Need "G5" comparable system options: Budget is between $5-10K

[gsaldivar]

I'm helping a client come up with some upgrade options. I'd really appreciate any input you guys might have on this!

Our goal is to migrate from MacOS to XP, and get performance equal to or better than Apple's latest G5 machines. These graphics/desktop publishing systems will be used heavily for Photoshop, QuarkXpress, Premiere and with various other video, RIP, and imposition software. Money IS an object, but my client does NOT have a problem paying for performance and reliability. For this reason, I'm leaning heavily towards Dell builds.

Here is what I've come up with so far:

DELL PRECISION 650
- Dual Xeon 3.20ghz 1mb
- 2GB DDR266 NECC SDRAM (2 DIMMS)
- Two 250GB SATA 7200rpm HDs
- 16X DVD-ROM + 48X/32X/48X CDRW
- Dell Ultrasharp 2000FP 20" Flat Panel Monitor
- QuadroFX 500 128MB
- Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers, Sound Card, Floppy
TOTAL: $7930

Some questions:

- Will the Xeon processor be incompatible with any software that runs on the P4?
- How does the QuadroFX card perform relative to, say a Geforce 4 card?
- What is the maximum addressable RAM by a single application in Windows XP?
- Can we get similar performance from other Dell models? (Dell "Dimension", etc.)

Thanks for you input!

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

One thing I would have concern about there is the hard disks. For $8k you should get some big 10k rpm scsi disks and maybe a 15k for the non-data drive (windows, apps, etc). The xeon won't have any compatability problems. Max addressable ram by an app on a 32 bit machine in windows is 2GB.

 

[digitalsm]

Originally posted by: gsaldivar
I'm helping a client come up with some upgrade options. I'd really appreciate any input you guys might have on this!

Our goal is to migrate from MacOS to XP, and get performance equal to or better than Apple's latest G5 machines. These graphics/desktop publishing systems will be used heavily for Photoshop, QuarkXpress, Premiere and with various other video, RIP, and imposition software. Money IS an object, but my client does NOT have a problem paying for performance and reliability. For this reason, I'm leaning heavily towards Dell builds.

Here is what I've come up with so far:

DELL PRECISION 650
- Dual Xeon 3.20ghz 1mb
- 2GB DDR266 NECC SDRAM (2 DIMMS)
- Two 250GB SATA 7200rpm HDs
- 16X DVD-ROM + 48X/32X/48X CDRW
- Dell Ultrasharp 2000FP 20" Flat Panel Monitor
- QuadroFX 500 128MB
- Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers, Sound Card, Floppy
TOTAL: $7930

Some questions:

- Will the Xeon processor be incompatible with any software that runs on the P4?
- How does the QuadroFX card perform relative to, say a Geforce 4 card?
- What is the maximum addressable RAM by a single application in Windows XP?
- Can we get similar performance from other Dell models? (Dell "Dimension", etc.)

Thanks for you input!

Id suggest, not getting the 1MB cache Xeons, the price difference is not worth it. Id also steer clear of the QuadroFX500, its based off the GeForceFX 5200 core, so its inline with umm a GeForce2? Except its "DX9" Compliant, and well considering the "DX9" compliant 5900 can barely play DX9 games, uh well you get the point.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Honestly I don't see how 3d performance would really matter for the purposes the machine will be used for. But with that said, if you don't need tons of (3d) graphics power, there's no sense in paying for it.

 

[Serp86]

is ddr 266 the fastest ECC?

try to get 333.

 

[Sunner]

Originally posted by: Serp86
is ddr 266 the fastest ECC?

try to get 333.

The Xeon DP's are still on a 533 MHz bus, so even if it were available, there would be little point.

 

[Chaotic42]

I'd go SCSI for that money. If someone built me a computer now for $8000, it had better have SCSI on it.

 

[InlineFive]

Originally posted by: Sunner

Originally posted by: Serp86
is ddr 266 the fastest ECC?

try to get 333.

The Xeon DP's are still on a 533 MHz bus, so even if it were available, there would be little point.

It depends, what chipset does the computer use? If it's Dual-Channel PC2100 should be fine if not get some beefier stuff.

-Por

 

[Sunner]

Originally posted by: PorBleemo

Originally posted by: Sunner

Originally posted by: Serp86
is ddr 266 the fastest ECC?

try to get 333.

The Xeon DP's are still on a 533 MHz bus, so even if it were available, there would be little point.

It depends, what chipset does the computer use? If it's Dual-Channel PC2100 should be fine if not get some beefier stuff.

-Por

Pretty much any Xeon DP box you can get these days either use Intel's E75xx chipsets, or of ServerWorks GC chipsets, those are all DC DDR.

 

[mooojojojo]

What's the point of a 3D professional card in a system that is going to be used for desktop publishing and video editing? If the computers are going to be indeed used for the tasks you mentioned perhaps a Radeon 9600 would fit the bill better? At least I think so.

 

[Schadenfroh]

why not go for dual athlon64s? or they out yet?

 

[BoomAM]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
why not go for dual athlon64s? or they out yet?

You can buy dual opteron boards now.
I`d have thought that dual Opterons would have been the better option that Xeons.

 

[jhu]

why not get an itanium2 system?

 

[smashp]

I just built a simular machine for my brother in law. He is an architech. Our build was rather simular except we used WD 36gb 10000rpm raptor Hd'd in a stiped array and had addiontal 200gb drive for storage. for the video we went with a radeon 9800 pro 256mb for right now. He was impressed with the perfomance for he price of the card, but is looking in the future to put a massive Quadro or fireGL in their. We just decided it was best to wait things out.

The performance in Studio Vz, max, photoshop, Arc studio 3.3, autocad 2004 were all top notch.

youll have no compatibility problems.

I can just recommend getting a DVD writer though.

That would make it complete.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: BoomAM

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
why not go for dual athlon64s? or they out yet?

You can buy dual opteron boards now.
I`d have thought that dual Opterons would have been the better option that Xeons.

If Win64 were out, or they were using Linux, I'd say go for it. Right now Xeon boards have been tested and refined. Call me conservative, but I'd take the most stable platform possible.

 

[tart666]

i went to dell's site, and you can't even get a dual 3.2 1MB. It's either a single 3.2, or a dual 3.06

also, get at least 3 drives: one for OS, and 2 for raid0 photoshop / premiere scratch disk

 

[ProviaFan]

Hmm, I'd recommend a Matrox video card (G550, P650, or Parhelia, depending on color depth and number of monitor needs) instead of a Nvidia; for the purpose the machine's going to be used for, the vast improvement of 2D IQ that Matrox would provide over some Nvidia card would definitely be worth the sacrifice in 3D performance.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: jliechty
Hmm, I'd recommend a Matrox video card (G550, P650, or Parhelia, depending on color depth and number of monitor needs) instead of a Nvidia; for the purpose the machine's going to be used for, the vast improvement of 2D IQ that Matrox would provide over some Nvidia card would definitely be worth the sacrifice in 3D performance.

Yeah, I'd be all over a P650 if I could still use my R9700's 3D ability.

 

[LordOfAll]

Check out IBM model 622149u.

Dual 3.06

Get the 2 GB of ram and a 20 lcd for abot $5700 and buy some nice SCSI drives with the diff.

or model 622158u.

Dual 3.2 1MB cache

I dont think this model has the built in dual channel SCSI controller of the first model though. Its about same price as your dell model but doesnt have the HD capacity the dell has. Just buy some good IDE drives for it and install them yourself.

 

[LordOfAll]

Forgot to mention that for $250 you can get 24x7x4hour tech support for 3 years. Cheap IMHO

 

[slackerinabox]

I'd suggest sticking with a G5.. I mean, migrating alone will cause major headaches.... You can easily get a G5 for your budget and it excels at all the tasks that you mentioned (and the company will not have to reinvest in new software)..

 

[slackerinabox]

Originally posted by: gsaldivar
I'm helping a client come up with some upgrade options. I'd really appreciate any input you guys might have on this!

Our goal is to migrate from MacOS to XP, and get performance equal to or better than Apple's latest G5 machines. These graphics/desktop publishing systems will be used heavily for Photoshop, QuarkXpress, Premiere and with various other video, RIP, and imposition software. Money IS an object, but my client does NOT have a problem paying for performance and reliability. For this reason, I'm leaning heavily towards Dell builds.

Here is what I've come up with so far:

DELL PRECISION 650
- Dual Xeon 3.20ghz 1mb
- 2GB DDR266 NECC SDRAM (2 DIMMS)
- Two 250GB SATA 7200rpm HDs
- 16X DVD-ROM + 48X/32X/48X CDRW
- Dell Ultrasharp 2000FP 20" Flat Panel Monitor
- QuadroFX 500 128MB
- Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers, Sound Card, Floppy
TOTAL: $7930

Some questions:

- Will the Xeon processor be incompatible with any software that runs on the P4?
- How does the QuadroFX card perform relative to, say a Geforce 4 card?
- What is the maximum addressable RAM by a single application in Windows XP?
- Can we get similar performance from other Dell models? (Dell "Dimension", etc.)

Thanks for you input!

This rig sounds like a comp geeks wet dream and not something that a business will need or want.. Here are some suggestions (my biggest one is to stay with the Mac OS):
-Stay away from any AMD processors. They might be great but their 64BIT cpus are new in the market- the company does not want to be a beta tester for new cpus or chipsets!
-Matrox video cards.. All the way.. Solid driver, proven track record, great 2D quality..
-I don't see the purpose of a cdrw and a dvdrom drive.. Honestly, they probably won't use the dvd rom drive at all.. To play it safe get a combo drive (pioneer a06 or a sony - don't get an optobrite "hot deal" drive! remember, reliability is important!)
-Why two hard drives? That's fine but don't raid them- too much of a headache for companies (raid controllers are just one more thing that can fail).. get the biggest, fastest drive that you can afford and don't raid it...
-Get faster ram....
-Are you sure that they want to go with a consumer level LCD? If they're doing a lot of D.P. work than they may need a higher end LCD or maybe even a huge sony CRT

 

[slackerinabox]

G5 (priced from APPLE.com)

? Dual 2GHz PowerPC G5
? 2GB DDR400 SDRAM (PC3200) - 2x1GB
? 2x250GB Serial ATA - 7200rpm
? ATI Radeon 9600 Pro
? Apple Cinema Display (20" flat panel)
? SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)
? Apple Keyboard & Apple Mouse - U.S. English
? Mac OS X - U.S. English
Subtotal $5,844.00

Cheaper and, yes, probably better for the apps that they'll be using...

 

[0roo0roo]

just get the g5 and be done with it.

 

[Nebor]

Why do you want to have this guy switch platforms? I'd say have him stick w/ Macs, we don't need their kind contaminating the PC gene pool.