When it first came out, you could not BIY cheaper for the cost of parts at Newegg. Perhaps you could now, as Dell's price has not fallen as fast as components... but it's still close. As for performance? Don't know whether it's been comapro'd against others... and though Dell doesn't allow overclocking, you can get up to Q9650, 1333Mhz FSB, on X38 mobo... so it ain't no slouch. And the only machine I know of which is comparable is the HP xw4600, but it's more expensive. BTW, I just bought a Precision M4300 workstation notebook on recent sale... it's fast and smooth with a very nice WSXGA screen.
Who would know that unless objectively compared against all comers? Personally, I believe it's in the range of "best value for the money".. But then, if you "know computers", and you "know the competition", you would already know this.
it's in the ballpark. i simply say you can do better if you don't mind a few hours of building your own
I don't believe this statement. I'm presuming it's in the vein of "you can ALWAYS BIY cheaper and better"... but that's not ALWAYS the case. If you want to convince the board, why don't you post the costs of all equivalent components... be sure to include shipping and taxes if any.. THEN we'll know if you're talking FACTS or not.. Go ahead. Look up the parts... and see how much could be saved... without regard to having to put it all together yourself.... dealing with any incompatibilities... returning parts... a new copy of the OS, etc. Everything. It's possible you might save $100 by purchasing the parts and BIY (then again, maybe not that much... maybe none at all)...but components have to be EQUIVALENT... not just the most el-cheapo, lesser quality parts you can find. Current T-3400 base unit is $595 (shipping included) with E7300 CPU and an X38 mobo. (Actually, Dell has a -25% to -35% off promotion going on right now which would reduce the cost further... You might get -35% off on a base model T3400 with E8400 CPU, Nvidia FX570 video card, 80G HDD, 1G RAM... for $464 + tax. I'm all ears if you can show me how to BIY better and for cheaper..)
And more importantly, don't forget to include the VALUE and WORTH of Dell's 3-year warranty on the T3400.
Quads are a bit faster for a given clock speed. Not so much that you'd want to pay a lot extra for a quad, but still faster.