Brendan_4g63
05-01-2008, 06:20 PM
****SOLD SOLD SOLD****
Dell Workstation / Server
Precision 530
Dual CPU 1.7ghz Xenon
2 GB ECC Ram
4x SCSI 36gb HD's
RAID 5 card
Cdrom drive
$350! OBO
Pic!
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/0/0,1425,sz=1&i=1512,00.jpg
# Direct price: $3,983.
# Dell Computer Corp.; Austin, TX; 800-999-3355.
# www.dell.com.
4.0 out of 5.0
Dell Precision Workstation 530
by Rich Brown
If you use workstations in your job, Intel has a boon for you. The company's new 1.7-GHz Xeon CPU is the first in a line of dual- and multiprocessor-capable chips based on the Pentium 4 . We reviewed a Dell Precision Workstation 530 with a dual-Xeon configuration.
Of particular interest is that Intel has rebranded the entire Xeon line, dropping the previous Pentium X moniker and using just the Xeon for all of the dual- and multiprocessing cousins. Intel has also elected not to add additional cache to the dual-processing Xeons but does plan to increase the cache on multiprocessor versions.
The obvious highlight of this new Xeon CPU is the Pentium 4 architecture's faster speeds and advanced floating-point SSE 2.0 instructions. The Intel i860 chip set required by the new Xeon motherboards has some serious benefits. A maximum of 4GB of RDRAM can provide gobs of system memory. Integrated ATA/100, 64-bit PCI capability, and a 4X 100-MHz (for a total of 3.2GB throughput) system bus allow for speedy data movement and fast storage access. The i860 chip set also features USB, 10/100 Ethernet, and 32-bit PCI support.
In terms of system configuration, the Precision is quite complete. Four USB ports, two IEEE 1394 ports, nVidia's Quadro2 Pro graphics card, and an Atapi drive make for a powerful, flexible design. The system we tested shipped with a single half-height ATA/100 20GB hard drive, but there is room for six half-height or four full-height drives. The Precision also came with a USB mouse, keyboard, and 512MB of RDRAM.
Performance-wise, we compared test results in which we isolated one processor with results from the same tests running both processors. In 3D Studio Max, a multithreaded application, we saw a performance gain of just under 30 percent for the CPU part of the test. This SPEC test is not optimized for SSE or SSE2, so the score reflects nonoptimized code. (For complete test results, see www .pcmag.com).
We will be interested to see the performance gains with four or more Xeons working together, and we also look forward to comparing results from AMD's forthcoming Athlon-based multiprocessors, code-named Palomino. But for now, the pairing of two Intel 1.7-GHz Xeons in the Dell Precision Workstation 530 makes for a hard-to-beat powerhouse.
Dell Workstation / Server
Precision 530
Dual CPU 1.7ghz Xenon
2 GB ECC Ram
4x SCSI 36gb HD's
RAID 5 card
Cdrom drive
$350! OBO
Pic!
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/0/0,1425,sz=1&i=1512,00.jpg
# Direct price: $3,983.
# Dell Computer Corp.; Austin, TX; 800-999-3355.
# www.dell.com.
4.0 out of 5.0
Dell Precision Workstation 530
by Rich Brown
If you use workstations in your job, Intel has a boon for you. The company's new 1.7-GHz Xeon CPU is the first in a line of dual- and multiprocessor-capable chips based on the Pentium 4 . We reviewed a Dell Precision Workstation 530 with a dual-Xeon configuration.
Of particular interest is that Intel has rebranded the entire Xeon line, dropping the previous Pentium X moniker and using just the Xeon for all of the dual- and multiprocessing cousins. Intel has also elected not to add additional cache to the dual-processing Xeons but does plan to increase the cache on multiprocessor versions.
The obvious highlight of this new Xeon CPU is the Pentium 4 architecture's faster speeds and advanced floating-point SSE 2.0 instructions. The Intel i860 chip set required by the new Xeon motherboards has some serious benefits. A maximum of 4GB of RDRAM can provide gobs of system memory. Integrated ATA/100, 64-bit PCI capability, and a 4X 100-MHz (for a total of 3.2GB throughput) system bus allow for speedy data movement and fast storage access. The i860 chip set also features USB, 10/100 Ethernet, and 32-bit PCI support.
In terms of system configuration, the Precision is quite complete. Four USB ports, two IEEE 1394 ports, nVidia's Quadro2 Pro graphics card, and an Atapi drive make for a powerful, flexible design. The system we tested shipped with a single half-height ATA/100 20GB hard drive, but there is room for six half-height or four full-height drives. The Precision also came with a USB mouse, keyboard, and 512MB of RDRAM.
Performance-wise, we compared test results in which we isolated one processor with results from the same tests running both processors. In 3D Studio Max, a multithreaded application, we saw a performance gain of just under 30 percent for the CPU part of the test. This SPEC test is not optimized for SSE or SSE2, so the score reflects nonoptimized code. (For complete test results, see www .pcmag.com).
We will be interested to see the performance gains with four or more Xeons working together, and we also look forward to comparing results from AMD's forthcoming Athlon-based multiprocessors, code-named Palomino. But for now, the pairing of two Intel 1.7-GHz Xeons in the Dell Precision Workstation 530 makes for a hard-to-beat powerhouse.