What is the technical difference between the Dell Dimension 8300 and 4600?

[Epsil0n00]

I am thinking about purchasing a Dell Dimension 8300, or a Dimension 4600 and can't decide which to purchase. These two systems configured exactly the same in terms of components are still $94 different in price. here are the differences I have notcied so far:

8300 has Intel 875P chipset
4600 has Intel 865PE chipset -- Is there a performance or upgrade-ability difference between these two cipsets?

The 8300 has 4 PCI slots, while the 4600 only has 3. I think this is mainly due to the 4600 having a smaller case... bring me to the next difference:

The 8300 has a larger case with 2 full drive bays and 2 small drive bays. The 4600 has a smaller case with 2 large bays and only 1 small bay.

Here is the link to the 8300 tech specs: 8300 Specs

Here is the link to the 4600 tech specs: 4600 Specs

I am mostly interested in the main differences between these two chipsets. Is the 875P worth the extra cash?

Thanks very much in advance!!!
Epsil0n

 

[Epsil0n00]

I did find this article discussing the differences between the 865 and the 875 on Anandtech:
Article

It sounds like the 875 is partially more expensive due to the integrated RAID support. But I am certainly not going to use RAID, nor do I think the boards that dell has implementation for RAID.

Are there any other differences?

 

[Bucksnort]

I believe the 8300 will upgrade a bit more also.

 

[Epsil0n00]

Originally posted by: Bucksnort
I believe the 8300 will upgrade a bit more also.

In what way? Can you be more specific? Both chipsets support DDR400 and 800MHz FSB. Both the 4600 and the 8300 have 4 RAM slots. Any more specific info about what your thoughts are?

Thanks!

 

[Epsil0n00]

I think this summary from the above article appropriately addresses the differences between the 856PE and the 875P chipsets.

"For the most part the 865PE comes within 2 - 5% of the performance of the 875P, which makes the 875P a tough sell. For the majority of users, we would strongly recommend the 865PE because of the significant cost savings. If you're the type of user that must have the fastest thing on the block and will not rest without the knowledge that you do in fact have the fastest thing on the block, then the 875P is for you, but for everyone else, the 865PE is more than sufficient.

The 865PE's competitiveness at 800MHz/DDR400 with Intel's flagship makes it more than just a desireable chipset, but arguably the best mainstream chipset ever to come out of Intel's labs.

The biggest drawback at this point are the memory incompatibility issues at DDR400 speeds, something which we honestly expected much better out of Intel - especially considering that we haven't encountered any of these problems with other DDR400 chipsets (e.g. nForce2). We are hard at work figuring out the memory incompatibility issues right now, until those are resolved your best bet is to check with the Forums and keep visiting to see what memory you should be using with 875/865 motherboards and at what timings."

The 875P's main performance benefit at DDR400 comes from the PAT's reduction in memory latency

I think that if I can get over the other Dell-specific differences between the 8300 and the 4600, the 865PE is the way to go.

 

[nick1985]

someones gotta say it...have you thought about making your own comp?

 

[Bucksnort]

I was referring to cpu upgrade.

 

[Epsil0n00]

Originally posted by: nick1985
someones gotta say it...have you thought about making your own comp?

Actually, I always build my own comps... but this is for my parents who live in a different state than me--thus I am not around to provide personal tech support.

I will never again purchase a desktop from an OEM for myself!

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: Epsil0n00

Originally posted by: nick1985
someones gotta say it...have you thought about making your own comp?

Actually, I always build my own comps... but this is for my parents who live in a different state than me--thus I am not around to provide personal tech support.

I will never again purchase a desktop from an OEM for myself!

just checkin :beer:

 

[Epsil0n00]

Originally posted by: Bucksnort
I was referring to cpu upgrade.

If I am not mistaken....

I think both of these units are the same in terms of CPU compatibility. The are both 800MHz FSB chipsets with the same type of CPU sockets, etc.

Can anyone else confirm/deny this point?

THANKS!

 

[Bucksnort]

You need to look at the intel site and see what cpu the 2 motherboards can upgrade to or ask dell. Also you may want to check with dell to see if the 8300 comes with a more potent power supply than the 4600.

 

[Epsil0n00]

It looks like the 865PE doesn't support the P4EE... but who cares when it costs an additional $895!!!
OMFG!

I didn't see any other differences in terms of CPU compatibility/upgrade-ability.