Dell Precision 670 Gaming PC

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evolmonster

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Hiya Gang

I have a Dell Precision 670 workstation, which I am trying to beef up to be a gaming PC.

It currently has :

Xeon 3ghz processor.
2GB Ram
Support for PCI-Ex16 Graphics card, up to 150Watts.
650Watt power supply.

I am looking to get an 8800GTS 640mb card, so i'm a bit more future proofed, for playing crysis, and bioshock.
I allso want to get another 3hgz Xeon processor, as they are going for a resonable price now.

My question is this. With my upgrades, will the power supply be big enough?
Also, will I have to make any cooling considerations with the 8800GTS. Currently, the Dell has different cooling compartments for the processors, so heat is quite minimal inside the case.

If anyone has one of these workstations as a gaming PC, please lemme know how it performs. I wanna know if its worth me spending extra on this Dell, or just building again from scratch.

Cheers!
DB
 

akhilles

Splendid
Is that it?

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/precn_670
http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/06/16/opengl_workstation_graphics/page8.html#test_platform

GTS640 is fine for 1080 or less. For bigger resolutions, you might want GTX.

Not sure about the psu, it should be enough. 425w & 28a for gts640.

If you open the case up, post the total wattage & ameperage on +12v so I can be sure if it is enough.

You have nothing to lose. If it's not worth the video card, you can keep the card & build a pc from scratch.
 

evolmonster

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Yep, thats the one.

See, on the specs, it talks about openGL cards, like the ATi FireGL V7350.

What are these cards? They aren't on the usuall listings of 8800s etc...

I'll check the voltage and ampage tonight, let you know what it is.

Thanks
DB
 


Those are specialized cards that have optimized drivers that enable them to be better at stuff like 3D rendering. They are usually the desktop gaming cards with revised drivers. They can still game, but in most cases they don't perform as well. Is it just me or does that system look a lot like the XPS 600? Anyone remember what cards the 600 came with? Those should give a good indication of what your Precision could handle.
 

akhilles

Splendid
A full 8800 ULTRA PC needs about 500W & 35A. Your PSU is plenty for anything.

Those specialized cards are for graphics workstations. They're fragging expensive. You're best off getting an 8800 gtx/ultra for gaming.
 

randomizer

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Quadro and FireGL are also about 2x-3x the price of desktop cards, so unless you have cash to burn, I'd avoid them :lol: Plus they usually perform lower than the desktop cards (of the same level of horsepower) in games, because the are optimised (at the driver, BIOS, and I think hardware level too) to do 3D rendering and stuff as stated above.
 

StevieD

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The PSU is more than enough.

The Precision 670 has a 650w PSU with adaquate power to handle a highend Quadro GPU.


The rest of the workstation is suspect. I suspect your Xeon is the equivilent of a P4. The unit will work for gaming, but an off the shelf $500 to $1000 Dell would kick your workstation's butt even IF you added a second Xeon.

I would not invest any more into this computer than what you have to. Install the Graphics Card by all means. You can take the Graphics Card with you to a future computer. But avoid upgraditis on the rest of the computer.
 

evolmonster

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Thanks for the reply guys!

StevieD - I thought that a Xeon was the mutts nuts when it came to processors?!
Especially if I had 2 of them! Is this not the case?

Are you really telling me that a 2.8Ghz Dual Core Intel, is better than 2 3ghz Xeon processors?!
If so, Why is this?

Thanks!
DB

(If you aren't british, Mutts Nutts means very good!)

 

evolmonster

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It is quite old really. I think my company bought it a good few years ago.
Its hardly been used though. Probably only been switched on a handfull of times!
When i'm using it, it seems to run fast as hell!

hmmm.
 

evolmonster

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Not sure how to post a screen shot!

CPUZ says :

intel Xeon Nocona MPGA-604 90nm
3.00Ghz
Core speed : 2992.5 Mhz
Multiplier : x15
FSB : 199.5
Bus Speed : 798

2GB Ram.

That ok?
 

akhilles

Splendid
sure ok for gaming. I would agree that I wouldn't upgrade other parts. Sorry I missed that. Just get an ultra.

See you can get a q6600 for $280 something. How much is a 2nd xeon?
 

evolmonster

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The 2nd Xeon is around £150 ($300 ish).

I don't understand what is wrong with the 3ghx one I've got though.
I'm not that up on processor technology, but I could build a new PC with a 2.8GHz Duel Processor.
OR Spend £150 on another Xeon, and have a 6gz duel processor!

Or isn't is as simple as that!?
 
It's not quite that simple. That Xeon Nocona is the workstation version of the Intel Prescott CPU.
To get an idea of how it compares with other CPUs look at the: THG CPU Charts Prescott 630 3Ghz & Pressler 930 3Ghz
The Prescott 630 should perform very close to your current Xeon Nocona and the Pressler 930 dual core CPU should give you a rough idea what you could expect with a 2nd Xeon Nocona installed.
You can use the THG CPU Charts to choose other programs/games and look at the comparisons between those two CPU combos (and the other options as well).
My own opinion is that its not a very good value to upgrade with a 2nd CPU. £150 is just about 50% of the cost to get a new PC that will better match the 8800GTS capability.
 

akhilles

Splendid
Nothing wrong with 3ghz.

No, you add 2 3ghz cpus together & not get 6ghz. That's not how it works. The Xeon in your PC is dual core. Add 2 together & you get 4 cores each at 3ghz. The only time it will benefit you is if the app makes use of the 4 cores at the same time. Multimedia de/en-coding, de/en-crypting & decompressing & compressing will usually use more than 1 core. Most games don't. So you add a 2nd cpu, you will get results faster in non-game apps.

Sure the new generation of games will use 2+ cores. How many of them are out now?

Bottom line: it is your money.
 


Like WR2 stated the "Nocona" Xeon is a single core cpu based on the Intel P4 Prescott.
 

evolmonster

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I was just looking at the tech specs on the site, and it looks like you can upgrade to a newer 2.8Ghz Dual Core processor.

Now, If I whacked 2 of them in there, like you said, 4 processors wont really make it faster for gaming, But surely the 2.8 Dual Processor is a good chip to have in a PC for gaming?!

 

akhilles

Splendid
It doesn't matter if your pc has 1000 cores if no software makes use of them at the same time. Some games use 2 cores. A few uses quad. 99% use single core.

If you want absolute results, get a faster cpu. Say a 4ghz cpu, if it exists. A faster cpu will inherently speeds up anything.
 
It looks like you can use the faster Irwindale CPUs (up to 3.8Ghz) and the dual core Paxville 2.8Ghz CPU.
The prices I found were pretty shocking. Irwindale single core 3.8Ghz $900 and Paxville dual core 2.8Ghz $1100
Upgrading to 2ea Paxville dual core for $2200 would get you a PC that would fall FAR behind a new $900PC
( it looks like there is a 3.4Ghz Paxville too if you can come up with $2900 )

Things have moved on a lot in the last 3 years. It's reached the point where a $85 1.8Ghz CPU (C2D E2160) can wipe the gaming floor with a workstation CPU that still costs $900 Irwindale 3.8Ghz socket 604 or a $1100 dual core Paxville 2.8Ghz socket 604. THG CPU charts showing E2160 vs Prescott 3.8 or Pent D 820 2.8Ghz dual core (Prescott/Smithfield Pent D 820 are Irwindale/Paxville equivelent)




 

xeon lover

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With the new OS windows 7 dual core xeon rocks--top gaming box scores 3600 on Geek bench- my xeon box has 2 3.6 and 2 gags of ram.
I score a 4600 and if I up it to dual core xeons I will see around 5500 on score. dual quad core xeons are hitting around 17000 and takes 100 gigs of ram as for cost not bad hit ebay 300 and up. Top gamer starts at 1500 just for the box
 

splintercraig

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lets keep it going. I got a dell precision 670 with 2 cpu @ 3.00gz and it does not run emulators good at all. i am looking to replace 1 processor with like a 2.5ish dual core but i think the socket only accepts the xeon thats is a real dual core not h/t am i right.
 

RoscoKTA156

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Just found this thread...
I'm thinking of buying a Radeon 5750 to boost up my dual proc 3.2Ghz
what do you guys think of that idea?
 
G

Guest

Guest
Let me save you some time and money:

I own an HPXW8200 with the following specs, I have easily spent 7 grand on this machine including its original purchase price and the stuff below, not to mention intermittent upgrades of ATI 3870X2 --> ATI 4870 x2 --> (and finally) Nvidia Gtx295.

Relevant Specs:

-Dual Xeon 3.8Ghz (Irwindale) w /2mb cache per Cpu.
-16GB DDR2 via 8 Kingston 2GB Single rank ram sticks.
-5-Way SCSI 73.4GB 15k HP(seagate) drives in raid 0.
-gtx295 1.7Gb video card.

This machine is basically as fast as you could possibly make any other xeon workstation setup of its age. This machine is NOT a good gaming machine, I only keep it because I haven't found any new workstation from hp yet that is worth another 6+ grand investment. If you want to have the best rig for gaming, go buy a C2D or a phenom or even an i7 and save your self the time and trouble.

Now put this thread to rest already!
 
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