Trading XPS for Inspiron + PC... any advice?

I am considering selling my XPS laptop (specs in sig), and for the money I could get, I can buy:

1) a Dell Inspiron 15, which I would use only for work (Office docs, internet, photoshop):
- Core 2 Duo P7450 (2.13GHz/1066Mhz FSB/3MB)
- 1366 x 768 display
- Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500HD
- Intel WiFi Link 5100 802.11 Wireless-N

AND

2) A PC, only for gaming:
- Intel Core2 Quad Q8200 (2,33 GHz x4)
- NVidia GeForce 9400 GT 512 MB
- 4 GB RAM DDR2 800 MHz
- 500 GB HDD
- Asus Motherboard P5KPL-AM SE

The idea is to do all the gaming on the PC, which I can upgrade eventually.
How does the gaming performance compare between this PC and my current laptop?

You think this is a good idea?

Thanks in advance for your input.

 

the quad core in the desktop is good, but the gpu is god aweful. it would perform worse than your laptop. if you are gonna make this trade, upgrade the gpu IMMEDIATELY - get a 4870, they are very good and cheap.

 

the desktop isn't a gaming machine. but i'd trade despite that.
pop in a hd4670, you'll get much better performance than your old laptop.
further gpu upgrade would be needed, but you'll need to change the psu. the originally supplied one is probably crap.

 

Yeah, the desktop 9400 GT would be a downgrade from the laptop 8600M GT GDDR3 you currently have, and probably a noticeable one. A quad-core with more megahertz might be nice, but it can't make up for the GPU downgrade when it comes to gaming. They're different parts, and the best CPU in the world won't help with heavy-graphics gaming if your GPU isn't as good.

So given what you have now, no, it isn't a good idea. If you can get a better GPU for the desktop (4670 indeed should be plenty), then yes, it could work well.

 

You must change your gpu like others said. If you have a decent gpu then this trade will be fruitful.

 

yeah, so the trade and save up some money to change the gpu...

 

thanks for your replies.

what is best for desktop gaming? Nvidia or ATI? Everyone has recommendend ATI GPUs so far, but my 8600M has been working flawlessly with frequent driver updates, so...

 

google for "Failing 8600m gt"....i believe at this time that ati cards outperform nvidia ones in terms of performance and heat dissipation

 

Recently, ATI has been a bit better than Nvidia price wise, and with their upcoming 5x00 series, theyre going to be even better.

Also, where exactly are you doing this trade cuz I have a similar system and I am definitely interested in a deal like that:yes:

 

In Argentina. I thought of this based on the current market price for a used XPS like mine, the price of the Inspiron on Dell Latin America, and the price for the PC on the local eBay.

Non brand PC's are pretty cheap over here. Branded parts, of course (as you can see in my 1st post -Asus, NVidia, Intel-), but put together by some local shop.

 

At least in the U.S., ATI is the better value now. Their performance for the 4xxx series tends to be nearly equal to nVIDIA at significantly lower prices. If the ratios of ATI to nVIDIA are similar in Argentina, ATI will probably be the better deal.

Once ATI introduces their midrange 5xxx series (the high-end is already out, but that would be expensive and probably overkill as well), the swing will be even more in their favor. The midrange should be out in about a month, although I don't know if Argentina tends to get new PC parts right at release or not. The ATI 5600's are probably what you'd want, perhaps 5500. 5700 will be out soon, but they're still going to be more expensive than what you're looking at, and considerably more powerful as well. Which is a good thing, but a 4670 or 56xx will be a nice upgrade already coming from an 8600M GT.

That said, you may be able to find a good deal on an nVIDIA card. Just be aware that for the most part, ATI is a better deal right now. So consider nVIDIA, yes, but also give ATI serious consideration.

Luke1708 is referring to a material problem that was present on many nVIDIA GeForce 8 and GeForce 9 chips, which can cause them to fail prematurely. Chances are your 8600M GT is affected by this design flaw, but that doesn't mean it will die - just that on the whole, significantly more 8-series GPU's have died than should have. It appears that nVIDIA has rectified this issue, and their new GPU's should be safe buys in this regard.