Check out the Dell Outlet site for the T3500. The T3400 has come and gone. They were TERRIFIC for the price. Fortunately Dell has brought down the price of the T3500 to the good deal price range. Featuring an x58 mobo, 2, PCIEx16 slots, 2 PCIEx8, 2, PCI, as a starting point.... perfect for running multiple monitor rigs. Base units, Xeon W3503 and W3505 are a tad wimpy... about the same power as a C2D 8300. But starting at about W3520 the performance jumps up to around the equivalent of a C2Q.. like a Q9550... for around $650. (Base unit of W3503/W3505... at around $500-$550... is still plenty good for trading, however.) Suggest comparing this machine and price to whatever else you might consider. Support for the Precision Line is EXCELLENT... 3-year warranty. (Don't listen to the Dell Haters... while SOME of their complaints are legit, they don't apply to the Precision Line.) FWIW...
I usually build my own systems, but thinking about trying one from here next; http://www.tradingcomputers.com/TCdesktop.html
Probably a bad idea. They're normally WAAAYYYYY overpriced. CyberpowerPC.com has been better priced recently.
Yes on both counts. Computers may be run through the Outlet site for any of several reasons..."returned and refurbished" is only one. They have "Scratch and Dent" units, too... I've bought a couple of those. On one, the side panel is a bit "sticky" when trying to close... not enough to actually look for the reason and try to fix it. On another, and one of the best deals I ever got on a computer... there was a scratch on the top of the case where the silvery metal shone through. I just covered with black Magic Marker... you'd never notice it unless you went looking for it. "Scratch and Dent" usually save an additional $60-$100 over others.
I got a system from these guys a few months ago - great system and a awsome stand. Easy to put together and the system smokes over my old dell. just a fyi http://wwws.emcworkstations.com/financialtrader.asp
Dell Outlet is very good on lower priced machines.... say $800 and less.... they are sometimes good on more expensive machines, too... but in general Dell isn't all that great when it comes to pricing "upgrades". So..... if the Dell T3500 you're considering gets up to around $1,000 in today's market... good idea to check out competitors also. Outlet currently has a T3500 with Xeon W3503 rig for $509, and another with W3530 for $579... deals which probably are not beatable anywhere.
I checked out the T3500 but it seems like any set under $750 comes with only 3GB of Ram. I did some searching and came across this HP refurbished model how does the i3-530 processor compare with the W3503 http://www.overstock.com/Electronic...m-Refurbished/4869952/product.html?rcmndsrc=2
The i3-530 has about 50% more "max grunt". But that computer in the link (1) has only 90 day warranty, and (2) has an el-cheapo mobo with onboard video. The T3500's mobo is in the $180-$225 class.. the HP's in the $20-$40 class. Might be OK for running only 1 video card, however. That HP is very much overpriced, IMV. Ram is easy enough and cheap to increse, if necessary.
Looks like the best "price/power" unit they have right now is one for $709.... Xeon W3530 Quadcore CPU 4G RAM NVS 295 video card If you did a BIY... Mainstream x58 mobos are about $160-$220. A Xeon W3530 CPU is about $320. That's already $500 for mobo and CPU alone.