It's hard to compare. Many services (prefetch, superfetch, aero, audio, wireless, indexing, thumbnail generation, speech recognition, offline files, multimedia scheduler, smart card support etc) are switched off by default in Server.
au contraire.. Ihave a Dell at work, and all my prebuilt purchases have been Dell's. I wouldn't buy any prebuilt machine from anyone else but Dell. gnome, dell has to pay labor and associated labor costs, BYOC does not. In Dell's price are guarantees and service. BYOC does not. One Dell i had at work had mismatched Ram to FSB because my company wanted to be cheap. . . it was slow, slow slow, and i hate sitting around waiting for crap to finish. BYOC one gets to control the parts you want and the pricing, customization that is beyond what Dell can provide. So you might want to criticize me, and that's ok, whatever. . . sportsguy
Dell buys their parts via trainload; volume pricing that BYOC does not enjoy. The Dell deals are straight up systems with no add-ons. They hose you really bad on add-ons, upgrades, etc. I'm still using my Dim 4550 for e-mail, surfing, autocad, photoshop, etc. It's a dino!
In addition... many people believe Dell uses "cheap and inferior parts"... NOT true. Their mobo's are OEM by Foxconn... nothing wrong with that.... Foxconn is the #1 mobo maker in the world. But mobo sizes are not ATX/BTX standard, so they won't easily fit into conventional cases. Their PSUs are also OEM, but have a good reputation. Also, most keyboards and mice. All the rest of the parts are "off the shelf" just like other makers. Dell's technical support has been suspect* (foreigners whose English is often hard to understand... that's a bad combo with novice computer users when troublshooting a problem), but their hardware is "average", just like everybody else. *NOT the case with the Precision line of computers. Dell treats them as Business Class with their own support and English speaking reps in America.... no problem at all with this division's support.... yet another reason to buy a T3400. I was talking to a guy on the phone yesterday who bought a T3400, quadcore for $720. That's about what one would pay for parts and BYOC.
This is just my opinion. but i compare Dell to what is McDonald in the food business. Foxconn behind #1 manufacturer doesn't mean they are any good. in fact, i was googling real quick and i found only one chart of motherboard where i saw a foxconn board in, on 10th position. Personnaly, since i build my own computers, Never i would get myself a foxconn board. Too many good manufacturers out there like Asus, MSI, Epox..., but of course, they are more expensive. Good thing, in a way, is that Dell brought computers to the mass. they make the cheapest machine on the market. Just like McDonald... who brings the cheapest meal on the table...
You're emoting with your gut, not thinking with your head. I've had at least a dozen Dells over the last 10 years... issues indclude (a) replacing a DVD burner under warranty, NEC brand... and (b) had the audio chip go out on a 6-year old D8300... $10 fix. That's IT. I will never "pay up" to avoid Dell so long as this GREAT record of performance and reliability continues...