jwcolby
jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com
Tue Jun 14 11:19:32 CDT 2011
That is probably a pretty good deal. Go with the i7 if you have the money for Dell as you will get hyperthreading for another 20% performance boost. i5 does not do hyperthreading. I don't see where they will install an SSD as a boot drive. You can do it yourself but you will end up with warranty issues I'm guessing. If it is "mission critical" then a raid 1 boot drive is the ticket. This thing will be so fast that you will not really notice the lack of a SSD - for awhile. John W. Colby www.ColbyConsulting.com On 6/14/2011 11:57 AM, Bill Patten wrote: > Rocky, > > Boot and reboot times went from about 3 or 4 minutes to well under 1 minute > and have remained for over a year. I went with raid 0 so that my 2 80's > would create a 160 G C: drive. At the time 2 80G cost much less than the 120 > available. Sizes and prices have changed, but I figure if it isn't broken > why fix it. > > Also if your using windows 7 they make it very easy to move directories like > My Docs, Downloads and have the OS know where they are located. This allows > you to use smaller C drives for OS and in my case I put my development > directory on the SSD. > > I think the monitor was included in the $989 package with an i7 but of > course my memory isn't what it used to be. > > I don't know if you followed the URL's but below is the site where the deal > actually resides, and it appears that you actually buy from Dell and apply > discount codes to drop the price down. > > > http://www.logicbuy.com/deals/dell-xps-8300/28882.aspx > > I'm sure others will be able to add to this to assist you. > > Bill > -------------------------------------------------- > From: "Rocky Smolin"<rockysmolin at bchacc.com> > Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2011 8:38 AM > To: "'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'" > <accessd at databaseadvisors.com> > Subject: Re: [AccessD] OT: Shopping for a new comp > > Thanks Bill. Actually everyone else is considering that I build one. :) I'm > still a bit reluctant. > > I've done my share of hardware but don't get much charge out of it. If the > box wasn't so mission critical I might be tempted to play with it. But I'm > jealous of the time. I'm switching from software\e developer to upright > jazz bass player and would rather spend the time doing that. My 14 y.o. > needs a new box and he's tech mad so maybe I'll let him build one. > > I've always bought Dell because of the charm of not having to leave my > chair, a few clicks and walla! Someone brings the comp to my door! I plug > and play. > > Upgrading to the SSD seems like a good thing. How's that working for you? > Does it really boost the response time? > > One of the things that's driving me to this new comp is the increasing delay > when opening Access, Excel, Word, sometimes opening emails. I think it's > because there's more processes now than there was 4-5 years ago when I got > this box and I've only got 2BG RAM. In it. > > The deal looks good except I don't need another monitor. I suppose it's not > a refurb and the Dell warranty applies. > > Hopefully, BTW, this thread is useful enough to the AccessD community that > the moderator will let it play out. > > And my thanks to all who responded. It's been educational. > > Best to all, > > Rocky > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com > [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Bill Patten > Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2011 8:25 AM > To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving > Subject: Re: [AccessD] OT: Shopping for a new comp > > Hi Rocky, > > I know you are now considering building your own, and as many have suggested > that can be fun, though sometime's not when the some of the pieces don't > work together and you get to exchange for some that will. > > You mentioned that you were considering Dell, I bought a Dell XPS 410 a few > years ago, and as time went on, changed the processor to a Quad Core, > increased Ram to 8G, even though the book said only 4. I replaced the 2 250G > Raid 0 hard drives with 2 80 G SSD's Raid 0 and a 500G drive D: etc to keep > it fairly fast and current and am quite happy with it. > > Anyway I saw this Gear Deal on Gear Diary and thought it might interest you. > They have Dell XPS 8300 with I5 Quad Sandy Bridge , 8G Ram 1.5 TB etc for > $699.99. The normal Dell price is $1202. They also offer I7 and other > upgrades. > > I have never purchased anything from them so I cannot make a recommendation > but thought you might want to take a few minutes to check it out. > > http://www.geardiary.com/2011/06/14/gear-deal-dell-xps-8300-quad-core-deskto > ps-core-i5-and-i7/ > > > > Bill > > -------------------------------------------------- > From: "Rocky Smolin"<rockysmolin at bchacc.com> > Sent: Monday, June 13, 2011 1:58 PM > To: "'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'" > <accessd at databaseadvisors.com> > Subject: Re: [AccessD] OT: Shopping for a new comp > > So what's the processor of choice? > > Rocky > > > -----Original Message----- > From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com > [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of jwcolby > Sent: Monday, June 13, 2011 10:22 AM > To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving > Subject: Re: [AccessD] OT: Shopping for a new comp > > I concur with John too! ;) > > I know that for folks who have never built a machine it is scary but once > you get over that (unless something goes wrong... it is trivial to build) > the ability to upgrade and the future lack of fear makes it well worth > doing. > > I routinely upgrade my existing systems. Dual core to quad, to hex, 2 gigs > to 4 to 8, 320g hd to tbyte etc. It costs waaaaaay less that buying a whole > new machine and you can continually have fast systems instead of systems > that are always old / slow (after the first year you have them). > > I built a dual socket server with 16 dim slots. > > I populated one side with the old opteron 8 core and 32 gigs of ram. The > mb/proc/memory was around $1700. I am (im)patiently waiting for the > bulldozer chip to arrive and drop in price, but when it does I can drop in > one or two of those chips and bump my server from 8 cores to as many as 32, > with faster processors to boot and update my memory up to 128 gigs as well. > > I can't even tell you how much I saved by not going the dell/hp route, but > it would be at *least* > 3-4 times as much and 4-5 times as much for future upgrades. > > And... I used my old server hardware to build a Virtual Machine server. I > got a 16GB quad core VM for *free* because I reused my old SQL Server > hardware for that after the upgrade. > > BTW I am using SSDs both for boot drives as well as for storing database > files for SQL Server and they are awesome (if expensive). > > John W. Colby > www.ColbyConsulting.com > > On 6/13/2011 12:22 PM, Drew Wutka wrote: >> I concur with John here. From a business standpoint, if you are >> supporting a large network, you can't afford to build each machine. >> But in a single or only a few environment, you will get better prices >> with building your own machine, then a single purchase from a >> manufacturer like Dell. >> >> The machine I built in January, that I posted about on OT, cost me >> about a grand, and similar hardware, actually.... lower level hardware >> (my machine has more ram and bigger hard drives), cost about 1,600 >> from Dell. >> >> Originally, the machine I built only cost $650. That was the case, >> the motherboard, an i5 Quad Core, 8 gigs of RAM, video card, and two >> 500 gig hard drives. I already had a 500 watt power supply, only >> component I didn't originally buy. A few days later I bought three >> terabyte drives, >> 8 gigs more of RAM (maxing out that motherboard). That was almost $300. >> And more recently I popped another terabyte drive in (making my 'data' >> drive a RAID 10, vs a RAID 5), bought a new 850 Watt power supply, and >> a nice UPS (put the total closer to 1300, the ups was almost 200). >> >> There has already been suggestions to use a SSD OS drive, I personally >> have not done that. The mirrored drives for the OS are pretty fast. >> While SSD drive are definitely faster than their mechanical >> counterparts, they are still limited by the bus they operate on. >> Plus, SSD drives do have longevity issues, and are not recommended for > RAID's. >> I always prefer RAIDS for safety reasons.... ;) >> >> Drew >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com >> [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of jwcolby >> Sent: Saturday, June 11, 2011 12:12 PM >> To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving >> Subject: Re: [AccessD] OT: Shopping for a new comp >> >> I would advise building your own. You may or may not save money but >> you learn what is required to do so (it is easy) and you are no longer >> afraid of digging in and upgrading. I have not purchased a desktop >> since 1988. I build my own and upgrade them to keep them fast enough. >> >> I recommend AMD because the motherboards tend to be usable for many >> years with just a processor upgrade. >> >> http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.6 >> 67 >> 457 >> >> >> Intel processors are fine but there are just too many different >> processor sockets etc. Upgrading to a faster processor may or may not >> even be possible. >> >> http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.6 >> 61 >> 393 >> >> http://www.newegg.com/Store/MasterComboStore.aspx?StoreID=7&name=DIY-P >> C- >> Combos >> >> John W. Colby >> www.ColbyConsulting.com > -- > AccessD mailing list > AccessD at databaseadvisors.com > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com > > -- > AccessD mailing list > AccessD at databaseadvisors.com > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com > -- > AccessD mailing list > AccessD at databaseadvisors.com > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com >