Dell XPS 8500
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T3500 is last generation mobo.... with X58 chipset... still very good, but dated. I have 5 of them in my network.
T3600 is newer technology... Xeon C600 chipset.
Unless your apps actually USE 6-cores, money better spent on a quad-core.
Perusing Dell Outlet recently, I've seen a few T3600s with E5-1620 CPU for ~ $829-$859. That seems a good deal on a quality rig. (E5-1603 & 1607 CPU units have their RAM running at lower speed... I'd go for the E5-1620 if I were in the market.)
Agreed, and maybe the answer is the service after the failure due to lack of quality. The one good thing I can say about both issues is the service people took care of the problem very quickly and required little work on my end. The laptop was a ship out, and was back in a week. The Vostro I actually stayed 100% on shore, from phone call to local tech coming out to the house. Only problem was the tech ended up stuck at a job for a business the original day for my repair, but he was out the next day.
Used: Bought through eBay...of course, these comes with shorter term support.
A new Precision 370 bought at Dell.com, new...(still has this one, but not using it).
Never used Dell Precision support...(only tested to make sure it was US based)...
Only running 7AM-4PM...4 days/week...Charting (QuoteTracker/IQFeed) on one computer...charting only. Broker (IB) on a second computer.
Maybe I've just been lucky not having to use support.
I've been using Dell servers as desktops because I wanted ECC memory, hyperthreaded CPUs, and the ability to hold 4 disk drives.
I run Linux and do everything in virtual machines, for security and easy migration when I upgrade hardware. I run trading software from IB, TOS, and Fidelity, and a couple browsers.
My Dell T310 came with 1280x1024 video, and with a wimpy power supply that, according to specs, can't really handle even a single PCIe video card (power drawn from all PCIe slots can't exceed 25W).
I see that some Precision workstations come with ECC memory (though, curiously, priced twice as high as comparable ECC server memory), many cores, and decent video cards.
So if you had a choice between, say, a T3600 and a T320, which would you get?
I run Linux and do everything in virtual machines, for security and easy migration when I upgrade hardware. I run trading software from IB, TOS, and Fidelity, and a couple browsers.
My Dell T310 came with 1280x1024 video, and with a wimpy power supply that, according to specs, can't really handle even a single PCIe video card (power drawn from all PCIe slots can't exceed 25W).
I see that some Precision workstations come with ECC memory (though, curiously, priced twice as high as comparable ECC server memory), many cores, and decent video cards.
So if you had a choice between, say, a T3600 and a T320, which would you get?
1. Both have the same chipset, so likely equivalent quality and reliability.
2. By comparing the number and types of peripheral slots (PCIE and PCI), you can see the T3600 is more conducive to trading... especially if you want to run 2 or more video cards and if you have a PCI peripheral to run... like a legacy sound card or other. Though the T320 has only 1, x16 slot, you should be able to run 6-8 monitors with the right x1 cards.
3. Should you ever change away from Linux, the T320 takes a server version of Windows while T3600 runs W7.
4. Whichever suits your use best would be the correct choice.
W7 and W2008 Kernels are the same... you wont have issues with running W7 on T320... just like you will be able to run vsphere on both the same way... but what you should ask yourself is more along the lines of why you need the T320... all the "requirements" you mentioned can be met with the workstation line as well... so just get whatever has the best price in the end...
T3600 doesn't list Linux as an available OS, so you might have to resolve that.