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View Full Version : Dell Precision T5400 question?

Charsiu
03-29-2009, 06:12 AM
Hey guys, greeting all, I am new to this forum as well as new to the 3D modeling hardware world.

I am about to order a T5400 workstation from Dell for school use (3D animation)
But I have some newbie question hope you guys wouldn't mind to give me a little help...


- If I buy the computer now with 2.33ghz (E5410), is it hard to upgrade to Nehalem processor later? (Do i have to change the motherboard, etc?...)
I don't want to wait until the Precision T5500 come out, but I'd like to upgrade the processor later when the Nehalem price drop a bit http://forum.desktopreview.com/images/smilies/wink.gif


- If I want to add another processor (E5410) later, is it a plug and play for the T5400 model? or Do i need another motherboard?...


- When choosing RAM, they have

"2GB, DDR2 SDRAM FBD Memory, 667MHz, ECC (2 DIMMS)"
and
"2GB, DDR2 SDRAM FBD Memory, 667MHz, ECC (4 DIMMS)"...

what does the 2-Dimms and 4-Dimms actually means? Does it mean 2x1GB=2GB total and 4x512mb=2GB total, or actually mean 2GBx2dimms=4GB total and 2GBx4dimms=8GB total?....


- I will mainly use my computer for 3D modeling (Maya), should I consider Dual Quad Core (2x2.33ghz) or just Single Quad Core (2.66ghz) will works fine?


here is the spec for the workstation I am thinking of, what do you guys think?

Quad Core Intel® Xeon® Processor E5410 (2.33GHz,2X6M L2,1333) or (2x2.33GHz)
Genuine Windows Vista® Business Service Pack 1, with media, 32, ENG
512MB PCIe x16 nVidia Quadro FX3700, Dual Monitor DVI Capable
2GB, DDR2 SDRAM FBD Memory, 667MHz, ECC (2 DIMMS)
16X DVD-ROM with Cyberlink Power DVD™
250GB SATA 3.0Gb/s,7200 RPM Hard Drive with 8MB DataBurst Cache™


Thank you very much, sorry for some total n00b question as I have no knowledge to hardware stuff at all http://forum.desktopreview.com/images/smilies/frown.gif...
The4thAggie
03-29-2009, 09:12 PM
Wait for a bit. The new Dells are coming out soon (or are already out). They will be using the Nehalem Core i7 architecture Xeons which are a alot faster than the ones in model you are talking about. They are at the same price point (I think).

Read more at http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/24/dell-unveils-nehalem-based-precision-t3500-t5500-and-t7500-wor/
Charsiu
03-29-2009, 10:08 PM
I couldn't really wait for any longer since I really need this in a hurry :(
Guess I may need to stuck with this older version for a little while ><

And I am afraid the new dell won't be out until later this year :(...
3DMadness
03-30-2009, 07:10 PM
I used to work on a T5400 and it's a nice workstation, but it's not compatible with Nehalen since it uses other socket with onboard memory controller. But if you want to put another processor you can, since the T5400 motherboard is a dual socket.

But do you have to buy a Dell workstation? The boxx workstation with dual xeon nehalen is already out and they also have a single core i7 workstation that is much cheaper and also with a great performance. Also, if you do modeling most of the time you don't really need more than four cores unless you do rendering as well.
Charsiu
03-30-2009, 07:40 PM
I've just check the boxx's workstation. But I think it's a little bit too out budget for me XD...
with the options I pick, it cost close to $4500 in total :(...

In fact, I will mainly use my computer for learning only, since I am only a 3D animation student, are there any good machine around the same price as the T5400?

(I've looked into Dell XPS 435 also, they use i7 cpu but only allow me to choose HD 4870 512mb for the video card, I am not sure if it will good enough for me to do my Maya work)

Thank you very much :D
3DMadness
03-30-2009, 08:22 PM
Since prices are different from here (Brazil) to there in USA, I don't know witch boxx you've seen that cost $4500, but you should check the Boxx 4800 series with core i7, they must be cheaper because the new xeon nehalen are really expensives.
But a good gaming machine can also be a great machine to work in 3D animation, I would just try to pick an nvidia card, I've had some trouble with ati drivers recently on a friend's workstation.
You can also check alienware Area-51 X58, it starts with a core i7 2.66ghzm 3gb of ram and a GeForce 9800GT (similar to a Quadro FX3700) for $1,649.00, it's a gaming machine but it will be pretty fast to work. ;)

Cheers!

Flávio