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.

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) ~$200.

So $500-$700 spent and thats just case and a bare motherboard. 

-To Be Continued-