My Dell Studio XPS 8100 home PC (Part 3)

... continues from Part 2 ...


Video card
 
The default NVidia GeForce GT220 with 1GB DDR3 memory isn't exciting at all.
 
However, at the cost of just RM34 only, I can upgrade it to ATI Radeon HD5770 with 1GB GDDR5 memory, which has much better performance than GT220.
 
The ATI Radeon HD5770 takes up 2 PCI-E slots. It has 2 DVI, 1 HDMI and 1 DisplayPort. It supports DirectX 11, OpenGL 3.2, ATI Eyefinity multi-display technology, ATI CrossFireX multi-GPU technology, ATI Avivo HD video display technology, ATI PowerPlay power management technology, etc.
 
It is well-known to have a very decent power consumption rate. No wonder it can fit in Dell Studio XPS 8100 which has a relatively low PSU of 350 Watt only.
 
On 29 July 2010, I wrote about "Top 20 display cards as of end-July 2010".
 
On 28 July 2010, I wrote about "Calculate the recommended power supply wattage for desktop computer".
 
Sound card
 
I have chosen to use the default onboard integrated high definition 7.1 channel audio of this Dell 0T568R motherboard. It is a Realtek ALC887 chipset.
 
As I only have a normal 2.1 speaker set, this onboard sound card is sufficient to me.
 
Microsoft Office 2010
 
This Dell Studio XPS 8100 comes with Microsoft Office 2010 Starter Edition, which consists of scaled down Word and Excel, with ads running.
 
There is an upgrade option to Microsoft Office 2010 Home & Student (SEA) Edition for RM274, which is an OEM version and can only be installed in 1 computer only.
 
I ended up buying a boxed Microsoft Office 2010 Home & Student Edition with license for 3 computers at the price of RM239 only from Digital Mall. It contains Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote.
 
Beside Microsoft Office 2010, I also downloaded and installed the free OpenOffice.org 3.2.1.
 
Modem
 
I have opted to include the Conexant D850 PCI V.92 56kbps soft modem by adding RM42 to the package.
 
This price is a bit high, and I found out that it is only a data/fax modem and does not support full voice command sets. This means you cannot use it to handle voice (like using with IVR).
 
I need this modem as occasionally I'll need to fax out documents. Windows 7 has a nice Fax and Scan application for use together with this data/fax modem to turn the computer into fax machine.
 
The modem also acts as a backup Internet connection device, in case the ADSL link is down.
 
Network card
 
This Dell 0T568R motherboard comes with integrated Broadcom Netlink BCM57780 gigabit ethernet controller with one RJ-45 fast gigabit ethernet port.
 
This is good enough for me to connect the computer to my D-Link DSL-G604T wireless ADSL router.
 
Wireless solution
 
This Dell Studio XPS 8100 provides an option for Dell 1525 Wireless-N PCI-E card for RM102.
 
I find this to be expensive, as I've bought a Dlink DWA-125 wireless N-150 USB adapter for RM60 only.
 
... continues to Part 4...