What's the diff? Dell Workstations?

[augathra]

Hello everyone, I looked at dell workstations, and you can get dual processors, 2gb ram, and 512mb video card for 3,200$. The XPS Desktop is like half the machine for the same price, so im wondering what's the deal? What are workstations? Could I use it for gaming? (I cant find where Dell explains workstations)

[gollux]

Dell workstations tend to have faster disk IO subsystems, faster fsb, pci bus and memory and can also be Xeon dual processor. The Gigabit ethernet port also helps if you are data transfer intensive to any local servers. Not of much use if you are internet only.

The Dell 470 Precision single processor workstation I have here is definitely faster than the Opti's that are on the salespeople's desktops with identical processor speed.

Get it with a Dual Head video card if you are doing development work.

Probably pretty kickin for games as it is flamingly fast with Photoshop and running a report on one of the local databases finishes in 1/3 the time it takes when loaded and run locally on one of the Opti's.

[augathra]

So a workstation would be better in every way, and it's cheaper? Get twice the machine for the same price? There is no catch?

[vgarcia]

Unless your games actually take advantage of two processors it might not necessarily be worth it. You're probably best off building your own system if you want to do gaming; it will likely be the least expensive option.

[Marubozo]

Unless your games actually take advantage of two processors it might not necessarily be worth it. You're probably best off building your own system if you want to do gaming; it will likely be the least expensive option.

Correct. Many games will not fully take advantage of a dual processor system, so if gaming is what you're looking at, it might not be the best use of money. Typically, dual processors are going to be a large benefit to you if you need heavy duty multitasking or rendering type applications.

I was reading an article somewhere that was covering dual processors, and they were able to encode a DVD in the background while still able to play Doom 3 without any framerate loss. Yet, on a single processor, this would be virtually impossible.

So it goes back to what you really need the computer for. If simply for games, it probably wouldn't be worth spending for the dual CPUs. If you need it for grahpics rendering/editing and/or you need to say encode and edit videos at the same time you're doing another major process, the dual would probably be the way to go.

[augathra]

The highest graphics i work with is Photoshop/Fireworks; however, EverQuest II is a VERY resource intensive game. This computer (Dell dimension) has 1GB memory, 2.8GHz CPU (800 FSB), 128MB GC, and my game runs like crap unless on the second lowest setting. Then my laptop (Dell XPS) has 512MB Ram, 256MB graphics card, and 2.0ghz pentium M (the pentium M supposedly runs faster than what it says) and my laptop runs it even worse, horrable on the lowest settings.

You still think 2 CPUs wouldn't help?

[Ben]

EQII from personal experience is a beast. You need a top of the line machine, and easily 2 gigs of RAM to run efficiently. You would also need 256MB of video memory, something like the 6800 Ultra's offer. And unfortunately, the 2.8Ghz wont cut it. You will need something like the Pentium 600 series or a Athlon 3500+.

[Marubozo]

In your case, in regards to EQ2, a second processor is going to do very little for performance. Like you said, the game has intense textures, pixel shaders, and a plethora of other graphics that are utilized. No matter how many CPUs you have, in a case like this, your graphics card is going to make the only real difference.

Sure, maybe runing a dual setup would give you an extra FPS or two, but it is nothing to what getting a better video card would give you.

And, just as a note, the Dimension line has about the worst graphics cards you could get for high-end games. Even right now, their high-end dimension 9100 or whatever, only comes with a cheap Radeon X300 SE, which has horrible reviews, and is considered a budget card. ZDnet says "No gamer will take this 3D card seriously, but it provides a half-step up from an integrated graphics solution." about the card. Like I said, I don't know what card you have in your current dimension, but even if you have one of the newest dimension systems available, you will be getting a piece of crap graphics card.

The XPS on the other hand has an excellent selection of cards, between the Radeon 850XT or the GeForce 6800. These are pretty good cards (although still not even top of the line) but they are considered gamer quality. So in all honesty, I think your current dimension desktop has just a really inferior graphics card, which is why it performs so poorly in EQ. And a laptop, again, unless you have a very high-end laptop, running games like that is just going to usually suck.

So if you can get a dual setup with a good graphics card for a decent price, hey why not. But honestly, a relatively slow 2GHz single CPU with a really good graphics card will do you much better than a dual 3GHz setup with a budget graphics card. (As far as gaming is concerned).

[augathra]

Hope no one read my last post. I used Tigerdirect.com because it's so easy (though, i probably wouldn't order from there).

Here's what I got, please tell me if you think this would run EQ2 pretty good. I hope it's easily read...
S35-3006 :: SilverStone ATX Mid-Tower Case with Front USB, Firewire and Audio Ports (23 lbs)
In Stock $99.99 $99.99

P67-1056 P :: Plextor Plexwriter Premium / 52x32x52 CD-RW / Roxio Software / CD Burner (3 lbs)
In Stock $69.99 $69.99

Q131-1004 :: Aerocool X-Raider / All Socket A/478 Processors / Sleeve Bearing/Aluminum Fins/Blue LED / CPU Cooling Fan (2 lbs)
In Stock $19.99 $19.99

S130-1202 :: Seagate / 80GB / 7200 / 8MB / ATA-100 / EIDE / Hard Drive (Retail Package) (3 lbs)
In Stock $89.99 $89.99

K24-5810 :: Kingston 2048MB PC4200 533MHz Dual Channel DDR2 Memory (2 x 1024MB) (0.5 lbs)
In Stock $219.99 $219.99

ULT31312 :: Ultra / 600-Watt / ATX / Dual 80mm Bright Fan / Blue / Power Supply (3 lbs)
In Stock $79.99 $79.99

C44-5103 :: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS PCI Sound Card (2 lbs)
In Stock $85.99 $85.99

P450-7802 :: XFX GeForce 7800 GTX / 256MB DDR3 / PCI Express / SLI / Dual DVI / VIVO / Video Card with XGEAR PC Dual Reflex Controller (2.5 lbs)
In Stock $599.99 $599.99

MBM-P5GD2-550 :: Asus P5GD2 Premium Socket 775 ATX Motherboard and Intel Pentium4 550 3.4GHz Processor (4.1 lbs)
In Stock $459.99 $459.99

[MaxS]

If you are going to be gaming, why not go for an AMD 64? Go with a socket 939 AMD 64 with a nForce4 mobo.

[vgarcia]

Hope no one read my last post. I used Tigerdirect.com because it's so easy (though, i probably wouldn't order from there).

Here's what I got, please tell me if you think this would run EQ2 pretty good. I hope it's easily read...

(stuff)

Use newegg.com if they ship to wherever you live; I've heard much better things about them than I have about Tiger Direct (and to my knowledge Newegg doesn't do frivolous lawsuits like TD does )

[ethanp]

I agree. NewEgg.com is a great website for any computer related ordering. They have pretty good prices, good customer support, and timely shipping.

Good luck with your new computer. I'm not much of a gamer, so I don't know the specs needed for them.

[Marubozo]

Newegg is about the only place I will ever buy computer parts online. Amazing customer service and most of the time, unbeatable prices.

[Defender1]

Ya, gotta love newegg.
And another vote for an AMD Athlon 64 instead of the Pentium.

[augathra]

then my conclusion to my opening post is Workstations are for maximum computing power for programs like CAD and stuff?

Edit: BTW, what would be better?
2 2.8ghz processors or 1 3.2 ghz processor?

[vgarcia]

then my conclusion to my opening post is Workstations are for maximum computing power for programs like CAD and stuff?

Yes. Basically anyone who can benefit from a powerful machine that can multitask well should get a workstation (i.e. encoding video, graphics, CAD, heavy development work). Everybody else will be fine with normal desktops of varying specs (i.e. better graphics cards for gaming).

[Defender1]

Edit: BTW, what would be better?
2 2.8ghz processors or 1 3.2 ghz processor?

Again it depends on what's using the cpus.
If everything you're using can take advantage of 2 CPUs (and your OS supports it), the 2.

If not, the 1 3.2.

But most likely, the 3.2.

[augathra]

I see, thanks to everyone for the help!

[augathra]

In your case, in regards to EQ2, a second processor is going to do very little for performance. Like you said, the game has intense textures, pixel shaders, and a plethora of other graphics that are utilized. No matter how many CPUs you have, in a case like this, your graphics card is going to make the only real difference.

Sure, maybe runing a dual setup would give you an extra FPS or two, but it is nothing to what getting a better video card would give you.

And, just as a note, the Dimension line has about the worst graphics cards you could get for high-end games. Even right now, their high-end dimension 9100 or whatever, only comes with a cheap Radeon X300 SE, which has horrible reviews, and is considered a budget card. ZDnet says "No gamer will take this 3D card seriously, but it provides a half-step up from an integrated graphics solution." about the card. Like I said, I don't know what card you have in your current dimension, but even if you have one of the newest dimension systems available, you will be getting a piece of crap graphics card.

The XPS on the other hand has an excellent selection of cards, between the Radeon 850XT or the GeForce 6800. These are pretty good cards (although still not even top of the line) but they are considered gamer quality. So in all honesty, I think your current dimension desktop has just a really inferior graphics card, which is why it performs so poorly in EQ. And a laptop, again, unless you have a very high-end laptop, running games like that is just going to usually suck.

So if you can get a dual setup with a good graphics card for a decent price, hey why not. But honestly, a relatively slow 2GHz single CPU with a really good graphics card will do you much better than a dual 3GHz setup with a budget graphics card. (As far as gaming is concerned).

I just reread this post, and.. my dimension desktop runs the game better than my XPS laptop.

BTW - you said they are not top of the line, which cards would be?

[Ben]

The GeForce 7800 GTX is the current top-of-the-line card.

[augathra]

The GeForce 7800 GTX is the current top-of-the-line card.

Thanks