Upgrading for two kids and myself

[jdomaha]

Right now my two kids (5 and 3) are playing DDO and Left4Dead with me on an old Dell system and a 939 system I put together a few years back.

I'd like to upgrade my system (x58 i7 with Nvidia 260's in SLI) and get them something that will play games that they want to play for the next few years.

I was thinking that if I bought two cheap Dell dual core machines, well, I could just take the 260 cards from my current machine and pop in a single ATI Radeon HD 5970 into my own machine to replace them.

Then I could take those 260 cards, put them in the Dells, pick up two cheap 22 inch monitors and the kids would be in heaven for a while.

The only problem is that Dell doesn't like it when you do that and aren't very forthcoming on which of their cheap machines would be suitable for my kids' gaming needs.

So my question is, what Dell machine, if any, should I buy to do this?

Or am I screwed because the power supplies are too small, the mobo doesn't have any slots open, etc?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Vostro 220 mini-towers? Might have to replace the PSUs, with something that has a PCI-E connector. I've done this, picked one up from someone on craigslist, added a 8800GTS 640 OC card, and swapped in a new PSU. The one I had had a motherboard with four RAM slots, and an E4500 in it.

Go to www.dell.com/outlet, click on business/education desktops, click on Vostro Desktops, look up Vostro 220 mini-tower, search for prices less than $500. Various configs of RAM, OS, and DVD burner/DVD-ROM. Starting at around $400.

 

[jdomaha]

Picked up two Alienware systems. One Red, one purple. The only thing I upgraded was the power supply on each of the systems to the 875. $1450 each, which I felt was a decent price when I parted out everything I'd buy.

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellst...=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&kc=premium_desktop_deals

Considering it comes with 6 gigs, a 5870 and is ready for me to secure from the get-go, it'll be worth it. Pick up two 22 inch monitors from the local store and they'll be ready to go.

 

[Winterpool]

Your kids are 3 and 5 years old and are playing Dungeons & Dragons Online (that's 'DDO', right?) and Left4Dead? Putting aside any parental queasiness (I remember being terrified of zombies / ghouls when I was young -- well, I probably still am), it's awfully precocious of them to be able to play such games. Particularly the 3-year old!

And then you got them two Alienware computers? Blimey, you must rank as one of the best geek dads ever.

 

[MrPickins]

Your kids are 3 and 5 years old and are playing Dungeons & Dragons Online (that's 'DDO', right?) and Left4Dead? Putting aside any parental queasiness (I remember being terrified of zombies / ghouls when I was young -- well, I probably still am), it's awfully precocious of them to be able to play such games. Particularly the 3-year old!

And then you got them two Alienware computers? Blimey, you must rank as one of the dumbest dads ever.

Fixed.

3 and 5 year olds shouldn't be playing games rated "Mature," and they certainly don't each need their own overclocked I7 rig...


Parenting issues aside, you should have listened to Virtual Larry. Vostro 220 with C2D would have worked nicely, I'd wager.