It is so hard to tell with Dell’s what you are really getting because there are really very few reviews and they are outdated as the hardware changes, still for about $1600 you can get a really amazing machine in china from Dell.
Dell Dimension 9200 Product Details
Here’s an analysis of what you get based on reviews on the web:
* “Dell UltraSharp 2007WFP”:http://reviews.cnet.com/Dell_UltraSharp_2007WFP/4852-3174_7-31783769.html. This unit has been controversial as the initial ones had terrible banding problems (blocky colors), seems to be fixed now. If you really want a great monitor though I’d pop for the $800 Dell “2405WFP”:http://reviews.cnet.com/Dell_UltraSharp_2405FPW/4505-3174_7-31335738.html, this is a remarkable 24″ diagonal and you’ll use it long after the cpu and everything else is obsolete.
* “nVidia 7900 GS”:http://www.3davenue.com/1688.html. This is a cost reduced 7900GT and for $200 or so is a great deal.
* They are running a constant promotion that takes about $100 off if you get a 20″ or bigger monitor or 2GB or more of memory and at least an E6300 (1.8GHz processor). The text is deceiving as it implies you get it only if you go from 19″ to 20″, but I tried the configurator and the discounts take hold for any higher model like the 24″
* Intel Core Duo 2 6400. This is the 2.13GHz processor but it only has 2MB of cache. Benchmarks show it doesn’t make much difference but i fyou can afford to wait, the E6700 has 4MB of cache and is slightly faster. OTOH, if you dare, you can overclock the Dell.I wouldn’t recommend that as I bet the memory is slow.
* Memory. This is generic 2GB memory, main issue is the motherboard uses the older 965 chipset, so it is slower while the newer 975 is 1033Ghz so will give you about 5% more. Again if you can wait, get the newer model which is already in America.
As an aside, a unit you can’t get in china is the “XPS 700”:http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2006/09/04/Dell_XPS_700_review/2.html line of gaming machines, the review shows it is pretty good except the memory is very slow and hurts performance.
