What's wrong with onboard video (HD4200/785G) and AMD for example? .

[olobay]

Ok guys, you have convinced me to downgrade and save some money. I'm down to these 2 options. If you didn't know that System 1 was from Dell, which one do you think is a better overall deal/value?

System 1 $999:

Intel® Core™ i5-750 processor(8MB Cache, 2.66GHz)

Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English

24.0" Dell ST2410 Full HD Monitor with VGA cable

6GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz - 3 DIMMs

1TB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache

ATI Radeon HD 5450 1GB DDR3

16X DVD+/-RW Drive

Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

System 2 $1042

Intel DP55WB Motherboard

Intel Core i5 750 Processor

8GB OCZ PC3-10666 Platinum RAM at 1333MHz - 4 DIMMs Dual Channel

Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EADS Hard Drive 1TB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 32MB Cache

XFX Radeon HD 4670 1GB PCIe 2.0 Video Card

Ultra X-Blaster ATX Blk Mid-T Case

Ultra LSP650 650-Watt Power Supply

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64BIT - OEM DVD

LG GH22NS50 DVD Writer OEM 22X DVD+/-RW Drive

S203-2426 CA Samsung 2494SW 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor Display DVI

Integrated 5.1 Channel Audio

I know that System 1 is using Intel 57 chipset while System 2 is using Intel 55 chipset but I won't be using any RAIDs. System 1 video card is Direct X 11 while System 2 is Driect X 10.1.

Thanks for the opinions.