I use a Dell precision 490 at work, and it’s wonderful. Two Quad-Core 2.0GHz Xeon E5335′s, 4GB RAM, Raid 0 Striped HDDs. With 8 cpu’s I can run a lot of virtuals and still use the machine.
But I’ve been spoiled by this machine, and now I want one for home. Unfortunately they are expensive. As configured that work machine was over $3,000. Well worth it, but thats out of my budget.
So my project, and the subject of this article, is to see how cheaply I can duplicate the performance of my dell precision 490 workstation.
My first step was to price shop a used Dell 490. But even used they are still pricey. On Amazon a lesser machine is nearly $2000. Dell Precision 490 Workstation Dual 2.66 Dual Core Xeon / 4GB / 2x 500GB
Then I checked auction. On Ebay the cheapest Dell 490 system was $1000, but it was not even close to my work machine.
Next I priced out building my own from new parts. The first thing to understand is that a these precision workstations are essentially desktop servers. If you go to Fry’s and shop motherboards, 95% of them are single socket boards with 2-4 slots for memory. Fry’s does sell server motherboards with two Xeon sockets, but they are expensive. Expect to pay $300-500 for a dual socket LGA 771 board.
The next surprise is the case. You can’t use a cheapo $40 case with these motherboards. The dual socket 771 motherboards require server EATX cases. Amazon demonstrates the prices and has some deals… Antec Titan 650 ExtendATX Server Case (Black)
So $500-$700 spent and thats just case and a bare motherboard.
-To Be Continued-
