Last year I replace all of my old Dells with new Dells. I'd have to call them "very good". Dell's "budget lines" are about the same as other OEM's budget lines, but Dell's Precision is quite good with excellent tech support.
Had my Dell for almost 3 years ... never a (hardware) problem. Dual core, 4 monitors, running about 18 charts.
I had a TC computer - did not have a good experience with it. Sent it back 2 times. Have a QuadStation now from NTI - great computer, great service. Someone always picks up the phone (call center after hrs and support gets back quickly). One problem I had with TC - Support is not there until 10, after market opens. I suggested they get people in earlier for market hrs... but - oh well... NTI's Prices are much better than DT - about the same as TC, but they dont overclock the processors. They also ship in 2 days. I got my system in 4 days after I purchased. you can check them out at www.quadstations.com. Tell them Paul S sent you - I think i get some credit...
ive decided to go with the falcon machine. I will let you know how it is compared to what I have had.
If only Falcon would get someone in for support at 8-9am, I would fill my office with them. How is it that they serve traders and they're still on their way to work when the market opens??
Same here. Spent roughly $1,000 on a T3400 about 2 years ago with 4 Gigs of RAM and a Core2-Duo Intel E8200 processor at 2.66 GHz with 6MB L2 cache and 1333 FSB. Also came with dual NVS-290's for graphics cards to support 4 displays and a 525 watt power supply on Windows XP Pro. Love the Core2-Duo E8200. Only uses 65 watts and runs cooler than the latest processors that are at 95 watts. If I want, I can upgrade to an E8500 at 3.16 GHz and still stay at 65 watts for only $190 at New Egg. My Dell T3400 hasn't missed a beat! Solid warranty too.
I wouldn't bother with liquid cooling, in my mind thats just something to wrong, it is however an advantage if you want a low noise, nearly silent system (besides hard drives). 8 monitor support will require some kind of special setup, I doubt it can be done with less than 2 GPU's but im no expert on that. Max I had was 2, on 1 GPU....