One reason... T5500 is a workstation... with [supposedly] server-class components. XPS is an overpriced, rather low-end "consumer class/gamer" line which is marketed as something better than it really is. When you get into multi-video card rigs, the mobo becomes a high consideration. Workstation computers are designed to run "multiple this-and-that", while the XPS is basically a gamer computer designed to run one video card. Also, Dell is notorious for high mark-up on computers with higher-end components and add-ons. Dell has both terrific values on some machines and a real hose-job on some others. It pays to know which is which.
+1 Been buying Dell for an IT dept at a large company for about 9 years. Aside from a problem with bad capacitors about 4 years ago (for which they replaced mobos on 12 systems), I haven't had problems. The business-class hardware that they routinely sell 3-year warranties on (optiplex, workstations, servers) are just better components. I wouldn't touch the retail stuff with a 10ft pole. Dell often has great deals on servers or workstations for "Small Business". So, it can make sense to go through that door (or at least compare prices) if you are buying for a trading rig. Can see some decent deals on T3500s.
WinstonTJ & Scataphagos I donât think a simple Thank you is enough to express my gratitude to you guys. I spent a great deal of time researching to put together a decent desktop before this thread & I thought I had a great rig for about $ 1500.00 ( without monitor & Video Cards ) with the specs listed below. But it did involve the Risk of me screwing up one or more components when assembling them since I have never built a PC before. My first choice was buying a Dell workstation but dropped the idea because I thought it had only 2 PCIe x16 slots. Knowing what I know now from you guys it makes more sense to go with Dell T5500 where my risk is almost nil except Dell asking for return shipment cost if it didnât workout. I will be very honest that I am really nervous about putting together T5500 as per Winstonâs specs because I fully donât understand the complexity of that system even though it is a far superior rig than what I am thinking as follows. Can I just get the new fully functioning & with full warranty rig that I mentioned before & again listed below & just buy one of those Xeon ES W5580 cpu for about $300.00 on ebay & put it in & takeout the Xeon E5606 ? That way I will have a little faster CPU ? Would that work ? I already have 3 Video Cards & 8 Monitors. Here are the specs on new dell T5500 Intel Xeon E5606 2.13GHz, 8M cache, 4.8 GT/s QPI, Turbo, HT, 4C Integrated Broadcom 5761 Gigabit Ethernet Controller 8GB (2x1GB+3x2GB) DDR3 RDIMM Memory, 1333MHz, ECC 250GB SATA (7200RPM) Hard Disk Drive 16X max SATA DVD+/-RW No Monitor 256MB PCIex16 ATI FirePro 2260 Multi-View, Dual DP, DP-DVI cable x1 Windows 7 Professional 64bit (English) Here are the specs of a desktop that I put together before you guys suggested Dell T5500 : I7-2600K 3.4 GHz Asus WS Revolution motherboard with 4 PCIe x16 slots 16 GB G Skill Ripjaws OR Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 RAM 760 Watt Seasonic Gold Modular power supply Corsair Obsidian Series 650D (CC650DW-1) case 16X DVD-RW How do these two systems compare ?
Xeon versus i7-2600k... Xeon is a server-class processor. Less heat than i7. It is designed to fit in a 1u chassis. i7 needs a big heat sink. Correct me if I am wrong: dual CPU boxes running Xeon... isn't the second processor just for redundancy? I don't think they do parallel processing with 2 CPUs. If correct, that means adding a second CPU only ensure you have a 100% redundancy in the event one CPU goes south, and not helping you calculating your indicators any faster. For my money, I would buy i7-2600k. From the Passmark scores, it seems to be >50% faster than the Xeon processor named. But one thing: make sure your trading software supports the multi-core architecture. The current release of TradeStation software (I am using 8.7) doesn't support multi-core. The software can't take advantage of core 2-3-4 and I am running into a CPU performance bottleneck. Or else all these money spent on hardware or the fastest processors are not going to buy you much.
Maybe WinstonTJ will chime in on this, he'll know for sure (his current project is building and leasing Virtual Machines to traders).... but I've never seen anything which touts the "redundancy" of dual-processor systems... only "increased processing power". And of course we had dual-processor before dual-core, single processors.
That Asus mobo looks bad ass. From the Asus website: The Best Graphic Performance you Ever have Designed for true power users, the P8P67 WS Revolution uses a built-in NF200 controller that enhances bandwidth availability between the board and the four graphics card expansion slots. This is ideal for NVIDIA GeForce SLI⢠and AMD CrossFireXâ¢, as the new motherboard can easily handle 2-Way SLI in dual PCI Express X16, while 3-Way SLI works in dual PCI Express X8 and one X16 link. This translates into a 26.4% performance increase compared to regular P67 motherboards with similar SLI configurations, as measured by 3DMark06. For CrossFireX, the P8P67 WS Revolution supports up to quad GPUs builds in PCI Express X8 links, unlike standard motherboards, which lack the bandwidth to do so. True to its workstation design, the motherboard empowers commercial users with up to four NVIDIA Quadro GPUs at once. These graphics accelerators focus on professional uses, including computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided engineering (CAE), digital content creation (DCC) and geographic information systems (GIS). Having up to four Quadro GPUs on one board provides the flexibility and resources needed to run various professional applications.
How does this GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 with newer Z68 Chipset & similar 4 PCIe x16 slots compare to Asus P8P67 WS Revolution ? It is little more expensive though. Looks like it has most of the same features with newer chipset. I saw few vendors using that Asus board but none using Gigabyte. Is it a cost factor or Gigabyte is missing something ? Asus P8P67 WS Revolution : $ 245.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131714&Tpk=ASUS P8P67 WS REVOLUTION GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 : $ 349.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128499&Tpk=GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 Anyone ?
I've never had a Gigabyte brand mobo but as with any product, you can read the user comments to get a heads up. Seems lots of people recently don't like their experience with the Gigabyte board.