Aaah! What does it all mean!?

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OK, I'm trying to configure myself a new computer to buy from Dell. Only problem is, I dunno what half of these crazy choices mean! Can someone please explain the various features of all these options, whether they're necessary or just Nerd-Candy.

1.

What the hell is the difference? And why doesn't it give me the home version as an option?

2.

Is it worth the extra £100 for the extra 200mhz?

3.

???? Says it's only available on 3.0ghz model.

4.

I know that I want 1GB of RAM, but what is the difference between these 4?

5.

Surely 120GB is 120GB?

6.

Why do I need one? I'm not having a printer or scanner.

7.

I just want something that will run games without lag!

8.

What do I need to get good bass on my REM? Bearing in mind you can pick more than one here.

9.

What the hell does that do? Am I gonna need it to get any decent sound?

That's it. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

1. NTFS is generally better, particularly with large hard drives. FAT is more compatible with other operating systems - i.e. don't expect to be able to pull out an NTFS hard drive and be able to put it in a windows 95 computer without having to reformat the drive. FAT can can converted to NTFS fairly easily but not the other way around.

As for why the home version is not available - that is something to ask Dell.

2. Normally I would say no but the real answer to this is in...

3. If you are doing something that truly requires multi-tasking then hyperthreading may be worth while. However, in most situations you will notice very little benefit and much higher power consumption. I have toyed around with a a P4 3.0 with hyper threading and I was not impressed with the performance. As such, I would say go with the 2.8 and forget about hyper threading until the technology has been around a while longer.

4. For a home computer non-ECC is generally slightly better. Also, you will generally have only four memory slots so if you have two larger chips you can add more RAM without having to remove an existing chip. I would say the extra 20 is worth it to have two 512s instead of four 256s.

5. Yes 120 GB is 120GB in terms of how much it will store but the difference is in how fast you can save or retrieve the data. I would say in most cases it is not worth spending the extra money.

6. If you don't need it then don't buy it.

7. Personally, I wouldn't choose any of the models that they are offering but the standard option should do the job for most games.

8. The speakers they are selling are junk. I would select no speakers and buy my own from someplace else.

9. Go with the Sound Blaster Audigy. It is a good card.

 

1.
Option 1 if you want a slow working XP-only machine
Option 2 for a faster-working, more combatible but a bit more space-consuming machine

2.
Go with option 1.

3.
For true nerds. Not for using.

4.
I would say Option 3 (2x512) (4 has less trouble, but ya are using windows anyway)

5.
Option 1.

6.
Do not.

7.
The last one. A geek's VERY pricey dream...
Can you get a GF4Ti4200 (128mb)? It should do it.

8.
No Speakers. Buy yer own.

9.
I can listen Rammstein with AC "97. I do it now...
Get Sound Blaster, it's much better.

 

So you're saying my two-year old, four-speaker Cambridge SoundWorks speakers are better than those? Are they easy to install? Will they work with the soundblaster?

 

1. What the others said. I was always able to pick the home version when I went to Dell's site. Maybe you tried to build the Optiplex instead of the Dimension?

2. It's not worth the money. You won't notice a difference for a least a few years, and you'll want a new machine by then anyway.

3. Don't bother with the Hyperthreading. It isn't worthwhile for gaming.

4. There's actually a lot bigger difference than the other posters say. Not all of those chips are the same speed. The PC400 is faster memory, I'd go with option 4 if you can afford it.

5. The Serial ATA is a lot faster. You'll be able to get better performance with that one.

6. Those have nothing to do with printers or scanners. If you have more than one hard drive, these devices will increase the speed. They won't be worthwhile if you take my advice and go for the ATA-drive, though.

7. I know for a fact that Dell has the nVidia GeForce FX. All those cards are crap. Get the GeFX. If you have to get one of those, get either of the 128MB ones.

8. The Harmon Kardon are the best ones there, but it's true that none of those are really that good.

9. The Audigy is much better than getting the Integrated, especially if you want to do anything on your comp involving music.

Your current speakers are better than anything listed there. If you get the Audigy, just plug them in.