computer purchasing advice needed

[M_Jaco]

Hi,

 

I’m considering buying a new computer for about $5000, the specs are listed below. Currently i have a Dell precision 650, dual xeon 2.40 GHz. 2 GB Ram, running un it VIZ 2006 and Vray 1.5.

 

1)The guy at dell told me i cant install windows xp64 on my precision 650, is that correct? I have to know that, in order to decide if i want xp64 on the new one. If I can’t install xp64 on my old machine, then I can’t us it as a render node with DR. I know i can run max32 on a 64bit machine, but if I wont have any use out of the 64 bit, than why bother (drivers for printers, etc) please correct me if I’m wrong with this assumption.

 

2) Can i go with the Quadro FX 1500 instead of the 3450 (my scenes are about 2 million polygons)

 

3) Does the price seem reasonable for the product?

 

Thanks in advance for any useful advice

See below the new configuration

 

Dell Precision 690 Mini-Tower Quad Core Xeon Proc X5355 2.66GHz, 2 X 4MB L2 Cache 1333MHz (222-7388)

 

Processor:

2nd Processor,Quad Core Xeon Proc X5355,2.66GHz,2X4MB L2 Cache, 1333, Dell Precision 690 (311-6977)

 

Memory:

4GB, DDR2 ECC SDRAM Memory 667MHz, 4X1GB, Dell Precision 490/690, Factory Install (311-6398)

 

Keyboard:

Entry Level, USB, No Hot Keys keyboards, Dell PrecisionWorkstations (310-7949)

 

Monitor:

Monitor Option-None (320-3316)

 

Video Card:

nVidia,Quadro FX 3450,256MB dual VGA or DVI, Graphics CardDell Precision X90 (320-4938)

 

Hard Drive:

160GB Serial ATA, 10K RPM HardDrive with 16MB DataBurst Cache, Precision 380 (341-3682)

 

Hard Drive Controller:

C1- All SATA Hard Drives Non- RAID for 1 to 2 Hard Drives, Dell Precision 690 (341-3378)

 

Floppy Disk Drive:

NO FLOPPY DRIVE, Dell Precision 490/690, Factory Install (341-3414)

 

Operating System:

WINDOWS XP PRO SP2, with MediaDell Precision,English Factory Install (420-4860)

 

Operating System:

Thank you for choosing Dell (310-8617)

 

Mouse:

Dell USB 2-Button Entry Mouse with Scroll for Dell Precision (310-7959)

 

CD-ROM or DVD-ROM Drive:

16X DVD+/-RW w/Cyberlink PowerDVD,Roxio Digital Creator DellEdition,Dell Precision X90 (313-4287)

 

Speakers:

No Speaker option (313-2663)

 

Documentation Diskette:

No Resource CD for Dell Optiplex,Precision and Latitude Systems (313-3673)

 

Additional Storage Products:

500GB SATA 3.0Gb/s, 7200RPM Additional HardDrive with 16MBDataBurst Cache, Dell Precision 690 (341-3732)

 

Controller Option:

SATA/SAS integrated controllerfor Connecting Internal Hard Drives, Dell Precision 690 (341-3435)

[Tommy L]

That looks like an enormous amount of money for a system. If you are getting a machine with lots of ram, use xp64. Period. Instead of buying a 5 grand pc, you could replace your old one for about $750 and spend $1500 on a shiny new one and only lose 5-10% performance against the $5000 machine. Every dollar you spend on a machine has to deliver a fiscal return that makes it a deal.

Look at the Core 2 quads, gaming cards and budget ram. Dont believe the hype, the art is in the artist, not the machine!

[notjeff]

http://www.pricewatch.com or http://www.zipzoomfly.com

 

Look at the prices of your parts individually to get an idea of how much dell is marking them up. Your mobo is going to likely be around $400.

 

A fast machine saves you time, and gives you more of a chance to have a life. I find that worth the investment for me!

 

Its not a coincidence that the xeons and dual cores have been dropped by about 50% in the past few weeks. I dont have a link, but if you google it, you will find that new xeon quad cores will be coming out in the 4th quarter of this year from intel. Speculated fsb is either 1333 or 1600, w/12mb cache. Sorry i dont have the link i read, but the chips are going to be way way less than what the current ones out now are, i believe i read a 2.66 quad core xeon w/12mb cache was going to be about $275. They maybe 45nm. not sure, maybe someone can confirm this info on this site? From what i can see, if you can hold out a bit, you will likely save $ and get the newest technology. I really advise you to wait until they come out if u can.

 

And i freaking hate dell. They are always way overpriced IMO. There are so many other places on the net that will give u the same machine for hundreds if not thousands less if you cant put it together yourself.

[Stephen Thomas]

Sorry to veer slightly off topic here, but why does Dell only offer 667 MHz ram? Surely the system above can't be operating at full capacity when the FSB of the memory is half that of the processor? There is never any mention of the motherboard spec when ordering either.

 

On another tangent I have just ordered a new system along a similar line to Tommy's suggestion from Dell.

 

Dell Dimension 9200 Desktop

Intel® Core™ 2 Quad-Core Q6600 Processor (2.4GHz,1066MHz,8MB cache)

Dell™ 22" Black Wide Flat Panel (E228WFP)

256MB nVidia™ GeForce 8600GTS graphics card

2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024]

500GB Serial ATA RAID 0 Stripe [2x250GB 7200rpm drives with DataBurst™ cache]

16x DVD +/- RW Drive

Logitech™ Cordless Desktop™ EX110

Internal 13-in-1 Media Card Reader

 

Price - £579 + vat

 

Not bad!

[AJLynn]

...and I'm still not sure Stef's price is a good deal. But anyway. Buy Dell if you have to, because of company policy. My last 2 companies would only buy Dells. My current one is letting me build my own, overclock it, and my IT guy is telling me to ask for better parts.

 

If you have complete freedom, a much less expensive do-it-yourself machine using a good motherboard (Asus P5K Deluxe is the one to beat these days), DDR2-800/6400 RAM, a Core2 Quad Q6600 and a giant heatsink/fan, that you overclock to over 3GHz, will perform nearly as well and cost a whole lot less.

[Stephen Thomas]

...and I'm still not sure Stef's price is a good deal. But anyway. Buy Dell if you have to, because of company policy. My last 2 companies would only buy Dells. My current one is letting me build my own, overclock it, and my IT guy is telling me to ask for better parts.

 

If you have complete freedom, a much less expensive do-it-yourself machine using a good motherboard (Asus P5K Deluxe is the one to beat these days), DDR2-800/6400 RAM, a Core2 Quad Q6600 and a giant heatsink/fan, that you overclock to over 3GHz, will perform nearly as well and cost a whole lot less.

Yeah, basically the whole office has dell's, so this one had to be a dell too. I thought the price wasn't bad for a dell, but then I guess I'm comparing it to what I paid for a core2 duo back in march.

[M_Jaco]

Thanks all for the advice.

 

Unfortunately, doing it my self is not an option for me, I do not have the knowledge to do it, so I’ll take AJLynn's advice and go with dell

 

I can't wait any longer, I already waited for July 22, don’t know if I got a better deal because I waited, but I cant wait any longer its holding back my work flow.

 

My only concern is what stef mentioned about the ram.

 

Tommy, It is true; “the art is in the artist not in the machine” however, if the artist has quality tools, he can produce more efficiently:)

[Tommy L]

Thanks all for the advice.

 

Unfortunately, doing it my self is not an option for me, I do not have the knowledge to do it, so I’ll take AJLynn's advice and go with dell

 

I can't wait any longer, I already waited for July 22, don’t know if I got a better deal because I waited, but I cant wait any longer its holding back my work flow.

 

My only concern is what stef mentioned about the ram.

 

Tommy, It is true; “the art is in the artist not in the machine” however, if the artist has quality tools, he can produce more efficiently:)

 

Im not sure AJLyn was recommending Dells......

and what I meant was, dont expect your quality of work to jump because you spend 5k on a PC. I just bought a PC for less than $1000 including a 21 inch Samsung flatscreen and it has 2 gig Ram, Q6600quad core, decent nvidia gaming graphics card, 500gig HD (7200) on a solid Asus board. Thats nearly as fast as your 5k machine. Without the monitor I think it was around $750. Just dont waste your money dude, ask what PERFORMANCE you receive for the money!

I could have got a workstation and a 5 machine farm for 5k!

 

Also bear in mind how fast your 5k machine becomes a 5k doorstop.

[alfienoakes]

Im not sure AJLyn was recommending Dells......

and what I meant was, dont expect your quality of work to jump because you spend 5k on a PC. I just bought a PC for less than $1000 including a 21 inch Samsung flatscreen and it has 2 gig Ram, Q6600quad core, decent nvidia gaming graphics card, 500gig HD (7200) on a solid Asus board. Thats nearly as fast as your 5k machine. Without the monitor I think it was around $750. Just dont waste your money dude, ask what PERFORMANCE you receive for the money!

I could have got a workstation and a 5 machine farm for 5k!

 

Also bear in mind how fast your 5k machine becomes a 5k doorstop.

 

I just hate it sometimes when I see what our friends in the states pay for PC's and other tech stuff..

 

We just get our asses spanked over PC goods here in the UK.. Basically, whatever we pay in £, you guys pay $.. roughly. So it is pretty difficult getting a good price comparison..

 

Having said that, What Andrew is saying re sourcing parts etc, is a very good way to look at it.. and generally can prove cheaper... just not as cheaps as those USA residents..

 

Actually, just as an aside, we purchased a new dual xeon about 18-24 months ago.. and its already being blown away by our 12 month old Core 2 duos.. which we could have bought 4 with for the same cost..!