Customizing an Insipron 530

[cerasifera]

I'm replacing my full-time laptop with a good desktop that I hope will last me ~4 years. With that though, I do have a price limit, so I figured my best bet was to look for the cheapest and upgrade it. I stumbled on the dell inspiron 530 for $279, and upgraded it to the point of $1,008 (with a monitor and 4yr warranty). I'm not all that tech savvy though, and would like some insight on whether or not I've made a good decision on some of these upgrades.

PROCESSOR: Intel® Core™2 Quad processor Q6600 (8MB L2, 2.4GHz, 1066FSB)

OPERATING SYSTEM: Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1, 64-Bit

MONITOR: 20 inch E207WFP Widescreen Digital Flat Panel

MEMORY: 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz- 4DIMMs

HARD DRIVE: 500GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cacheâ„¢

VIDEO CARD: Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3100

Now I know the video card is horrible, but thats because I intend to purchase a different one and have my friend install it for me since it will be cheaper than upgrading with their options listed (plus they didn't have very good ones listed).

So my questions are these: Is this a good spec for a computer that I want to last ~4 yrs with gaming on mid-high with pretty non-demanding games such as world of warcraft or Aion? Are there certain things I could downgrade without being penalized, or a needed upgrade? Overall is this a good deal for $1,008 (considering ~$270 is a warranty). What graphics cards would you suggest that are below the $150 mark?

Any help would be greatly appreciated =].

 

[01001010]

Try to get the highest base model you could afford. Regardless of the components, you'll be getting a lower quality case and you'll loose expansion space in the future with that model.

 

[rohan23]

Try to get the highest base model you could afford. Regardless of the components, you'll be getting a lower quality case and you'll loose expansion space in the future with that model.

I second that. Ask your friend if he can help you put the computer together. If you ordered parts separately, you would make an amazing computer. It's not very difficult. I learned by watching videos and my cousin/friends do it. The hardest part is just getting everything together. People here will help you a lot. In the end it's your choice.

 

[cerasifera]

I second that. Ask your friend if he can help you put the computer together. If you ordered parts separately, you would make an amazing computer. It's not very difficult. I learned by watching videos and my cousin/friends do it. The hardest part is just getting everything together. People here will help you a lot. In the end it's your choice.

Hmm I see. I guess I have a lot to think about now. Building a computer is out of the question for me sadly, I think it'd be fun but without the warranty I just can't risk it (I'm somewhat of a clumsy person). I'll go back to the customizing boards and see what I can come up with - thank you both for your advice!

 

[SuxoR]

I have an Acer I bought is it possible to lets say move all the components over to an Antec 1200?

Kinda relevant to your situation

 

[J03]

I have an Acer I bought is it possible to lets say move all the components over to an Antec 1200?

Kinda relevant to your situation

I think that this worthy of a new post...

But as long as you have a ATX motherboard, it SHOULD be ok...