Here's a nice T3400 that I came across on the Dell Business Outlet site that still has XP Pro . . . And as many of you already know, the T3400 comes with pretty nice flexibility, including 2 PCI-Express 16x slots! Precision T3400 (System Identifier: 0GRHVB63) * Precision Workstation T3400 Mini-Tower: Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 (2.66GHz/1333MHz/4MB L2) 375W * Genuine Windows XP Pro System Price : $1,019.00 Operating System Genuine Windows XP ProMemory 2 GB DDR2 ECC SDRAM 677MHz (2 DIMMs) Hard Disk Drive 80 GB SATA Hard Drive (10K RPM) 80 GB SATA Hard Drive DataBurst (10K RPM)Video 256MB PCIe x16 nVidia NVS 290, Dual Monitor DVI Capable Certified Refurbished Certified Refurbished Base Precision Workstation T3400 Mini-Tower: Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 (2.66GHz/1333MHz/4MB L2) 375W Media Bay 16X DVD ROM Drive Hardware Upgrade Mini-Tower Chassis Configuration Hardware is Microsoft Vista Capable Internal Speaker USB Keyboard USB Keyboard USB 2 Button Mouse
We should call you the Dell Refurb King Of ET. Don't take this as a slight, I am sure some people appreciate your heads up.
I am not trying to be a jerk. I bought the Vostro brand new from Dell with the exact same specs for $395 except for the following. Windows XP Home (I already had 3 XP PRO licenses laying around) I am not sure what my power supply rating is, which is not a big deal as long as your not running more that 4 CRT monitors. I am running 4 LCD's. Like I said no offense intended just thought one would like to save $700.
Some folks have had difficulty getting 4 monitors to run on Vostro. What vidoe cards are you using, please?
Just get the cheapest base model T3400 you can live with from the outlet and do the upgrades yourself. It's cheaper that way. I got a cheap Precision 390 from the outlet and upgraded the CPU, RAM and HDD myself and sold all the junk on eBay.
Just using Nvidia FX cards (2) You can get a 256 card for $90 at Best Buy they run 2 monitors on each card. I also have a Nvidia Quadro card, that works great, but I no longer use it on my trading plat. I just used the Plug and Play feature along with the Nvidia drive and it was easy as taking candy from a baby. Not sure why anyone would have issues unless they are using conflicting cards. (A.K.A. different manufacturer cards in one set-up) Besides the PC should'nt matter, in this factor it is XP that has control over that issue as long as you have the proper video cards installed.
I would beg to differ. I bought a refurbished Vostro 400 last month with an E6850 Intel Duo-Core 3.0 GHz processor and 2 Gigs of 800 MHz of RAM on Windows XP Home with an nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS video card all for $529.00 I also purchased an eVGA Ge Force 6200 to put into my PCI slot, and low and behold I could never get both cards to work at the same time. The techs at nVidia couldn't figure it out, since they claim that both cards use the exact same driver. Didn't matter what I tried. I had the correct BIOS settings and also the latest drivers from nVidia. It appears that there might be some sort of a motherboard "limitation" with the Foxconn boards that come on the Dell Vostro. As a result, I sent the machine back to Dell. I'd rather purchase a Precision T3400 that comes with a much bigger power supply ( wither 375 or 525; your Vostro comes with a 300w psu ) and even more importantly, the Precision 3400 comes with not one, but TWO PCI-Express 16x slots. The Precision T3400 has a lot more flexibility.
Welll your post explains the problem. (most likely) Its not like a name of a plastic box makes a difference, its the understanding of PC basics/operations that leads to uninformed misunderstandings and thinking the manufacturer screwed up somewhere leading to send it back. I can not understand why anyone would have an issue for its simply basic pc knowledge in my eyes. (but thats just me... no offense) Just like the multiple PC's I have owned before (and still own) I just followed the typical PC protical and everything went smooth as can be. I am sorry to here about your misfortune and wish you better luck in the future. But, If you think there is something so different between Vostro and Precision as far as MM functionality goes you are greatly mistaken. Windows Xp is the main driver of MM display options and as long as you have the right capacity/configuration of video cards one should have no problem. One could have issues if they tried to install 2 video cards like one being an ATi and the other being an Nvidia card. This will fail everytime. I could be misinformed here, but I have done work for many others (approximately 150 PC's) in the last 3-5 years and never encountered the issue you guys are talking about. What I will do is try to look into this subject matter more though and see if I can find similar issues that have been raised by others. If I find any validity to this issue I will report back to help those that may inccur this in the future. P.S. DON'T EVER BUY ANYTHING FROM eVGA Corp! Been there done that twice, nightmare from hell! Stick to PNY
There have been others besides Landis82 with problems... Doesn't the mobo and chipset control "what's allowed and what's not"?
The mobo should'nt matter as long as it has the slots and capability of adding one or 2 cards, unless one bought a Mobo from the 80's All the chipsets currently offered in both models should'nt effect MM capability for like I said that is controlled by the software. (XP)