Suitable Dell Workstation

[Princeton]

can someone please tell me which dell workstation would give me the best performance.

I'm running Protools LE 7.4, 002 Rack and hope to upgrade to 8.03.

[rqstudio]

http://duc.digidesign.com/showthread.php?t=200560
http://duc.digidesign.com/showthread.php?t=238426

[albee1952]

I wouldn't touch a Dell unless it is an i7 9xx with an X58 motherboard. The lesser 860 or i5(all the socket 1156 stuff) is a total crap shoot(might work and it might not work at all).

[sw rec]

Second that. DELL's are GREAT general purpose office computers, but not the hot setup for a Pro Tools rig. Unless you ENJOY tearing your hair out.

[greybeard]

Originally Posted by albee1952

I wouldn't touch a Dell unless it is an i7 9xx with an X58 motherboard. The lesser 860 or i5(all the socket 1156 stuff) is a total crap shoot(might work and it might not work at all).

So they make a XPS 9000 that comes with a i7 920 x58 chipset. ($899) This should work fine right?

Design Tech Specs
Processor and Chipset
Intel® Core i7
Intel® X58 Chipset

Up to Intel® CoreTM i7 965 Processor Extreme Edition (3.20GHz 1066MHz FSB, 8MB L2 Cache)
Operating System
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
Genuine Windows® 7 Professional 64-Bit
Genuine Windows® 7 Ultimate 64-Bit

Memory
Up to 24GB Tri-Channel 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 6 DIMMs1

Six (6) user-accessible DIMM connectors, Installed in three for Tri-Channel memory performance
Graphics
Discrete graphics with Blu-ray DiscTM support graphics options from ATI.
Up to ATI RadeonTM HD4870 1MB GDDR5 graphics1
Audio and Speakers
Intel® 7.1 channel High Definition Audio

Optional Creative PCI Express Sound Blaster® X-Fi TM Xtreme Audio (D)† or Creative PCI Express Sound Blaster® X-Fi TM Titanium (D)†

† Certain components may differ from the retail version.
Hard Drives
Up to 1.5TB5 configured with a 7200 RPM SATA hard drive.
Up to 4.5TB5 configured with 3 hard drive bays utilized.

With two hard disk drives, optional RAID 0 (striping) or RAID 1 (mirroring with Data Security DataSafeTM Internal

External Connections
Additional drives can connect to eSATA, 1394 and/or USB 2.0 ports
Optical Drives
Blu-ray DiscTM and DVD +/- RW options available; Dual drive options available
Communications
Integrated
10/100/1000 (Gigabit) Ethernet LAN on system board

Optional
Internal Wireless-N
Ports
Front Ports
USB 2.0 (4)
15-in-1 Card Reader
Headphone port
Microphone / Line-in port

Rear Ports
IEEE 1394a
RJ45 10/100/1000 Network port
Line-in connector
Front L/R line-out connector
Back L/R surround connector
Side L/R surround connector
Center/subwoofer connector
Microphone connector
USB 2.0 (4)
eSATA
S/PDIF connector
Expansion Slots
PCI: 1 slot
PCIe x1: 3 slots
PCIe x8: 1 slot
PCIe x16 (Graphics): 1 slot
Chassis and Case

[sw rec]

If you MUST go with a DELL, this is okay...make sure you get TWO separate hard drives, and do NOT use RAID.

[greybeard]

Originally Posted by sw rec

If you MUST go with a DELL, this is okay...make sure you get TWO separate hard drives, and do NOT use RAID.

Do you see anything bad in these specs?

[greybeard]

Originally Posted by Princeton

can someone please tell me which dell workstation would give me the best performance.

I'm running Protools LE 7.4, 002 Rack and hope to upgrade to 8.03.

Problem is, LE 7.4 won't run on win7 and the DELL XPS 9000 doesn't come with any other OS. You'll have to install XP or Vista 32 bit yourself.

[sw rec]

Or opt for the inevitable and just go with PT8. It'll cost less anyway.

[Bob Olhsson]

The Dells to get are the Precision Workstations from their small business division. They are intended for developers and scientific applications where the user is knowledgable and wants to configure the computer to a specific application.

They still sell them with XP Pro installed and no other software. The 3 year on-site warranty and professional telephone support is hard to beat. These are not to be confused with their consumer and gaming machines. I'd buy one with just a system drive and minimal RAM. Then I'd fill it up with memory and 3 WD Caviar Black drives from NewEgg.