After my monitor went haywire, research in replacing it and upgrading my current system to bring it up to speed with a worthwhile replacement has lead me to the conclusion that rather than replace what I need and upgrade my system like I want, I would be simply better off getting something new entirely. Looking around, I was ultimately lead to a Dell Catalogue and a very decent offer... or so I think.

I’m not about to make such a purchase without a lot of thought, questions, and input from those who actually know what I’m talking about. So I’ve a few questions about the Dell Dimension E510 Desktop and the components offered.

First off, let’s talk Graphics. The original offer I’m looking into includes the 128MB ATI Radeon X300 SE. I look at the side by side comparison and it says under 3D gaming that it is not recommended. I intend to upgrade to the 256MB model, but I can’t find any indication that this would be at all a worth while investment.

Should I bother upgrading, or keep with the original offer and get myself a card more suited to the purpose of running more graphic intensive games and programs?

How about the monitor? Is it a worthwhile gaming tool (the 8ms response time seem quite nice), or should I invest in something more suited for that purpose? I noted it’s a VGA model, which works well enough as that is what I am currently using, but would a DVI really be worth the extra mile?

Finally, the Multi-media Keyboard - is it really all that, or should I stick with the bare-bones offer and buy a separate upgrade?