Quote: I am hoping to order Dell XPS 8700

4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-4770 Processor (8M Cache, 3.4 GHz)
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600MHz - 2 DIMMs
1TB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive 6.0 Gb/s
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 635 1GB DDR3

What more do I need? How necessary is SSD?

I am not into the hardware scene, so need help when ordering.

Right now am using:
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6600 @2.40GHz(2 CPUs)
4096MB RAM (using 3MB)
NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT 1520 MB total memory

PD12 working, but must go into Safe Mode to burn.

Any suggestions???

You should be happy with the Dell XPS 8700.

That video card is not the fastest on the block.
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/video_lookup.php?gpu=GeForce+GT+635&id=2683

There are video cards in the same general price range that are much faster.

The built-in Graphics Chip is a good performer. The i7 CPU Intel has a HD Graphics chip built in.

SSD drive is not necessary, but if you have one that is at least 240 GB it does speed up things.

Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

If I added an SSD drive, that is where I should install PD12 and my PD files, right? In order to take advantage of the speed.

Quote:

Quote: I am hoping to order Dell XPS 8700

4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-4770 Processor (8M Cache, 3.4 GHz)
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600MHz - 2 DIMMs
1TB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive 6.0 Gb/s
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 635 1GB DDR3

What more do I need? How necessary is SSD?

I am not into the hardware scene, so need help when ordering.

Right now am using:
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6600 @2.40GHz(2 CPUs)
4096MB RAM (using 3MB)
NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT 1520 MB total memory

PD12 working, but must go into Safe Mode to burn.

Any suggestions???

You should be happy with the Dell XPS 8700.

That video card is not the fastest on the block.
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/video_lookup.php?gpu=GeForce+GT+635&id=2683

There are video cards in the same general price range that are much faster.

The built-in Graphics Chip is a good performer. The i7 CPU Intel has a HD Graphics chip built in.

SSD drive is not necessary, but if you have one that is at least 240 GB it does speed up things.

Carl312:
Would you please clarify your remark about "built-in HD Graphics chip": do you say that Intel® HD Integrated Graphics is faster than NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 635 1GB DDR3? Will it justify ~$180 price increase?

Thank you.

Carl312:
Would you please clarify your remark about "built-in HD Graphics chip": do you say that Intel® HD Integrated Graphics is faster than NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 635 1GB DDR3? Will it justify ~$180 price increase?

I did not say it was faster.

Quote: The built-in Graphics Chip is a good performer. The Intel i7 CPU has a HD Graphics chip built in.

Intel HD graphics 4600 is the chip in the intel i7 4770 CPU.
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/video_lookup.php?gpu=Intel+HD+4600&id=2451

It is a little like comparing Apples to Oranges, both are fruit.

GeForce GT 635 bench mark 945
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/video_lookup.php?gpu=GeForce+GT+635&id=2683

You can use the built-in HD Graphics Chip for free, it is a part of the CPU.

There are certainly Faster Video Cards than the GeForce GT 635. I am sure for $180 you can find better and faster Video Cards.

This one is a Geforce GTX 660 Price about $189
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130826

Passmark bench mark 4118
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+660&id=2152

Now if you bought this card somebody would need to install it in your computer.

If Dell has a offer of a similar video card installed for the same price, that would be the way to go.

You can compare Video card performance on the PassMark web site.

Link to searchable list.
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu_list.php

Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Quote:

Carl312:
Would you please clarify your remark about "built-in HD Graphics chip": do you say that Intel® HD Integrated Graphics is faster than NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 635 1GB DDR3? Will it justify ~$180 price increase?

I did not say it was faster.

Quote: The built-in Graphics Chip is a good performer. The Intel i7 CPU has a HD Graphics chip built in.

Intel HD graphics 4600 is the chip in the intel i7 4770 CPU.
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/video_lookup.php?gpu=Intel+HD+4600&id=2451

It is a little like comparing Apples to Oranges, both are fruit.

GeForce GT 635 bench mark 945
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/video_lookup.php?gpu=GeForce+GT+635&id=2683

You can use the built-in HD Graphics Chip for free, it is a part of the CPU.

There are certainly Faster Video Cards than the GeForce GT 635. I am sure for $180 you can find better and faster Video Cards.

This one is a Geforce GTX 660 Price about $189
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130826

Passmark bench mark 4118
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+660&id=2152

Now if you bought this card somebody would need to install it in your computer.

If Dell has a offer of a similar video card installed for the same price, that would be the way to go.

You can compare Video card performance on the PassMark web site.

Link to searchable list.
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu_list.php

Thank you Carl312, this is really valuable information.
One more question if you do not mind: Windows7 vs Windows8. Majority of desktops are sold with W8 and they are slightly cheaper.
Do you know any drawbacks of W8 (except for the fact that I like W7 much more than W?

Betty -

For the last few years, I've been running various versions of PD very happily and smoothly on an XPS 9000, with nowhere near the power of your potential purchase. Even though I've now upgraded, I still use the "old" one every day for toot making and bits & pieces. Even though my poor old GTX 260 is maybe a little better than yours, it's the CPU that does most of the work & the i7-4770 is more than adequate!

I won't chime into the GPU discussion, except to ask whether you intend to purchase from Dell? or is it from another retailer?

If from Dell, there are upgrade options - http://www.dell.com/au/p/xps-8700/pd - these would probably vary depending where you are.

Cheers - Tony
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Quote: Thank you Carl312, this is really valuable information.
One more question if you do not mind: Windows7 vs Windows8. Majority of desktops are sold with W8 and they are slightly cheaper.
Do you know any drawbacks of W8 (except for the fact that I like W7 much more than W8 ?

I do not know much about Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 other than what I have read from the members of this forum.

I have Windows 7 64 bit on my computer. That is partly because I have not upgraded in a while. I do like Windows 7.

Windows 8 is the current Microsoft Operation System, which is why you see it on most of the current computers sold today.

Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Tony

Tried to buy it tonight from Dell, and then something happened and we were cut off. So will try again. Pleased to hear that that system should cut it. Thanks to you and Carl.

Asadov:
I was going to get Win7, but very computer-literate friend who also had a computer shop talked me into getting 8.1. Just make sure not 8.0. as he says there are free programs that will put the Start button back on and it will look close enough to 7 that it won't be a problem. AND we will be up one OS.
Betty........

Tony:
Should thank you greatly for the tutorials you have placed online. What a godsend.
B......