Dell Precision T5500 vs Acer Aspire M5811

[JEJoll]

Hoping I can get some expert advice.

I recently acquired some old Dell Precision T5500 workstations, and I'm giving one of them to my father. This will give him 2 PCs (he already has an Acer Aspire M5811). One will be used for light gaming (World of Warcraft mostly), and internet browsing (This one will probably be used the most). The other will probably stay hooked up to a TV for watching movies, netflix and possibly some gaming as well (This will be used less frequently, most likely).

I think both PCs are between 8 and 10 years old.

I'm wondering which PC he should use as the primary and which he should use for a secondary, based on the info above.

Here are the specs for each:

Acer Aspire M5811
CPU: Intel i7 860
RAM: 8GB DDR3 (6 DIMM slots 2x4 GB)
Graphics: AMD Radeon 5400 Series

Dell Precision T5500
CPU: Dual Socket Xeons (Not sure of the specific model--don't want to put new thermal paste on just to check and am still waiting for a display converter so haven't had it running to check yet. Could be E5520, E5620, X5650 or X5570 I think)
RAM: 22GB DDR3 (9 DIMM slots - 7x2GB and 2x4GB)
Graphics: Nvidia Quadro 310

Also, the Dell currently wins by a longshot with the RAM. Should I redistribute between the two machines? I suppose I could take the 2x4GB sticks from the Dell and put them in the Acer to give 14GB and 16GB respectively.

I've done some research, but the best I can figure is that both of these builds are pretty similar, so I'm not sure which PC should go where. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[WildCard999]

WoW is really CPU intensive, that being said though I don't think it's optimized for dual Xeons and the i7-860 would be better off for gaming. Taking some RAM from the Dell into the Acer may help but it could also cause stability issues. As is though I'd use the Dell for the TV and the Acer for gaming.

 

[william p]

IDK about the Acer. But that Dell T5500 is very verstatile. The 2nd CPU is on a riser and can be removed. It may have RDIMMs that won't swap out with single CPU computers.
The Dell T3500/T5500 are popular on this website.
https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/throttlestop-overclocking-desktop-pcs.235975/
You can get some ideas of what to do with it there.
Those RAM configurations look bogus for 3 channel memory. That's all covered on the site I linked to.
Here's another one.
https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/dell-workstation-owners-club.243124/page-2#post-3842734

 

[JEJoll]

IDK about the Acer. But that Dell T5500 is very verstatile. The 2nd CPU is on a riser and can be removed. It may have RDIMMs that won't swap out with single CPU computers.
The Dell T3500/T5500 are popular on this website.
https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/throttlestop-overclocking-desktop-pcs.235975/
You can get some ideas of what to do with it there.
Those RAM configurations look bogus for 3 channel memory. That's all covered on the site I linked to.
Here's another one.
https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/dell-workstation-owners-club.243124/page-2#post-3842734

Thanks, I'll have a look at the links you provided. And yes, the configuration in the Dell is a little strange. I've got 6x2gb in the mobo dimm slots, and 2x4gb and 1x2gb on the risers (I had an extra stick laying around and I knew it wouldn't be ideal, but figured it wouldn't hurt to throw it in).

 

[JEJoll]

WoW is really CPU intensive, that being said though I don't think it's optimized for dual Xeons and the i7-860 would be better off for gaming. Taking some RAM from the Dell into the Acer may help but it could also cause stability issues. As is though I'd use the Dell for the TV and the Acer for gaming.

When you say stability issues, you mean adding RAM to the Acer could cause stability issues, or did you mean taking RAM from the Dell would cause stability issues?

 

[WildCard999]

WoW is really CPU intensive, that being said though I don't think it's optimized for dual Xeons and the i7-860 would be better off for gaming. Taking some RAM from the Dell into the Acer may help but it could also cause stability issues. As is though I'd use the Dell for the TV and the Acer for gaming.

When you say stability issues, you mean adding RAM to the Acer could cause stability issues, or did you mean taking RAM from the Dell would cause stability issues?

I meant adding RAM to the Acer, RAM is tested in kits and mixing different kits may not work so well but since you have it you might as well try it out and as long as you don't get any BSOD's you should be fine.

 

[william p]

Memory controller is on the CPU and speed varies there and also decreases with number of DIMMs per channnel. 3 matching modules 1 per channel is the good setup. So 6GB,12GB, and 24GB are the good setups for a single CPU. 3x2gb,3x4GB, and 3X8GB.