The old XP box with a core 2 duo T8100 (passmark 1362) is getting a little long in the tooth so I was thinking about upgrading. Found this used from a computer reseller: Dell T3500 Xeon W3550 Quad Core 3.0ghz (passmark score 5648) Two 500GB SATA 7200 drives 256MB ATI FireMV 2660 6GB (3x2GB) 1333mhz ram Win 7 professional For a bit over $800. Planning on mostly running Amibroker (which can take advantage of multi core chips), ninja trader, and TOS User interface plus some custom excel worksheets. I might add programs like Mathcad or Maple in the future for some real math crunching. I like the dell precision series from their reputation on the board for reliability, but not sure the processor is optimal for me as I was assuming I would get at least an i5 or preferably an i7. But think it should be OK as folks are talking about i3's being totally acceptable for this. No gaming, obviously on this computer. Hoping that I can configure the drives in RAID. I only will run one or two monitors, but I want HD monitors dataport capable since the ATI is. Recommendations for the best 21-24" HD monitors price/return quality wise appreciated. Good deal/bad deal or should I just build my own at this point for $500-$650. Less about the money than the stability and future ease of use. Thoughts?
Are you buying it with or without a warranty? With a 3-year DELL FACTORY warranty that's a great deal. Without a warranty I'd try to get them to go lower but you still have a $300 CPU, $120 motherboard, $120 in HDD, $150 video card, $50 PSU... you are at $740 right there in parts that will sell on eBay within 2 days. Add in the case & RAM and you are probably right around $800-$820 in parts. With Warranty that's a great deal - without warranty you are still not getting a bad deal at all. A little over $800 shipped is good. Does it come with a W7 COA (like the sticker on the machine is it for W7 or XP/Vista)? Also does it come with the Windows Media DVD (like do you get W7 DVD or just come "pre loaded")? If it comes with W7 COA and it comes with a 3-year dell factory warranty that's great in my opinion.
Seems reasonable to me. The only thing I will point out is, in my experience, HP motherboards seem to get more out of the processor than Dell. I love tooless cases <object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VJ5KJVCc5C4?version=3&feature=player_detailpage"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VJ5KJVCc5C4?version=3&feature=player_detailpage" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="360"></object>
If you can build your own, that is the way to go because the next time you decide to upgrade it will be really easy and cost much less. Plus you can upgrade one thing at a time or build a whole new system. With Dell or other big box systems, you can't upgrade anything. Dell designs their systems that way so you will buy a new one every 3 years or so. I build my own computers and would never go to Dell again. If you have any questions about building your own computer you can PM me.