Dell Shtuff

dahamsta

Many Dell owners here? Got a few questions:

- Dell offer up to 1.5GB of RDRAM in the Dimension 8250 (Intel 850E chipset), but the aftermarket suppliers seem to only supply 512MB "kits" of 2x 256MB. Does this mean that I can only max it out if I buy direct from Dell? Also, out of curiousity, why does it max out at 1.5GB? It's got four RIMM slots like.

- Is there really €250 worth of a difference between the "128MB ATI Radeon 9700 TX Graphics Card" and the "128MB ATI Radeon 9700 Pro Graphics Card"?

- Any ska on the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz soundcard? Reason I ask is that I was all set to buy this and the Altec Lansing ADA 995 speaker system, but I saw a lot of complaints on the US Dell forums about hiss from the satellites. Anybody got 'em? Would I be better off going aftermarket with, say, Klipsch and Audigy?

Ta,
adam

Gerry

The i850e boards have 4 slots, so that would make for a maximum of 2 gb with 4 512mb modules ( 512 mb modules are kinda rare + expensive though ). 1.5gb is just a mistake.

Dunno bout the ati cards, presumably the tx card has video capture features.

I dunno either whether there is a problem with the turtle beach + acs combo, but turtle beach do make good sound cards. SB Live + audigy are very hyped, but do have some problems. Perhaps just get the klipsch speakers, but keep the turtle beach card.

dahamsta

Thanks Gerry.

adam

Matt Simis

Ah, but couldnt the memory be in a 2x 512 and 2x 256 for a 1.5GB config?

The difference in the cards it one is a "Pro" card and one is the standard 9700. There is about 15% (max) speed difference between them, as one is the hand pickled, fastest GPU out there, while the other is merely standard. However, given the speed and price difference, Id go for the standard.

The Audigy range may be hyped a bit, but the Turtle Beach is ancient. The Audigy 2 will give you Asio, 6.1 Sound support, Dolby D EX for DVDs and Audio DVD playback. The Turtle Beach offers no benefit over the Audigy, expect maybe price, depending on how Dell are positioning it.



matt

deckie27

Ahh but dell make there own boards which mostly have two memory slots .

maxheadroom

Adam,


Dell probably offer up to 1.5 Gigs beacuse it may be the highest quantity that can sell economically with their "just in time" manufacturing.

Dell AMS (Aftermarket Services) is probably a very expensive way to buy RAM.

AFAIK, the RADEON TX is like the light version of a standard RADEON Card?

When I was working there, they had a demo machine set up with the ADA 995 speakers and a Turtle Beach card. The card is ancient, they've been selling them for ages, but the sound was excellent - we spent a lot of time playing quake 3 on it when the calls were slow

But, for the same price, you'll probably get better quality stuff aftermarket. That said, unless you're going for a "bargain basement" machine, you're probably going to get better value on the machine elsewhere.

Gerry

Originally posted by Matt Simis
Ah, but couldnt the memory be in a 2x 512 and 2x 256 for a 1.5GB config?

The Audigy range may be hyped a bit, but the Turtle Beach is ancient. The Audigy 2 will give you Asio, 6.1 Sound support, Dolby D EX for DVDs and Audio DVD playback. The Turtle Beach offers no benefit over the Audigy, expect maybe price, depending on how Dell are positioning it.

matt

I meant to say that a 1.5gb maximum makes no sense, given that the chipset supports 2gb.
Regarding the sound card, now that you mention it, it does sound like the same turtle beach card they were selling a few years ago. I presumed they had updated it, but I was wrong

sceptre

That soundcard has been on the Dell list for years. Nothing wrong with it though - it would be like buying a standard SB Live! card as opposed to a sexay Audigy - there are far better cards but most people (including me) wouldn't notice the difference.

dahamsta

Ah, but couldnt the memory be in a 2x 512 and 2x 256 for a 1.5GB config?

This is kinda my concern: I'm worried that if I get a small amount of RAM, they stuff in <= 256MB RIMMs. 512MB RIMMs are horrendously expensive, nigh-on €400 each. Or was that pounds sterling...?

one is a "Pro" card and one is the standard 9700. There is about 15% (max) speed difference between them...

Yeah, I looked a bit more closely on the Dell site and the Pro has a faster processor. More than 15% faster I think. (That's the only difference.)

The Audigy range may be hyped a bit, but the Turtle Beach is ancient.

They don't sell Audigy's yet. I had a 5.1 Soundblaster in my current box for a while, tied to a set of Cambridge Soundworks DTT3500, but it died on me. I can't even drive them where I live though, so I guess I'll stick with them for a while more, with another 5.1.

Ahh but dell make there own boards which mostly have two memory slots

The 8250 with 533Mhz FSB has four.

Dell probably offer up to 1.5 Gigs beacuse it may be the highest quantity that can sell economically with their "just in time" manufacturing.

You're probably right.

Dell AMS (Aftermarket Services) is probably a very expensive way to buy RAM.

Oh, I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole for aftermarket stuff.

That said, unless you're going for a "bargain basement" machine, you're probably going to get better value on the machine elsewhere.

I know, and it's a pain in the hole but I only have a couple grand cash available at the moment, so I need to lease the box. If someone reckons they can build an equivalent for me for a couple grand, well, I haven't signed anything yet...

Thanks for the help folks.

adam

maxheadroom

Originally posted by dahamsta
Ah, but couldnt the memory be in a 2x 512 and 2x 256 for a 1.5GB config?

This is kinda my concern: I'm worried that if I get a small amount of RAM, they stuff in <= 256MB RIMMs. 512MB RIMMs are horrendously expensive, nigh-on €400 each. Or was that pounds sterling...?

I seem to remember the ordering system had different configurations available depending on the amount of RAM needed.

I never had anyone buy 1.5 gigs of RAM off me though

Don't you get better performance from RIMMS if you have all the slots full?

What specs do you need, anyway (just out of interest, I couldn't build it)

STaN

well i have heard dell make custom boards and psu's so that upgradibility is limited and u have to buy a new pc later on?!

maxheadroom

1.5 GB is:

from the dell workstation configuration tools
1.5 GB (2x512+2x256) Dual-Channel PC1066 Non-ECC RDRAM Memory (+EUR 1,180.00)

dahamsta

I never had anyone buy 1.5 gigs of RAM off me though

I don't really need 1.5GB, I just don't want to pay through the nose if I want to max the machine out later.

Don't you get better performance from RIMMS if you have all the slots full?

No idea.

What specs do you need, anyway

Just Fast. I'm obsessed with it. It's quite sad really, considering I'm not a gamer.

adam