isitreal - 2:08 pm on Oct 31, 2004 (gmt 0)

We'll have to agree to disagree. Change the celeron for a AMD XP 25-2800 barton core processor, change the cheapo dell mobo for an asus, gigabyte, abit, etc mobo, change the junk dell case for a high end quality pro level case, it's about the same price for the parts, and the machine will be significantly superior.

A lot of people I suspect think that one mobo is the same as another, this isn't the case, even with the same specs there's a really wide performance gulf between high end mobos and generic or clamped down mobos.

For any generic installations I'd agree, for office rollouts where really who cares about the quality of the machines and you're never going to go in them and change stuff, and let them sit as long as they work, I'd agree, for your aunt or grandmother I'd agree, but if you are getting a personal machine, or any type of quality workstation, the numbers simply don't add up.

It just comes down to your time, the performance you want to get for your money, versus how much you can spend. Currently you can build yourself an amd opteron 900 series 64 bit processor based box with an asus mobo, 1 gig of ram, high end case and power supply, for around 7-800 dollars. Price that with Dell and get back to us.