Dell Precision 490
In my last post I wrote about trying to obtain a dual quad-core workstation on the cheap, I wrote that buying a new bare-bones dual Xeon setup (case, power supply and empty motherboard) would run $500-$700.
Well the reason I started this article is that I found Dell Precision 490 bare bones systems on E-Bay for as cheap as $150. Add in two Xeon E53XX or E54XX quad-core CPUs for as cheap as $229 , 4GB memory kit for $120, $100 for a decent video card, $100 for a decent SATA/300 HDD and your done.
Let me add all that up for you:
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$150 Dell 490 Bare Bones
$229: Intel Xeon E5405 Harpertown 2.0GHz LGA 771 80W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80574E5405P – Retail
$229: Intel Xeon E5405 Harpertown 2.0GHz LGA 771 80W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80574E5405P – Retail
$120: 2 X 2GB DDR2 ECC Buffered RAM DDR2-533 RAM
$100: Your budget for a video card
$100: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive – OEM
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TOTAL $928 — not including shipping. That’s a deal. Now for the caveats…
When Dell first made the precision 490, the motherboard only supported dual core Xeons. Some time later, Dell started shipping 490′s with a new motherboard that could support Dual or Quad core.
So when your shopping for bare bone 490′s your going to have to ask the seller. I don’t have motherboard part numbers for each version, if anyone knows please comment.
I have purchased one of these the bare bones systems already, but I didnt know about the motherboard differences, so I probably ended up with the wrong version. I’ll post some pictures later on.
Just bought a Precision 490 with one 2.0GHz CPU 2Gb Ram + 128MB Video Card for $375.
Will pick it up today.
Thats a great deal, I assume its a Xeon 5335 2.0Ghz? The processor alone runs $300.
I’ve owned a 470 for a couple of years, with 2 Xeon 3.2 processors(not dual core). I’ve set up some 490s for some friends – I buy from my source, and install HDs/video cards etc. I don’t charge my friends.
For reference, I buy from a guy who gets them by the pallet load from leasing companies and he refurbs them. The last 490 I bought through him was $550 Cdn for a machine with 2 dual core Xeons (2.2 I think), 2GB of RAM, and 320 MB SATA(not the original). No video card. The lease was 2 years, so there still is some warranty left, and its transferable.
The two people I’ve bought for are both very happy. One is a hard core gamer and he did have an issue with the PSU – he put in a video card with 2 GPUs and the PSU didn’t have enough video card connectors. With some work he managed to source a cable that worked for him. The other is a moderate gamer, and he had one issue where he unplugged a USB memory stick, and got a blue screen. He called dell, transferred the ownership and had recovery disks sent overnight.
So all in all pretty satisfied, but I am getting itching to get a 490 as my 470 felt slow after testing the 490. I am a moderate gamer.
James
Thanks for your comment James. I’m still trying to figure out what you can check to know if a Dell 490 supports quad-core, before buying it on E-bay. Maybe your friend knows?