Dell Dimension E521

At the moment let us go ahead and review the exceedingly great stats of the Dell Dimension E521. We're positive you'll cherish it. In all honesty you'll likely be crazy for it. Like every other single time, we'll do my best to turn up and show the greatest finds available everywhere on the internet right at the bottom of the statistics.

Today's Review By: Donald Mickle

Most of the hardware behind Dell's midrange Dimension E521 isn't that new. What is exciting is that Dell now offers it with Windows Vista Home Premium. The Dimension E521 in general is a typically customizable Dell PC, and the $1,029 configuration we received demonstrates that if you pick the right parts, you can make a strong, Vista-capable Dell that's competitively priced.

We wouldn't recommend a Dimension E521 for 3D gameplay or for heavy, video-oriented multimedia work. During the first months of Vista you should also read up on any early bugs and compatibility issues and check in with multiple vendors to see how well they've updated their product lines and to learn about the deals they're offering. If you have to purchase a strong, straightforward Vista PC right at launch, though, Dell's Dimension E521 is a solid midrange choice.

We're used to seeing weak graphics cards in mainstream desktops, although we've been hoping that the hardware demands of Windows Vista would encourage vendors to take graphics a little more seriously. The ATI Radeon X1300 Pro 3D card is the best option Dell offers for the Dimension E521, and this surprised us because it's a HyperMemory card, which means, despite having its own 256MB of RAM, it will also bite off some of the system memory when the graphics need an extra boost.

It's better than an integrated chip, at least, and Dell offset this issue by loading up our review unit with 2GB of 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM and pairing the memory with a powerful 2.6GHz Athlon 64 X2 5000+ processor. As our tests showed, that core configuration is powerful enough to get Vista to run well enough, as long as you keep your ambitions modest.