Help with coming up with a new computer plan

[SD Nihil]

Hey Qliveur as you suggested I've created this thread so you, Astro, and whoever is welcome to help me work on a plan for a new computer.

 

In the future I plan to have the PC games Starcraft 2, KOTOR3, and of course still be able to play KOTOR 1-2 on it. Just to let you know I work mainly from my flash drive on my computer. I keep my passwords and such items on organized folders, passwords in text files, and have backed up my adderss book in Windows Address Book format(.WAB). I've used Outlook Express 6 and are use to pop3 type e-mail software. I hope Vista has something similar.

 

Anyway, as you can see I'm capable with planning for something like this. Now I have earlier been suggested to have a Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 processor do you agree?

 

As for the monitor I really like the flat panel this computer currently has. I find it is great when it comes to having less glare. It currently is a 19inch and 21 would be cool too.

 

NVIDA GeForce 9700 GTX driver you recommended, but to prepare I was trying to look for the 93.71 driver update. Can't seem to find it on the NVIDA.com site. So if you guys could give me a link to the drivers page of it and a link to the driver that would be appreciated. I can download the driver early so when I get a new computer it will already be on my over 3GB flash drive. It uses U3 technology.

 

Other than using e-mail and internet while playing games I do have pictures on the computer. Pictures meaning family, paces I've gone, you know trips(curise to Alaska), but I do use a little of MS Word.

 

With all the different versions of Vista I'm not sure which to lean towards. Oh and online I do also do a little bit of investments on Vanguard and somtimes pay bills online. I know I've needed to use .pdg(Adobe Reader). So I'm not sure if that means the package would have to be different.

 

Other than that if you need more info I can see what I can do. I have 2 programs that allow me to analyze my computer down to serial numbers of everything. Belarc Advisor and CPU-Z. So I can provide you with info oft the current computer if that is needed. I tell you the Belarc Advisor is so great in that all you have to do rather than always having to tell someone about the computer it so much easier to just send them a Belarc Advisor report.

 

Now with this dual boot thing which I need to read that, with this dual boot I know that means Vista on one side, and XP on the other. Does that mean one part of my computer will be more vulnerable? Since after all Microsoft is stopping producing security updates to XP. Which over time would mean less security for XP.

 

With my description of what I am currently wanting to use the computer for, would ti be a good time to get Vista? Or does Vista still have issues?

 

Thanks for the read and all the info you can provide to help me with this. I've been use to buying a computer from the store. I'm not experience with building a computer. Thanks again.

[urluckyday]

As an actual Vista user myself...I can tell you that you'd be fine with getting Vista.

 

Unless you're using some really old programs (which prob. wouldn't work very well on XP either), there shouldn't be any real problems.

I have had a couple of compatability issues on Vista, but I've had just as many on XP...it just comes with any different OS.

 

If you're planning to play those games that you listed, all the new ones I guarantee will be designed for Vista play, and even the older KOTORs will almost certainly work (if not, compatability mode will help it out).

 

It is a more secure, stable, and in general better OS than XP, but I don't necessarily think that you need upgrade at all at this point. Vista is an excellent OS, but if you don't plan on getting a new computer, you might not need it because the support cycle is gonna last for a while on XP anyway. If you do decide to upgrade though, you'd almost definitely be fine w/ getting everything running.

 

Let me put it this way, I'm running Vista, and I never want to go back to XP, but there's nothing really wrong w/ XP...just Vista is a lot easier and more secure.

 

Hope this helps!

[SD Nihil]

to helps in that it lets me know it's safe to get Vista when I get a new computer. But what started all of this is that I had made a topic on the Work Bench section of the KOTOR forums. I have a ATI Radeon 9550/X1050 Series video card. I use to have a NVIDA GeForce MX 420. But what I noticed is that after the ATI driver update of November 20th, 2007 that when you would use force speed you'd get graphical looking computer looking bars that looked like a circuit board on my screen. It happened in both KOTOR 1-2. So then I would upgrade when the new updates came out further. I soon noticed that when the intro of the KOTOR games would end that my computer would restart.

 

But when I reverted back to the November 20, 2007 update that things were fine. However, even with this card it does not allow smooth shadows. When you put on smooth shadows, shadows disappear. But when you take it off you get shadows, but they are sharp shadows.

 

So there are problems with the ATI drivers. So I explain all of this. So I then get told that I should since I wanted to not have problems with these issues and that no fixes sine with the ATI drivers, I was told I should get the best card NVIDA GeForce 9700 GTX DX( card. But that if I do that I would have to get a new computer since this one computer I have now I got in 2001. I was told on that other topic that the video card would not fit this computer. I was told that ATI cards have issues with KOTOR games.

 

So that was why I was suggested that in order to play these new games and the KOTOR games I should do a dual boot on a new computer with Vista on one side, and XP on the other with XP having the 93.71 NVIDA drivers.

 

And then I was told if I wanted to speak further about building a computer that I should come here on this section of the forum and talk further about my situation and be instructed on how to build a new computer.

 

I would love to be able to have a card that has no issues with KOTOR 1-2 and can have the best graphics without all the issues I've been dealing with. So that I can have shadows and the max allowed graphics KOTOR games will allow. Basically the best KOTOR experience.

 

And because I asked about this card issue I was told I would have to have a new computer and dual boot to do this. But if you know of a better way rather than having to do this just to get the best KOTR experience with a card please tell.

 

Thanks.

[Astrotoy7]

whoa, waitasec... !

 

I would love to be able to have a card that has no issues with KOTOR 1-2 and can have the best graphics without all the issues I've been dealing with. So that I can have shadows and the max allowed graphics KOTOR games will allow. Basically the best KOTOR experience...

 

My advice re Vista is usually : list what apps/games you want to use....

 

If you plan on doing alot of KOTOR-ing, dont go anywhere near Vista please

 

I really enjoy Vista myself, but dont play older games and dont have older kit. If you do like particular apps and have hardware that is a bit older, playin' with Vista is like playin with nerd-fire Make a wrong decision, and you'll be one of those sad souls making a youtube vid of yourself in acid wash pants and a mullet, shreddin your vista install disc

 

longstoryshort:

Like KOTOR? Stay with XP! (or dual boot)

 

mtfbwya

[Det. Bart Lasiter]

cpu : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115036

mobo : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131277

ram : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184

gpu : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129113 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130370

hd : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218

cd/dvd : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106070

case : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024

 

also i agree with astro () about sticking with xp if you're going to play kotor a lot, imo using vista or setting up a dual boot system isn't worth the trouble. just stick with xp until windows 7 comes out and hopefully addresses the issues vista has.

[Astrotoy7]

hopefully....

 

lolz...jmac, you are remarkably optimistic that W7 is going to improve backwards compatability issues ! Heck, MS hasnt even made it fully clear whether they are using the MinWin Kernel on W7 yet

 

Anyway, by the time W7 is shipped, the OP will be playing SW:TOR MMO

 

mtfbwya

[SD Nihil]

Great info. For those links to the specs of the computer, is that for replacing parts in my existing computer or for the new computer? Also can you give me a link to NVIDA.com's drivers page for the NVIDA GeForce 9700 GTX drivers and a link to the driver 93.71 since that driver was the last driver that worked the best with KOTOR games?

 

Windows 7? Didn't know they are already making another version to replace Vista. Is that what it is called or is that an abreviation for Windows 2007 OS?

 

I'll take your advice and stick with XP I gues for now. But yeah still need answers to the above questions. Can hardrives even the one on this computer be integrated into a new computer? Or is it like RAM in that RAM cannot be transfered to another computer? Thanks for the helpful info.

 

As for those links I've never put together a computer myself. Sounds like the thing your wanting me to do is put it together myself. I'm just a guy who'se done some Help Desk over the phone stuff and delt with the software aspect, not the hardware aspect.

[Det. Bart Lasiter]

lolz...jmac, you are remarkably optimistic that W7 is going to improve backwards compatability issues ! Heck, MS hasnt even made it fully clear whether they are using the MinWin Kernel on W7 yet

 

Anyway, by the time W7 is shipped, the OP will be playing SW:TOR MMO

 

mtfbwya

dont **** on my dreams bro

 

Great info. For those links to the specs of the computer, is that for replacing parts in my existing computer or for the new computer? Also can you give me a link to NVIDA.com's drivers page for the NVIDA GeForce 9700 GTX drivers and a link to the driver 93.71 since that driver was the last driver that worked the best with KOTOR games?

 

Windows 7? Didn't know they are already making another version to replace Vista. Is that what it is called or is that an abreviation for Windows 2007 OS?

 

I'll take your advice and stick with XP I gues for now. But yeah still need answers to the above questions. Can hardrives even the one on this computer be integrated into a new computer? Or is it like RAM in that RAM cannot be transfered to another computer? Thanks for the helpful info.

 

As for those links I've never put together a computer myself. Sounds like the thing your wanting me to do is put it together myself. I'm just a guy who'se done some Help Desk over the phone stuff and delt with the software aspect, not the hardware aspect.

vista is using the nt 6.0 kernel, i'm assuming windows 7 is called that because it will use the 7th iteration of the nt kernel.

[SD Nihil]

Okay, but what about my questionns besides the w7 thing? I can see you two that one of you is an optomist and the other a pesimist or realist. It can be hard to tell the difference between a pesimist and a realist. At least tat is my observation. lol.

[Astrotoy7]

dont **** on my dreams bro

 

LMAO... an optimist indeed. jmac, is that *really* you?

 

Here's a wallpaper for your desktop mang

 

@SD:

 

If you are sticking with XP, you shouldnt really be fussed with driver versions except if you have REALLY older kit. I cant speak for ATI catalyst drivers but the nvidia drivers have matured tremendously since the 90s series! Thats about 80 build versions ago! Vista was released 2 years ago with 96.xx RTM... thats like ancient history!

 

9700GTX - Im not sure that card exists! Nvidia have a 9600 and a 9800 series. Unless Im missing somethin

 

Before Id jump and recommend you a grafix card, I'd ask -

*what resolution do you run your PC at,

*what apps/games(other than KOTOR) do you plan on playing/using

*and most importantly >> what is your budget!

 

mtfbwya

[SD Nihil]

Star Wars: Empire at War, Forces of Corruption, Starcraft 2, and I still play with some mods on Wofenstein 3D, and Spear of Destiny 1-3 which runs through a program called D-Fend(like DOSBox, but better). It's much beter than NewWolf. The 97000 I was told of Quiverur told me to do. But you know what you know. I just hate the fact that with the ATI Radeon 9550/X1050 driver I just hate having to deal with lack of smooth shadows and every time I upgrade past Nov. 20, 2007 I get those computer bars and even more it restarts if I upgrade further. So it means I'm forced to stick with the older driver.

 

So part of this is yes looking into a new computer ideas which thank you for the neat finds for the specs aspect. And the other part is I wish I had a beetter card or some way to correct these issues. I went from an old NVIDA GeForce MX 420 card that came with the comptuer to asking an independent tech to put in a better card so I can play my KOTOR games. So he then gives me this ATI card. And I've known the guy for a while. He's helped with a wirless network when I had an older Pentium 2 Win98. And now he's helped with putting in that card, doubling the RAM, and cloning my hard drive to a big 230GB.

 

But I guess he didn't know that ATI has issues with NVIDA. That's why this time I want to fix the issues. I want to get it right this time. And I'd really like a solution. I've said this before in a prevous topic and this do dual boot and to talk further about a new computer Quiverur said I should make a thread here. Which I've done. I appreciate all your help. I'd just want some fix to this. Just want to fix this issue and at the same time plan for the future. Besides this computer does have its issues. Though it has had those thing I toldyou replaced, I wonder how long the processor will last, especially with the printer printing a blank sheet ever other print, ever so often an error message, and sometimes it freezes up.

[Astrotoy7]

lolz... now I get it - the Radeon 9700 ! As you were talking about nvidia driver versions, I got a bit confused

 

If Q recommended that card, then he must have indentified out you have a AGP slot on your board, which sortve limits your choices for higher emd stuff. Still, for those games you mentioned, there isnt a hige impetus to get a GTX280

 

Im pretty sure the highest end AGP card you can get, with DirectX 10.1 support is the ATI 3850 512MB

 

Here's a decent review at TomsHardware

 

mtfbwya

[Q]

SD is searching for the best card that will play KotOR without any issues, and I recommended a used 7900GTX and Windows XP. At the time I recommended the 93.71 drivers as I hadn't had any issues with those, but during my absense I've been playing KotOR2 with Nvidia DX9 drivers that are only a couple of months old with no problems, and I now think that Nividia's newest XP drivers for their DX9 cards are safe to use with KotOR. The problems begin with the DX10 cards and their drivers from both camps as neither can play KotOR without any issues. In discussing this with SD I came up with an idea that I thought I would run by Astro and jmac to see if it was possible to implement: would it be possible to have both a DX9 and a DX10 card on the same computer?

 

It sounds crazy, I know, but it was the only way tha I could think of to run KotOR with no issues and still have up-to-date hardware and Vista to run the newest DX10 games. It would be an XP/Vista dual-boot setup where XP would only recognize the DX9 card and Vista would only recognize the DX10 card. The extra cost involved would be the price of OEM XP Home, a used 7900GTX (~$50-$75 on Fleabay), and a Crossfire motherboard, like this one. I've seen this motherboard go for as little as $100 after rebate shipped and it is highly recommended by the folks over at Anand. Of course SD's monitor would have to have two inputs, but even the VGA input could be used in a pinch. It would be a no-compromise solution to playing the KotORs and other legacy games with no issues on a thoroughly modern machine, which is currently and probably always will be impossible with a DX10 card.

 

Would it work?

[Astrotoy7]

Unusual suggestion Q Im interested to know how you were planning on teaching the BIOS/OS to pick a particular GPU. Theres probably something out there, though I havent come across it myself.

 

Once I jump into XP, KOTOR 1/2 gives my 8800GTS no troubles.. Im running with 178.24 WHQL, latest DX9 and SP3.

 

mtfbwya

[SD Nihil]

??? Okay so let me make sure I follow. So the card I'm to get is a NVIDA GeForce 9800 GTX and that though you said to not progress further updating past 93.71, that now the current drivers for that card now work fine with KOTOR1/2? And that now you guys are still discussing if I should do dual boot, or just have two different computers. The one with the specs you put together with newegg, and the old one (this one that I'm typing on) change its chard to this card? I think I also heard that this AGP thing being how it is shapped that it will not hold this card on the old computer and that now you guys are discussing how can we get the NVIDA card to work and that the only way at this point is dual boot. Man it's sounding very complicated

 

Like I said there are areas around where I live where I can just tell them how I want them to build the computer. And no I don't mean bestbuy where that place is just a buy these already assembled computers. I see that this will probably take a computer being built the way we want it by parts I see you recommend I put together.

 

At the end of your deliberation between each other please tell me what the hell it is I'm doing. lol.

 

Like I said I had an old NVIDA GeForcer MX 420 card on the old computer and then I asked my indepencdent tech for a better card so I can play KOTOR. He then gives the ATI Radeon 9550/X1050 series card. Things were fine in tha he doubled the RAM to a GB and cloned the hard drive from a 5GB harddrive to a 230GB hard drive. So I go along and update. All the while I noticed you can't get smooth shadows. Either put on smooth shadows and you get no shadows. Take off smooth shadows and you get sharp ones.

 

So I get to Nov. 20, 2007. Then I noticed when I did force run I got circuit board loking lines. Then further my computer restarts when I got later updates. It would restart after the intros. So I ended up rolling back the drivers to the Nov. 20.

 

And I am not planning to throw away a computer that still works, but I thought ask about this card isue and maybe they will give you a fix or recommend a new card. Also, I am planning to get a new computer in a few months as well. So in my head I was thinking make the old computer the game machine and the new computer with Vista and all the new stuff. That computer would be for internet, e-mail, pictures, and all that stuff. Again the old computer would turn into the game machine.

 

Anyway, that was my thought in my mind. But again once you guys get done with deliberating to the situation please tell me what I do to get KOTOR to work without probelms. Dang also thought to have EAW not lag I'd need a better than a Pentium 4 processor since EAW can lag with high capacity of units.

 

So I guess that would mean it would mean my old computer would need not only a change of card, but also processor. I hate to have to throw away an old computer. Man this gets complicated.

 

It really becomes a nasty compatibility issue in trying to get my old computer to be the game machine with the games I listed without having to replace more in it. While also wanting a new computer, but new cards and drivers have problems with KOTOR. Man this is tough. lol.

 

I'm just glad there are smart guys like you guys who know a hell of a lot more than me. lol. It's a puzzle.

[Darth333]

It really becomes a nasty compatibility issue in trying to get my old computer to be the game machine with the games I listed without having to replace more in it. While also wanting a new computer, but new cards and drivers have problems with KOTOR. Man this is tough. lol.

 

I'm just glad there are smart guys like you guys who know a hell of a lot more than me. lol. It's a puzzle.

I think the next relevant questions in order to give proper advice would be: what is your current hardware? what do you intend to do with the computer (other than playing Kotor which really doesn't require much nowadays) and what's your budget?

[SD Nihil]

Well this computer I've had since 01. It's a Pentium 4 with a GB of RAM, Hard Drive size of 230GB, Nvida Geforce 9550/X1050 series video card. SB Legacy Live! sound card. XP Pro OS, and I usually just oporate resolution on 800x 600 resolution. I just use the computer for pictures, games, e-mail, and internet. It has good software security, but has been having issues with sometimes having to close a probram due to an error, or once in a while it wil restart for no reason. And finally, it has gotten slower thoughno spam or maintance problems. I run things like Defrag about every couple weeks.

 

So since it has as you can see even with the new video card, cloned bigger hard drive, and doubled ram still has its issues. And I've been thinking about a couple of months getting a new computer. I was thinking turn this old computer into the game machine, and have all the new stuff on the new Vista computer tath I'll get.

 

But you see that's the thing. According to these guys I'd have to dual boot the new computer, and the video card that would have no problems won't fit on the old computer. It seems according to these guys that there is no video card that allows max graphics and good performance with no problems that will work on the old computer with its current state. So it is difficult to know what to do. As for the budget, 1500 dollars. Having not bought a new comptuer in some time I'm not familar with today's ranges of current pc costs. But off the top of my head yes I can spend up to 1500 dollars. Again I'm not sure of pc prices now adays. I hope this helps though.

[Q]

Once I jump into XP, KOTOR 1/2 gives my 8800GTS no troubles.. Im running with 178.24 WHQL, latest DX9 and SP3.

Well, that's great news. I thought that the new Nvidia DX10 GPUs were having trouble with KotOR, but that might just be while running KotOR on Vista, which is a bad idea. That would greatly simplify things.

 

@SD: It looks as though you won't need that old 7900GTX that I suggested. You will still have to use XP if you're going to play KotOR with no problems, though. So you will either need to run XP exclusively or set up a dual-boot with XP and Vista. I would suggest the latter. The only extra cost would be an OEM copy of XP Home, and the only inconvenience would be the installation of both OSes and their respective drivers. The reason I am in favor of installing Vista at all is that you would be able to take advantage of DX10 in new games, and any new computer will come with Vista anyway. Just make sure that it comes with a complete Vista reinstallation disk.

 

I'd still recommend building your own computer, but if you're not interested in that, I suggest that you order your new computer with a crap video card and buy a much better one from an e-tailer like NewEgg because OEMs overcharge for high-performance equipment like video cards. You can keep the cheap card for a backup (backup parts are always handy). I would also stick with Nvidia for playing KotOR, as Astro has reported above that he's had no problems. You need to state what resolution you'll be gaming at before I can make a recommendation on a card. You are planning on getting a new monitor, aren't you? 800x600 is pretty terrible.

[Astrotoy7]

SDs, after reading your most recent posts, Im going with the recommendation that you get a pre-config I think you need peace of mind in getting support as opposed to the thrill of the DIY.

 

Q is a pretty good bargain hunter, maybe he can dig out a nice package for you from gateway, dell, whatever

 

The only proviso: Make sure its XP pre loaded if you need that KOTOR action

 

mtfbwya

[SD Nihil]

I see. Let me just make sure I got everything correct. So the specs above with the newegg links is that the specs for the new computer? I am unclear though as to what video card the new computer will have. I know it will be a NVIDA, but of which one I want to ask for. Basically guys here's what I'm trying to do. I want to be able to go into one of those we build your own computers place and say build this. They build it with what I want on it. Of course if you have like you said any bargins whichI assume that means computers already pre made. So what do I do with this old compute? So yeah with the new computer do these build computer places set up dual boots if I do that

 

I do have my XP pro disk, won't I simply need to install that on the new computer if I'm doing the nw boot or do I need to buy a new copy? So basically the old computer nothing happens to that

 

Finally, I have not played KOTOR1/2 for a long time now. Now I have new restorations, fixes, etc, but the card driver is too up to date to pla y the kotor currently, would simply downloading hte older Nov 20, 2007 driver an installing it make it to where I can play KOTOR for the time being, do will I have to uninstall the drivers completly and then download the update after re-installing the card's info on the disk it came with?

[Q]

Yeah, download the Nov 2007 driver, download Driver Sweeper from Guru3D, uninstall the driver you have and run Driver Sweeper, reboot and install the driver from 2007. You should be good to go then.

 

As for which card to get with your new computer, you should do like I suggested and order the new computer with a cheap graphics card and then order a much better one online so you don't get gouged. Astro has reported no problems running KotOR with his Nvidia card and up-to-date drivers in Windows XP, so I would recommend getting an Nvidia card. The type of card that you should get depends entirely on at what resolution you plan to play games. So I need to know either the resolution of the monitor that you have now or the monitor that you plan on getting with your new computer before I can make a recommendation.

[SD Nihil]

Is driversweeper like a driver remover or something? So I can't just install an older driver overtop a current driver? And for this old computer by resolution it can do do you mean the max resolution it can do? Or are you simply asking what resolution do I use on the old computer? As for the new computer I'll have to look at different monitors to see what I'm interested in.

 

And since we seem to be dealing with NVIDA here, can you give me a link to the NVIDA drivers page? Thanks again.

 

Oh and did you and Astro get my pm?

[Q]

Is driversweeper like a driver remover or something?

Yes.

So I can't just install an older driver overtop a current driver?

No.

Or are you simply asking what resolution do I use on the old computer?

Nope. I'm asking at what resolution will you be playing games on the new computer, because I can't recommend a graphics card for it until I know this.

And since we seem to be dealing with NVIDA here, can you give me a link to the NVIDA drivers page?

Don't you have an ATI card in your present machine? If so, then why would you want Nvidia drivers?

Oh and did you and Astro get my pm?

You sent one? If so, I didn't get it.

[SD Nihil]

Well I was asking for the drivers page of NVIDA simply because for the new computer will require them since it will have a NVIDA card. So it's jsut a good idea to already have that link on hand for when I get the new computer. For this old computer I usually just play on 800x 600. I know it sucks, but it's the one I can se the best. You may not know this, but I'm actually half blind. I was born with GoldenHar syndrom. It's rumored that those who came back from Veitnam who had kids some had this due to some of those medicines they give the soldiers as they go to other countries. You know those medicines they can't tell you of what they are. So it's just rumored that some of those are the cause of some people coming back and having children with this.

 

So I have low vision. Visually impared are not incapable. I use Zoomtext to enlarge things, and Jaws to speak what's on the screen if I need to. And yet I can still play on Xbox Live and was in several clans and they didn't even know of my eye issues.

 

And no I'm not embarrased. It's like someone who has a arm that won't work right. It's just the body no big deal. But yes I do use 800 x600. But yes when I do go out to look for monitors it will probably also be a 800 x600.

 

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't gateways those computers that are less reliable and have less performacne than Dell? And isn't AMD on the side of performance and Dell leans more towards speed?

 

So with my ATI card I will need to download this driversweeper and use it to remove the drivers. Won't it do the same thing if I simply go to the Add/Remove programs list and remove it from there? Or is this one of those programs that is meant to get rid of the peices after you remove it from the programs list?

 

Thanks again.

[Q]

I wasn't aware that you were handicapped. My apologies. You won't be able to find a monitor at that resolution now, but just about any LCD nowadays will automatically stretch low resolutions to fit their screen area, so you'll be fine.

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't gateways those computers that are less reliable and have less performacne than Dell?

Gateway and HP are OK, but yes, IMO Dells are more reliable. With very similar hardware configurations any differences in performance between brands would be negligible.

And isn't AMD on the side of performance and Dell leans more towards speed?

This was true until a couple of years ago, yes, but Intel is the performance ticket right now. This could change in a couple of months, though.

So with my ATI card I will need to download this driversweeper and use it to remove the drivers. Won't it do the same thing if I simply go to the Add/Remove programs list and remove it from there? Or is this one of those programs that is meant to get rid of the peices after you remove it from the programs list?

That is exactly what it does. Use Add/Remove Programs first, then run DriverSweeper, reboot and install the new drivers. This is especially important when switching between the major GPU manufacturers such as Nvidia and ATI, but it is also very wise to use it when installing any new video drivers regardless of brand.