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New computer :)
Nov. 13th, 2017 07:20 pmNew desktop computer finally ordered. My old one died a while ago, and I didn't have the cash to replace it until a couple of weeks ago, since when I've been paralysed by choice. Thankfully FB friends managed to narrow down my choice by pointing out the Dell Outlet, which is Dell selling off PCs whose cases have picked up minor dents or scratches during manufacture (and the two friends who've used it confirmed they are minor). Roughly a third off means they're even cheaper than the bespoke builders. I almost went for a £700 machine last week, but it disappeared while I hesitated (it was the same spec they sell at PC World for £1050, so I went to look at one and it was gone by the time I got back).
So I've been checking their listings a couple of times a day. Just to throw me into a last minute dilemma, they added two systems this afternoon that fitted my requirements (and that's two as in one of each only, so no time to hesitate). An XPS 8920 with i5-7400 with 2TB drive and 32Mb SSD for £700 (the configuration on sale in PC World for £1050) or an Alienware R6 with i7-7700 with only a 1TB drive and no SSD for £850. (Both have the same GTX 1060 graphics card). Only other serious difference was a Blueray read/write optical drive in the R6 which I have absolutely no use for (a Blueray writer, seriously!?). The XPS is almost literally the R6 chassis and internals without the glo-faster plastic panels.
I had to go for a walk (okay, a waddle) to think it out. The R6 does have the i7 (and the i7 was first on my wants list - I'm an advocate of buying as powerful a PC as you can afford as that way they retain acceptable performance for longer, my previous machine had the very first i7 and lasted me 8 years), but it falls short on storage, I want at least 2TB, and doesn't have an SSD (okay, 32GB is too small for general use, but it will hold Windows for fast starts). The i7 on its own isn't really worth £150 more (AFAICS price diff vs i5 as components is more like £80-100), and if the i7-7700 price drops, given the arrival of 6-core i7-8s, I may be able to pick one up cheap later. And I was already at £700 on a budget that started out as (an unrealistic) £250 upgrade. If I went for the R6 and upgraded storage, I was looking at nearly £1000.
So I went for the XPS. And if you think all of this is me trying to convince myself I made the right decision, you're damned right! I mentally and physically hate dilemmas! My arm was shaking almost uncontrollably as I went through the buying process. But it absolutely needed doing, I'm 100% certain mixing games and writing on the laptop is why I haven't done as much writing as I'd like this year, and it may even have been affecting my mental health.
