Purchasing a new PC from Dell.

[Anonymous]

I now have a 5 year old Dell/Pentium 4, 3.4 Ghz, 2GB RAM, 160 GB hard drive, 128 MB ATI video card w/Win XP pro and just installed AC13 upgrade from AC10. I'm looking at a Dell Precision T3500 64 bit machine w/quad core 2.66 Ghz, 4GB RAM, 512MB ATI card w/Win 7 Pro. Would the new machine outperform what I have even with the slower processor? Or would it make more sense to upgrade my existing hardware with more RAM, a new Video Card and a clean install of Win 7? Any opinions will be appreciated?

[Erika Epstein]

I would buy the new one; so much changes with software specs that you would have trouble sooner or later upgrading your existing Dell.

Your specs look good. I have the previous Dell T3400 and am looking at upgrading it to 64 bit and MS7.

[Rick Thompson]

As a Mac user, it might seem a bit strange to post this.. but my son works business sales at Dell, and he might be good to deal with (save you money). If you call him, tell him where you got his name. His info is

Murphy Thompson | Relationship Account Advisor | Dell Inc.

Direct Line: 512-946-0296

Murphy_thompsonATdellDOTcomSUBSTITUTE THE CAPS

[Rick Thompson]

Feedback from my Dell dude son...

Yea it would make a huge difference. He is talking apples and oranges between a 5 year old system and a new T3500. The new T3500’s have the Nehalem chipsets (like the new macs J ) as well as ISV certified Open GL 2.0 graphics cards, DDR3 ram..and on and on. Also comparing a new Xeon quad core to a pentium 4 is like comparing a bicycle to a Ducati motorcycle. Even though the clock speed may appear lower, you are running a completely different architecture and even beyond that..4 cores vs 2..maybe even 1 core on an old Pentium 4.

I can do huge discounts on those too J

[Erika Epstein]

Rick,
Thanks for the link to your son at Dell.

[Anonymous]

Erika & Rick:

Thanks both for your help and Rick the link to your son.

John

[Thomas Holm]

Rick,

it may be too late, but I'd remove your son's email ASAP before the spambots eat him. If you want to distribute it, do it by PM or word it in a way the spambots don't understand!
(I've been bitten by that myself)