Machine Config Opinion

[BodyBagger]

Hello all,
I am looking at purchasing the following machine for SW2007 and eventually SW2008 and I would like to see some other opinions on the setup. I would be changing it from Vista to XP Pro x64. The machine is new and from a private party. I belive I can pick it up for between $2000-$2500.

Dell T3400 Precision Workstation

Intel® Core™2 Extreme QX6800 Quad Core 2.93GHz (8MB L2 cache, 1066FSB)

Genuine Windows Vista™ Ultimate

4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 4 DIMMs

2 x 300GB SAS 15,000 rpm Serial Atached SCSI 300GB, 3.0Gb/s, 3.5 inch, Hard Drives configured in RAID0 for ultimate performance

Dell SAS 6/iR Controller with RAID 0 or 1

16XDVD AND 18XDVD+/-RW, w/ Cyberlink PowerDVD™ and Roxio Creator

13 in 1 Media Card Reader w/ BLUETOOTH & 3.5" FDD

PCIe x16 nVidia Quadro FX4600, Dual Monitor DVI Capable

Mini-Tower Chassis Configuration w/ 1394 Card and 525W Power Supply

Thanks in advance,
BodyBagger

 

[pietje]

Not bad, not bad at all...
I don't know what you are planning to do with it exactly, design simple ashtrays or complex machines?? I only design complex ashtrays and simple machines ) , and to do that your setup is more than sufficient.

According to the threads I have read in the past a 64-bit OS does not give large performance boosts compared to 32-bit. If I remember correctly 64bit is not even really supported by SW2007. I don't know the details on this so search this forum and

http://www.solidworks.com

to enlarge your knowledge. For example

http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=200737&page=1

Raid 0 is nice for speed, but the chance of loosing all data doubles up. If one HD fails, all data is gone. I assume that you will primarily store your designdata on a server and not on this workstation. Therefore make sure you backup the files that you are working on locally often to your server. Also I would advice you to make a mirror of your harddisk when you have installed all software. This way you can quickly restore your system in case of a HD-failure.
However if you plan to store all designdata on your local HD anyway, consider not using raid at all or use Raid 1. If you need lots of space be aware that when using raid 1 you end up with only 300GB instead of the 600GB that you have with raid 0.
Backing up the designdata to another medium (third HD or a server) is important in all cases. And if you backup multiple times a day, like I do, Raid 0 is not a bad choice IMO. (more on raid, search wiki)
p.s. i don't know the implications of SCSI in a raid-configuration, all I know about is IDE. I don't think it changes much, but I have to mention it.

good luck on your purchase

 

[dogarila]

No monitor? A 24" widescreen would be nice.

 

[mikedee42]

I agree with pietje. The chances of loosing all of your data due to one HD failure is doubled. Be sure to back up to an external source frequently. Alternatively, if your MOBO will support, throw one more high speed HD in and make a RAID 5. This, at least gives you some fault tolerance and not too much of a speed penalty. For what it's worth that's my two bits.

 

[BodyBagger]

Thanks to everyones help, however, the deal fell through. The item was "New in the Box" but had different processors than what Dell specified for the original build. I felt there the machine was just too far from the original Dell build sheet. Besides, how could it be new in the box after a ton of changes have been made to it.

Thanks again,

 

[Theophilus]

Yeah, sounds odd. Check with Xi Computer for some new stuff--they're usually quite reasonable. Or look up the benchmark post from a couple of months ago to see some fast specs and you could build your own from that.



Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

What did you dream? It's all right--we told you what to dream.
--Pink Floyd, Welcome to the Machine