I ordered the Studio XPS 435MT two days ago during Dell's spring sale. Unfortunately, I hadn't read any of the forum posts regarding memory so I ordered it with the full 12GB of RAM...... My current rig is a Dell Dimension 8250 (vintage 2002) ..... I'd like to ask those of you who ordered your 435MT's from Dell if they came with the Vista OS discs?.... "At this point those looking to build a Core i7 system should consider buying low-latency DDR3-1066 memory, or at most 1333MHz memory" I wish I had read that before I upgraded to 12GB of memory. Might have made more sense to put that $150 bucks into a better video card or monitor. BTW, those
Swart amps look sweet.
Hi Hoku and welcome to the long and meandering, yet informative, Dell 435MT thread. Always great to have some additional perspective. And thank you for the appreciation as well. It's worth the effort if anyone finds the info useful.
You made some good points above, too. I will say, I do believe you can change your order at Dell since it's so early. They had been running behind on 435MT build and shipping. Still, I think the 2GB modules that will come with your Dell have a chance of being 1333Mhz as I've heard this reported by a few owners. On the other hand, their aftermarket 2GB 1333Mhz option was out of stock. If you could save at least $200, it makes some sound sense to opt for only 3GB of Dell ram and move to the OCZ 1333Mhz DDR3 7-7-7-20 RAM. Or you could just leave as is.
Unlike the quoted article, I really do think 1333Mhz should be emphasized a bit more for your ultimate choice considering future upgrades via Dell's bios on to the potential to move the components to another system if interested in more room and upgrade upside. Looking at various tests of RAM in X58 boards, this is the perfect cost vs performance ledge.
As for what comes with the Dell Studio XPS 435MT, besides the software you ordered and the typical warranty pamphlet etc, you'll get the three items below which include the small "setup" manual, the Drivers and Utilities disk, and the Dell burn of your OS, in my case, the Vista 64 SP1 disk. As usual with Dell these days, it's a "re installation DVD" and not the official MS Vista 64 disk. See all below.
I think your ATI 4670 will be perfectly fine for your uses and might even bring the benefit of a bit less heat. I actually got to try a few of Dell's ATI cards before buying and even the lowly 3450 was fine for my 24" at 1920x1200. If not into gaming, the 4670 should produce a very nice image depending on your monitor.
Bottom line is your will notice a staggering upgrade over your Dell Dimension 8250. You'll be amazed how fast programs snap open as well as the amount of multi-tasking you can achieve with this amount of RAM. Vista 64 runs like the proverbial top when partnered with a great system with plenty of ram. Yes, it's a resource hog but when GIVEN these resources, it makes XP a distant memory. Once optimized, it has allowed me to increase production, get more done, and all with better aesthetics, this coming from an XP diehard.
Lastly, you'll want to update to all the latest drivers and bios. Hopefully, they will have moved to 1.0.12 by now.
Here is a page you should bookmark as it's the drivers, full manual, upgrades, downloads page for the Dell Studio XPS.
Have fun with your new machine and drop back in with your impressions. Thanks for the Swart Amps props, too. They are even more amazing to play. Vintage and Rare Guitars in London just signed on as a dealer several months back. IF a player, check them out although ole Joe has trouble keeping the beasts in stock.
- kh