Any ETA on Dell putting the Conroe C2Ds in their average PCs?

[yacoub]

To date Dell has offered almost exclusively crappy hardware combinations because AMD was the way to go with CPUs and they were an Intel shop. Now that the Conroes are coming out, Dell has a chance to actually offer affordable, powerful machines (something they've yet to do).

When can we expect to see them available though? How long until they dump those miserable Pentium 4s and Pentium Ds for cheaper, lower wattage, faster C2Ds?

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Dell will dump P4 and PD for Athlon 64. You will then get your powerful affordable machine.

 

[VivienM]

C2D is going to be on the high-end of the Dell lineup only at the beginning... That's the 91xx, which I think has another name in the US.

Right now, Dell is mostly pushing 5xx P4s and 8xx P-Ds. These aren't even Intel's NetBurst flagships by any means. So don't expect them to replace those with C2Ds...

 

[EndGame]

Originally posted by: AnonymouseUser
Dell will dump P4 and PD for Athlon 64. You will then get your powerful affordable machine.

Doubtful.......they've had some big sales as of late which is usually meant to dump inventory......look for Conroe systems to be avaialable quickly after release. The first Dell/AMD systems are said to begin shipping in mid-Sept. and to be business oriented workstations with Opterons......

 

[VivienM]

Originally posted by: EndGame

Originally posted by: AnonymouseUser
Dell will dump P4 and PD for Athlon 64. You will then get your powerful affordable machine.

Doubtful.......they've had some big sales as of late which is usually meant to dump inventory......look for Conroe systems to be avaialable quickly after release. The first Dell/AMD systems are said to begin shipping in mid-Sept. and to be business oriented workstations with Opterons......

I thought Dell was supposed to have 4 hour inventory of CPUs? That's what they were boasting about a few years ago...

Do you seriously see C2Ds replacing 5xx P4s in the Dell lineup in August or September? If so, can I have some of what you're smoking?

 

[EndGame]

Originally posted by: VivienM

Originally posted by: EndGame

Originally posted by: AnonymouseUser
Dell will dump P4 and PD for Athlon 64. You will then get your powerful affordable machine.

Doubtful.......they've had some big sales as of late which is usually meant to dump inventory......look for Conroe systems to be avaialable quickly after release. The first Dell/AMD systems are said to begin shipping in mid-Sept. and to be business oriented workstations with Opterons......

I thought Dell was supposed to have 4 hour inventory of CPUs? That's what they were boasting about a few years ago...

Do you seriously see C2Ds replacing 5xx P4s in the Dell lineup in August or September? If so, can I have some of what you're smoking?

Did I say replace? I said the C2D systems WILL be available shortly after C2D's release.....Don't believe, keep smoking what you're smoking.....

 

[VivienM]

Originally posted by: EndGame


I thought Dell was supposed to have 4 hour inventory of CPUs? That's what they were boasting about a few years ago...

Do you seriously see C2Ds replacing 5xx P4s in the Dell lineup in August or September? If so, can I have some of what you're smoking?

Did I say replace? I said the C2D systems WILL be available shortly after C2D's release.....Don't believe, keep smoking what you're smoking.....
[/quote]

That's what the OP was asking about, wasn't it? The subject says "budget PCs". Dell's current budget PCs seem to be 5xx and 820.

I'm still trying to understand how it is that everybody seems to think Dell is going to swallow up all the C2Ds at launch. If they launch one or two high-end model lines with C2Ds (which will obviously happen), that's not going to be a million C2Ds/week being used up...

 

[EndGame]

Originally posted by: VivienM

Originally posted by: EndGame


I thought Dell was supposed to have 4 hour inventory of CPUs? That's what they were boasting about a few years ago...

Do you seriously see C2Ds replacing 5xx P4s in the Dell lineup in August or September? If so, can I have some of what you're smoking?

Did I say replace? I said the C2D systems WILL be available shortly after C2D's release.....Don't believe, keep smoking what you're smoking.....

That's what the OP was asking about, wasn't it? The subject says "budget PCs". Dell's current budget PCs seem to be 5xx and 820.

I'm still trying to understand how it is that everybody seems to think Dell is going to swallow up all the C2Ds at launch. If they launch one or two high-end model lines with C2Ds (which will obviously happen), that's not going to be a million C2Ds/week being used up...[/quote]

First off, OEM's like Dell are over/above the "channel" availability. Intel will have whatever number Dell contracted for months ago along with other OEM's which will have C2D systems available shortly after release.

Surely there will be a very high end C2D system as well as a mid-level C2D system just as they always have upon release of new generation chips from Intel. Will either be a "decent" system an enthusiast would actually want? Doubtfull but who knows..........

 

[imported_wicka]

Dell will never ever have Conroe's in their budget line, not until Intel releases a new arch. They may drop some of the lower end C2D's in, but I don't know how cheap those will get.

 

[NoStateofMind]

whatever you guys are smoking....do you share?

 

[twjr]

Originally posted by: PC Surgeon
whatever you guys are smoking....do you share?

Perhaps they're not smoking......more of an injecting situation here i think.

 

[twjr]

Originally posted by: wicka
Dell will never ever have Conroe's in their budget line, not until Intel releases a new arch. They may drop some of the lower end C2D's in, but I don't know how cheap those will get.

What about the e4200 and e4300 these are aimed at the budget end of the spectrum. to say never ever are pretty strong words. i dont think that these will be in their lowest models but surely in budget pcs at some point.

 

[yacoub]

Originally posted by: wicka
Dell will never ever have Conroe's in their budget line, not until Intel releases a new arch. They may drop some of the lower end C2D's in, but I don't know how cheap those will get.

Then Dell can go F themselves and I'll build my folks a PC myself. It really wouldn't be surprising for Dell to continue to be the choice for fools, consistently putting the wrong pieces at the wrong price.

 

[zsdersw]

You'll see budget Conroe-based systems once Dell clears out all its P4/PD inventory. The Celeron D systems will be untouchable on price on the very bottom end until Conroe-L is available.

 

[VivienM]

Originally posted by: yacoub

Originally posted by: wicka
Dell will never ever have Conroe's in their budget line, not until Intel releases a new arch. They may drop some of the lower end C2D's in, but I don't know how cheap those will get.

Then Dell can go F themselves and I'll build my folks a PC myself. It really wouldn't be surprising for Dell to continue to be the choice for fools, consistently putting the wrong pieces at the wrong price.

We're talking about $300-400USD systems (possibly incl. a monitor) here, aren't we? Why are you expecting Dell to put high end processors in one of those?

Furthermore, care to explain how YOU will build your parents a C2D system in the next 6 months with that kind of budget? The cheapest C2D according to Anand's review is going to be $183 (in 1000 unit quantities). Add some parts around that to build a whole system, and it will cost you a lot more than $300-400?

Or are we operating under a warped AnandTech definition of "budget" where budget means a $250 CPU (no FX-62 or X6800 here), a 7900GT (as opposed to, say, SLI 7900GTX), and 250+ gig 7200RPM HDs (instead of WD Raptors in a RAID)? If that's your definition of budget, then Dell will be making a "budget" C2D system.

 

[imported_wicka]

Originally posted by: twjr

Originally posted by: wicka
Dell will never ever have Conroe's in their budget line, not until Intel releases a new arch. They may drop some of the lower end C2D's in, but I don't know how cheap those will get.

What about the e4200 and e4300 these are aimed at the budget end of the spectrum. to say never ever are pretty strong words. i dont think that these will be in their lowest models but surely in budget pcs at some point.

Those models are Allendale, not Conroe.

 

[code65536]

Keep in mind that Dell's high-range PCs (9xxx or XPS 400 in US Dell Home terminology) use 9xx processors (and low-end 9xx processors, like the 930; higher up processors will require a pricey upgrade), that their mid-range currently use low-end 8xx processors (like the 820), their upper budgets use P4 5xx, and their budget boxes use Celerons. Also keep in mind that right now, the 820 probably costs Dell a bit over $100 each. The cheapest Conroe will cost much more than that, and the 820 isn't even used in Dell's budget line-up (it's mid-range for them)! Until Conroe's pricing drops down enough to compete in the sub-$100 CPU market, you aren't going to see them in budget machines. In time, Intel will make Conroe Celerons or Solos to compete in that budget range, and when that happens, you'll see Dell budget PCs with Conroes. But that won't happen until Intel clears out its current Netburst inventory. Seeing as how Intel's projections have Conroes making up only 25% of their desktop shipments by year's end, it's going to be quite a while before the last of the Netburst is cleared out and Intel moves low-end Conroes into that critical sub-$100 CPU budget range.

And here's the mainstream definition of "budget"... a $420 USD for a P4 521 (or 524), 512 MB RAM, 160 GB HDD, combo drive, AND a 17" LCD (from Dell's July SMB catalog). This is also the kind of machine that probably the vast majority of people buy. Remember that Dell doesn't cater to gaming enthuiasts (they're trying w/ their 9xxx and XPS lineup, but those are not budget or even midrange machines in their book... and as such, it's likely that those machines will sport Conroes), and for corporate office machines and for Joe Sixpack, who make up by far the biggest slice of the market, sub-$500 machines represent the best bang for the buck. There's no way that Dell's going to use an expensive $180+ CPU in a box like that, and remember, Intel's not planning any Conroe price cuts this year.

 

[yacoub]

Obviously a $400 PC isn't going to have a Conroe in it, but I never said $400.

Originally posted by: VivienM
care to explain how YOU will build your parents a C2D system in the next 6 months with that kind of budget?

You made up that budget, not me. Mine is closer to $750.

For ~$700-800 one can build a solid 'budget' (maybe call it 'average') system that still has all the basics covered. This can easily be done with AMD starting tomorrow (today really). This can also be done with Intel once the C2Ds are available.

This probably still will not be done with Dell without having to sacrifice half the parts for interior JUNK, as is consistently the case with Dell.

The C2D, price-wise, is a great buy because you can get a hell of a processor for only a couple hundred dollars. That it also happens to be a performance winner is another benefit of it. While there is a top of the line 6800 EE model that is indeed high-end, the entire line is not high end and actually covers everything from the more budgetary-conscious (E6300) up to that high end (6800 and up). That does not make the entire line "high-end" from the perspective of a retailer, only from the marketing department perspective if they feel like whoring the budget (call it 'mid-range' if you prefer) systems to add faux "exclusivity" to their over-priced gaming PCs, and the marketing department is exactly who will keep it from being sold in other Dell PCs.

See, when you have a processor that's cheap yet powerful, that should instantly be put in almost every PC you sell, because you can afford to put it in all but the lowest-end models and still make a profit, yet you will also be doing the customer a good service by providing them the best bang-for-the-buck, instead of forcing them to have an inferior, higher-cost, less-powerful, hotter-running, and power-sapping Pentium-D/4/whatever.

I hope they prove me wrong and actually offer the average systems with appropriate parts, but that's so unlike Dell as to be impossible for them to do.

That's why it ALWAYS pays to build rigs yourself.

 

[code65536]

At the range of $700-$800, we're not talking about budget systems in the real world, and you are the one who first set the bar at "budget", and Dell's "budget" at that, so VivienM is perfectly right to point out that Dell's "budget" is not a $700-$800 system.

In any case, in the "normal" budget range, there is no way I can come remotely close to matching a pre-built Dell with a self-built system with identical specs (edit: see my $420 Dell example above; if you discount the fact that the $420 package also includes a 17" LCD and a XP license, then you're really looking at less than $200 for the P4 521, 512 MB RAM, 160 GB HDD, combo ODD, mobo, PSU, case, mouse, keyboard, and free shipping). Because these low-end systems are the bread and butter of their business in terms of quantity sold, the pricing is extremely competitive and the profit margins are razor-thin, which coupled with their volume discounts for parts, means that they can crush a self-assembled box in terms of value any day. For high-end systems, there is less quantity involved, and they can thus go for higher profit margins, which is why for enthuiast systems, it does indeed pay to build it yourself. Personally, I prefer self-built as well. But if it's a system for friends and relatives who neither game nor crunch things in MatLab, there's no way that a self-built system would be economical for them, and as such, I never recommend self-built systems for "regular" folks.

 

[Nexworks]

Dell right now is real busy selling P4 3.06Ghz chips running on 533 bus.