FAO computer people

**Kamal** · August 12, 2004, 06:40:46 AM

Re: FAO computer people

so the primary configurations stand like this

[quote="Hos"]
OPTION 1

-* Dell Precision Workstation 670 MiniTower *-
==============================================
Quantity : 1
Total excl.VAT : ?2,739
Total incl.VAT : ?3,218.33

Standard Features
=================
MiniTower with 3.5" Floppy Bay, 3 External 5.25" Bays & 4 Internal Bays (504.7 x 225.8 x 502.9 mm)

Operating System
================
Microsoft? Windows? XP Professional (Service Pack 1) WITH Media using NTFS

Base Unit
=========
Single Intel? Xeon? Processor (3.4GHz, 800MHz FSB, 1MB cache) (+ GBP ?410)

Hyper Threading
===============
Processor Hyper-Threading

Energy Star?
============
Energy Star not enabled ?

Memory
======
2.0GB (4x 512MB DIMM) 400MHz DDR2 ECC? SDRAM Memory (+ GBP ?510)

1st (Boot) Hard Drive
=====================
Boot HDD NOT in RAID: 40GB (7,200 rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with DataBurst Cache?

2nd Hard Drive
==============
Not Included

3rd Hard Drive
==============
Not Included

4th Hard Drive
==============
Not Included

SCSI HDD Controller Options
===========================
Not Included

External SCSI HDD Storage Options
=================================
Not Included

External Storage
================
Not Included

Graphics Card
=============
256MB PCIe x16 (DVI/VGA) nVidia Quadro FX 3400, Dual Mon DVI or VGA Graphics Card (+ GBP ?590)

Sound
=====
Choose your upgrade below

1st Monitor
===========
Dell? 17" Value Flat Panel TCO'99 Monitor (+ GBP ?120)

CD-ROM, DVD and Read-Write Devices
==================================
12x DVD+RW/+R Drive + Software Decode Solution (+ GBP ?60)

Keyboard
========
Enhanced Quietkey? (Spacesaver) keyboard

Mouse
=====
Dell 2 Button USB Scroll Mouse

Support Service
===============
3 Year Onsite Service with Next Business Day Response

Asset Tagging Service
=====================
Asset Tag not included

OPTION 2

-* Dell Precision Workstation 670 MiniTower *-
==============================================
Quantity : 1
Total excl.VAT : ?2,739
Total incl.VAT : ?3,218.33

Standard Features
=================
MiniTower with 3.5" Floppy Bay, 3 External 5.25" Bays & 4 Internal Bays (504.7 x 225.8 x 502.9 mm)

Operating System
================
Microsoft? Windows? XP Professional (Service Pack 1) WITH Media using NTFS

Base Unit
=========
Single Intel? Xeon? Processor (3.4GHz, 800MHz FSB, 1MB cache) (+ GBP ?410)

Hyper Threading
===============
Processor Hyper-Threading

Energy Star?
============
Energy Star not enabled?

Memory
======
2.0GB (4x 512MB DIMM) 400MHz DDR2 ECC SDRAM Memory (+ GBP ?510)

HDD Configurations
==================
Not Included

1st (Boot) Hard Drive
=====================
Boot HDD NOT in RAID: 40GB (7,200 rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with DataBurst Cache?

2nd Hard Drive
==============
Not Included

3rd Hard Drive
==============
Not Included

4th Hard Drive
==============
Not Included

SCSI HDD Controller Options
===========================
Not Included

External SCSI HDD Storage Options
=================================
Not Included

External Storage
================
Not Included

Graphics Card
=============
256MB PCIe x16 (DVI/VGA) nVidia Quadro FX 3400, Dual Mon DVI or VGA Graphics Card (+ GBP ?590)

Sound
=====
Choose your upgrade below

1st Monitor
===========
Dell? 17" Value Flat Panel TCO'99 Monitor (+ GBP ?120)

CD-ROM, DVD and Read-Write Devices
==================================
12x DVD+RW/+R Drive + Software Decode Solution (+ GBP ?60)

Keyboard
========
Enhanced Quietkey? (Spacesaver) keyboard

Mouse
=====
Dell 2 Button USB Scroll Mouse

Support Service
===============
3 Year Onsite Service with Next Business Day Response

in all honesty, between the two computers, I dont see any differences (dont bust me for it, it's still 6:35 in the morning here now

-e-

**Hos** · August 12, 2004, 06:51:54 AM

um, yeah my bad, update is on it'w way

your more awake than i am

**Hos** · August 12, 2004, 06:56:27 AM

ok fixed now

**Kamal** · August 12, 2004, 07:17:28 AM

so the only difference between the 2 is the intel processor (i.e. 3.4 ghz / 3.0 ghz) ?? also why do you have ECC RAM on a workstation ?? IMO, ECC is more expensive and you will nearly never use its full potential on a workstation ESPECIALLY on a SINGLE USER WORKSTATION with 40 gigs of HD space

-e-

**Hos** · August 12, 2004, 07:23:33 AM

well one has a dual xeon and the other is single xeon but faster processor, the RAM option can be changed on both, but there will be lots of jobs running off our network drives.

**Kamal** · August 12, 2004, 07:42:12 AM

if the only comparison is a dual 3.0 ghz and a single 3.4 ghz, the choice is easy.... go for the dual machine....... since you are getting a workstation, its obvious you're going for multi-tasking and NOT multi-media...... you CANNOT go wrong with dual processing

-e-

**turban** · August 12, 2004, 08:28:53 AM

That's some fucking hardware! ?3000 on a PC these days.

What is it that you do?

**arielus** · August 12, 2004, 09:40:43 AM

Re:: FAO computer people

DUAL XEON

Specially for your job, you can take advantage of those 2 processors for rendering faster in 3d Studio (if you know how to do that).

Is 40gb enough for the kind of work you do?

**LoUiS** · August 12, 2004, 09:54:07 AM

Re:: FAO computer people

Dual Intel? Xeon? Processor (3.0GHz, 800MHz FSB, 1MB cache) (+ GBP ?610).Dual is better than single.The difference between the prices is very small so my advice:go for the second one!

**fumanchu182** · August 12, 2004, 10:02:08 AM

Think of it this way. The cpu works on a first come first serve basis on the interrupt channels. You need to run many threads from those programs so if you get the correct drivers from intel, when one interrupt on cpu1 is busy, cpu2 says: "give me some love" and does the work that would of been done on cpu1. At the end of the computation if cpu2 is not done before cpu1 is done, then cpu1 sits in wait mode, stores the info, and processes another thread in the meantime. CPU2 finally finishes then cpu1 gets an interrupt request and bang! done processing multiple threads in those programs.

Just put it this way, a year down the road you will be thinking to yourself thank god I got a dual processor system.

For those in the know, this is called the Fetch-Execute cycle...

**Civic_Zen** · August 12, 2004, 11:06:26 AM

How about this.

Screw Intel altogether and go with the AMD Opteron. You would still want a dual processor setup, (I recommend the Tyan Dual Socket 940 board) but AMD Opteron's are cheaper, faster, and 64-bit. So you will be MUCH better off in the future.

Right out of the box, Opteron's absolutely murder Xeon processor's, which are actually slower then a regular Pentium 4 at the same clock speed, but are much more stable of course which are why they are used in servers. With Opteron, you have the same stability and more power. Being that its 64-bit, its really an all around better choice for longevity.

**MJDub** · August 12, 2004, 11:51:55 AM

Agreed with Civic. Also, you might want to get a better monitor that actually has DVI input since you're getting a card with dual DVI IMO.

**fumanchu182** · August 12, 2004, 11:52:53 AM

Does dell support the AMD opteron?

**Hos** · August 12, 2004, 07:21:33 PM

Thanks for the responses guys. :wink:

Dual Xeons it is then. I can't wait to see this beast.

Dell don't do AMD

FAO computer people

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