I've had at least a dozen Dells since 2001 (currently have 4... will likely buy another soon). None of them have died. My Dells have a 4-year warranty, so I'm not expecting to junk them in 2 years. Why don't you buy T-3400?... you wouldn't be "expecting to replace it in 2 years"..
i am going for i7. i will wait several months and then start searching for a good deal. by my estimate my dell won't make it till the end of the year, but maybe i am too pessimistic. i stopped buying their warranties. it is probably cheaper to buy a new system every 2 years and take chances when not on warranty. i like to buy via dell outlet.
The price of a Precision includes a 3-year warranty... then, if you buy with a Platinum credit card, the CC company extends the manufacturer's warranty another year for no additional cost. In a recent Dell outlet sale, one could have bought the "basic" T3400.. the one they sell from the retail site for $639.... was $330. Can't beat that.
Ok, I checked out the T3400's. They run $579 Here's the system I'm thinking about building CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor MB: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard Memory: mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Case: Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case PSU: Antec EA650 650W ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC DVD-CD Burner: SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe HD: Caviar SE16 640GB OS: ????
here's a gaming rig want to build, probably wait until summer and hopefully prices will go down from newegg.com cost $1024+ $40 ship the video alone cost $439 Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case Western Digital VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (bare drive) MSI K9A2 Platinum AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard Antec True Power Trio TP3-650 650W ATX12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply with Three 12V Rails SAPPHIRE 100251SR Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB 512-bit (256-bit x 2) GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
Might want to rethink the AMD............ http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/257075-31-guide-choosing-parts
Ah... T3400 is the lowest priced computer in their lineup with a high performance mobo... it has an x38 chipset, 2 PCIEx16 slots. Vostro and Inspiron lines have the ubiquitous el-cheapo $40 mobo and are much more restrictive about video cards when running 3 or more monitors. However, if you are on a tight budget and plan to run only 1 or 2 monitors, then any cheap mobo with a PCIEx16 slot is OK.