hopefully someone will have a simple answer here... Im looking at a dell optiplex960 computer. the customer service guy was rude and short with me so I gave up... Nvidia's website has no answers... the internet appears to have no answers either... I want the 512mb nvidia quadro NVS420 quad graphics card so I can run 4 22" monitors now the problem..... on dell's site you can either buy the graphics card above with a DVI adapter or a display port adapter. what is the difference?
These guys have some good information on the different ports. http://www.naplestech.com/shopcart/what-are-display-ports.asp Display Ports are the new standards, but many monitors do not have that connector, yet. DP will replace the DVI for a faster throughput to the monitor.
For waaayyyy less money, the Precision T3400 would be a SIGNIFICANTLY better choice... much better mobo, more slots, bigger PSU, has 2, x16 slots. Then, forget about the NVS 420 and get two NVS 290s. The NVS has at least 10X the video throughput capability than you need for trading.
Just wanted to mention that the NVS is a good card but, if you want to run a 30 inch monitor, it will not work in the full-on resolution. Found that out the hard way Up to 24 inches you are good.
The new NVS cards with Display Port will run 30" @ 2560x1600... IF the monitors have Display Port. If the monitors have DVI, they won't work correctly using the Display Port-to-DVI adapter... that's good only up to 1920x1200.
if u dont mind....would you change any components? I was thinking of going with a quad core but then maybe dont need to spend the extra $. do I need more hard drive & / or less ram? the optiplex is 1500 cdn t3400 1366 cdn. (dumb question...on the T3400 the graphics card says dual256mb nvs290...so thats 2 correct?) this is the T3400 525w 64bit PROCESSOR Intel® Coreâ¢2 Duo E8400 (3.00GHz/1333MHz/6MB L2) 525W OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista Business downgrade to Windows XP Professional,English CHASSIS CONFIGURATION AND 1394 Mini-Tower Chassis Configuration HARD DRIVE 160GB SATA 3.0Gb/s with NCQ and 8MB DataBurst Cache⢠MEMORY 4GB, 800MHz, DDR2 SDRAM Memory, ECC (4 DIMMS) GRAPHICS CARD Dual 256MB PCIe x16 nVidia NVS 290, Dual Monitor DVI Capable OPTICAL DRIVE 16X DVD-ROM with Cyberlink Power DVD⢠this is the optiplex 960 PROCESSOR Intel® Core⢠2 Duo Processor E8400 (3.0GHz, 6M, 1333MHz FSB) OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista Business downgrade to Windows XP Professional,English DELL ENERGY SMART Dell Energy Smart Power Management Settings Enabled HARD DRIVE 160GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s and 8MB DataBurst Cache⢠CONTROLLER OPTION No RAID MEMORY 4GB DDR2 Non-ECC SDRAM, 800MHz, (4DIMM) GRAPHICS CARD 512MB NVIDIA Quadro NVS 420 Quad DVI Adapter, Full Height OPTICAL DRIVE 16X DVD+/-RW SATA, Data Only FLOPPY DRIVE & MEDIA READER No Floppy Drive
1. For nearly all trading, E8400 is plenty. 2. You don't "need" bigger hard drive. 3. If you're going to run XP, you can cut the RAM back to 2G if you want to save some money. 4. "Dual" 290s will run 4 monitors, up to 1920x1200 in DVI. The T3400 is MUCH better. If T3400 = 10, the Optiplex would be no higher than 6.
finally, does it matter if I go with the mini tower on the T3500 or should it be the full size. thx again
?? I think it's available in only one case... Mini-tower or desktop configuration, but same case. If you get a T3500, you should also get the W3520 Xeon CPU at a minimum. The lesser ones are comparatively wimpy.
is it common practice for dell to raise their prices on the weekends? during the week optiplex960 was 1500...tonight (friday) its 1765 T3400 was 1366 cdn$ and now its 1607 do these crooks play games like this or have component prices all of a sudden jumped. thx