Dell PE 400SC now $324 no MIR

[Balt]

Originally posted by: turboe
Does anyone know how long the free processor upgrade will be availible?
On the custimization page it says "Select offers expire 09/08/04" but i dunno if thats when the processor upgrade expires also.

I wouldn't sweat it. Even if the free processor upgrade expires before the 8th Dell seems to have the same 400SC deal at least twice a month.

I actually RMA'd the ECC ram when I bought mine and got a bit of a refund, it took the bite out of putting 1gb of non-ecc Corsair ram in there, which works great. I don't know if they'll do that any more or not, though.

From what I've heard, if you can get them to agree to a buyback these days you are extremely lucky.

 

[Empire_DNH]

just order it

 

[boboko]

Well, I'll tell you what I know. I bought one a couple weeks ago, for about the same price. This post is mostly to warn people that the FAQ is a bit overenthusiastic, IMO. I'm not saying the rig isn't a good deal, I'm saying there are things you may want to consider, that I didn't know before I bought mine.

The HD that came with mine was a 40GB Western Digital, 2MB cache. Lower end than the FAQ implies.

The case absolutely bites, IMO. It does the job, but I can't believe these guys who estimate it at 100 bucks. If the motherboard had standard fittings, I'd swap it into a $30 case. The case is built like a briefcase that only opens about 75%. You can't just take a side panel off to look at something, you have to turn it off, lay it on its side, and creak open the case (mine is really stiff) at the hinge. You can't separate the halves, you can't even get them 90% open, which makes it very hard to work on - not much elbow room, and hard to get a light to shine where you want it. To be fair, it's the memory and drives that are harder to get to than in most cases; the PCI slots are OK.

Another thing about the case - only two free drive bays (a five and a three), and no place to mount extra fans. I know, as cheap as big drives are, the bays shouldn't be a problem, just stick a couple 250's in it. But I had three smaller drives I expected a "server" could hold, that I won't have room for.

The power supply does seem good for a 250W - mine is running a GX6800 just fine. My beef with it is that it only has the one fan in back, and since you can't mount any more fans in the case, it would be nice to have a PS that has an intake fan on the bottom. I happen to have a nice Enermax that I would love to swap in, but it has this weird gizmo on the back, namely an on-off switch. The Dell PS doesn't have a switch, and the case doesn't have a hole for one, so you need to do some sheet metal work to make most power supplies fit. Bummer.

Speaking of switches, the Dell also doesn't have a hardware reset switch. No on-off, no reset, so if your OS ever freezes, you have to unplug the damn thing.

Another big disappointment is the BIOS setup. As barebones as you can imagine. Zero OC potential, and pretty limited options all around. In particular, it DOES NOT boot from a USB drive like the FAQ says. The BIOS boot menu has an option for USB, but only a Flash device. Even my 3-year old PC I'm upgrading from boots from my USB enclosure.

Also, the MB is NOT a standard Intel 875P. It's similar, but it lacks some functionality, e.g. 5.1 sound. You need to get a sound card if you want to hear the monsters behind you. Again, my 3-year old (Nforce) MB had 5.1, and it was only $75, so it just didn't occur to me that the 2004 models wouldn't have it.

On the positive side, the Dell is VERY quiet. Even with my 6800 card (yes, the AGP slot works perfectly), it is barely audible for normal stuff. Crank up Doom3 or Chessmaster, and the CPU temp goes up about 30 degrees, and the fans start to whine, but even at its loudest it's quieter than my old PC (but my old PC had a lot of extra fans in the case, so it ran a lot cooler).

Oops, an exception to the quiet -- the CD drive is the loudest I ever heard. Somebody else said it sounded like a plane taking off, and I think that's pretty close. Strange, because it's a Lite-On, and I have a Lite-On burner that isn't a third that loud.

So would I buy one again? I have to say no. It's a nice PC, but not what I thought I was getting. I don't know if I could build the base model for the same price, but I damn sure could build what I wanted for cheaper than the final cost of my Dell, because I have to buy a bigger drive and a sound card to make this useful, which I wouldn't have to do if I had gotten my choice of even a low-end MB and case. Not to mention I'm paying for a drive, video card, CD drive, and memory that I'll probably never use. Yeah, I could get a few bucks on Ebay, but it's not worth the hassle, so I'll just keep the takeoffs on the shelf for spares, and most likely never use them.

The parts I'm not throwing away still aren't what I really want, because the board doesn't have 5.1 sound, it won't boot from my external USB enclosures, and the case sucks.

On the other hand, the CPU works great .

If you are only going to use this for office apps, then the included memory, sound, video, and CD drive should be fine, and you've got a good deal (in the sense of shooting flies with a cannon). If you agree with the people who think clamshell cases are great, and you're an audiophile who would buy a sound card even if the onboard audio was 5.1, then maybe this is a great deal for you anyway.

Everything above is based on my personal preference, every sentence assumes YMMV, and I'm not going to argue with anyone who thinks I'm full of crap. I just wanted to give a review of my experience.

 

[IksokChoy]

Just got mine in from last weeks deal @ EOM same specs but 80gb Hd upgrade. Start loading on long weekend

 

[Kirsten]

Thanks boboko ... I was having a hard time deciding whether I wanted to fool with getting everything up to speed and I don't think I do...

K

 

[Thump553]

Very nice, informative post Boboko. Its worth a hundred of the "your mama" posts that frequently pop up in a thread like this.

I'm generally pretty impressed with Dells but I suspect my next one will be an 8700 just because I don't have access to a cheap operating system otherwise. The quietness is a huge selling point to me, and they sell them cheaper than it would cost me to build it.

 

[MaxDepth]

Originally posted by: Balt

Originally posted by: TechDreamer
The 400sc faq is stating that Dell is disabling AGP in the bios. They say you have to play around with the various bios updates to get it working but then you lose the integrated NIC? Does anyone have experience with this?

The FAQ is kind of vague, but I believe what they meant is that the AGP performance is being limited somehow. It works, but perhaps not quite at the level that it should?

You'd have to get someone who already has a 400SC to run some benchies to find out.

AGP was disabled in BIOS, but I set it to active once I put an ATI card in there. It was for my dad's business but the mid-range Dell servers had a sweet deal a coupl of months ago so we bought that for the company and took the 400 back to their house. Now he plays MOAA on it.

 

[SearchMaster]

I think Boboko's post was very fair. Having said that, I love my 400SC (that my wife uses). If you just need a good, quiet, stable PC and have an O/S and all software available to install (as well as some spare parts laying around), it absolutely fits the bill. If you're a hardcore tweaker who must control every aspect of what goes in your PC, it's not for you - you'd be better off getting a different prebuilt or building your own. I fell into the first camp, and have been very happy with my purchase. If I had the money, I'd be buying this one for me right now.

 

[Drakkon]

Yeah people dont get this machine if your looking to become a hardcore OCer or anyone that wants something more than just a normal computer.
This is a VALUE SERVER which means it ment to be setup as a small CHEAP SERVER that would probobly be used to host a small webserver or a domain or something along those lines, NOT a file server/gaming rig/CRAY system.
I bought one just for the sheer purpose of having a machine that will sit there and be stable and quiet and I dont need all the space in the world cause I'm still on dialup and i'm no hardcore gamer or anything like that (I have a matrox vid card for goodness sake)

 

[MaxDepth]

Originally posted by: boboko
The HD that came with mine was a 40GB Western Digital, 2MB cache. Lower end than the FAQ implies.
The FAQ comes from the very first PE400SC deal. Drives have changed according to each deal.

The case absolutely bites, IMO. It does the job, but I can't believe these guys who estimate it at 100 bucks. If the motherboard had standard fittings, I'd swap it into a $30 case. The case is built like a briefcase that only opens about 75%. You can't just take a side panel off to look at something, you have to turn it off, lay it on its side, and creak open the case (mine is really stiff) at the hinge. You can't separate the halves, you can't even get them 90% open, which makes it very hard to work on - not much elbow room, and hard to get a light to shine where you want it. To be fair, it's the memory and drives that are harder to get to than in most cases; the PCI slots are OK.
The clamshell opens enough to swap hard drives, PCI cards and memory. This is a low end server that you, in a business sense, you populate once, close it, and then keep it on full time.

Another thing about the case - only two free drive bays (a five and a three), and no place to mount extra fans. I know, as cheap as big drives are, the bays shouldn't be a problem, just stick a couple 250's in it. But I had three smaller drives I expected a "server" could hold, that I won't have room for.
hence the low end server designation. RAID 0 is about the best you can do. I wouldn't even begin to speculate on the ability to cluster.

Speaking of switches, the Dell also doesn't have a hardware reset switch. No on-off, no reset, so if your OS ever freezes, you have to unplug the damn thing.
Uhm, what is that little black button on the front for? Are you sure you have PE400SC?

Thanks boboko for your personal experience. I agree with 98.999 percent of what you say (except for the switch.). As a low-end 800mhz, HyperTransport system, it is the cheapest corporate product out there. However, most people in these forums are above average in working with computers and hopefully their expectations won't be built up with this basic system.

 

[squid729]

now $299 with celeron 2.4, or $398 with p4 2.8

 

[boles]

Originally posted by: boboko

The case absolutely bites, IMO. It does the job, but I can't believe these guys who estimate it at 100 bucks. If the motherboard had standard fittings, I'd swap it into a $30 case. The case is built like a briefcase that only opens about 75%. You can't just take a side panel off to look at something, you have to turn it off, lay it on its side, and creak open the case (mine is really stiff) at the hinge. You can't separate the halves, you can't even get them 90% open, which makes it very hard to work on - not much elbow room, and hard to get a light to shine where you want it. To be fair, it's the memory and drives that are harder to get to than in most cases; the PCI slots are OK.

Speaking of switches, the Dell also doesn't have a hardware reset switch. No on-off, no reset, so if your OS ever freezes, you have to unplug the damn thing.

Preface: not arguing but sharing my experience on a couple points you made.

1) I thought the same about my case the first time I opened it. Turns out that I just did try to open it enough. At about a 40 degree angle there seems to stop but if you try a little harder the case will open a lot farther. a picture of the case half open can be found Here As far as separating the halves; never tried because opening the case all the way gives you more than ample room to work.

2) Its true, there is not a reset switch but there is a power switch. Hold the power button for 5 seconds comp powers down tap it again and boots right up. Not sure if they removed the power button from the front of the case to save money but that seems like one thing that they would not remove. Power button between 400sc label and the dell logo


I think this box is great for the price. I don?t overclock so the MB is great and not "subpar". I put in a 9600pro and 512 ok ram and the box runs strong and silent. I got more than I expected for around $475.

 

[boboko]

Originally posted by: MaxDepth

Originally posted by: boboko
Speaking of switches, the Dell also doesn't have a hardware reset switch. No on-off, no reset, so if your OS ever freezes, you have to unplug the damn thing.
Uhm, what is that little black button on the front for? Are you sure you have PE400SC?

Thanks boboko for your personal experience. I agree with 98.999 percent of what you say (except for the switch.).

Everything has a context . Yes, the PC has a switch in front, but it's more of an "on" button than an "on-off" button. You normally let the OS shut it down. I forget what I did, but I somehow got the OS to freeze, and the button in front didn't turn it off. The on-off switch I referred to as missing is the one on the power supply, which always shuts it down.

 

[OctaneZ]

So it's dead, the cheapest out there now is $299 for a 2.4 celeron not nearly as nice a deal.

 

[IgoByte]

Has anyone gotten their 400SC from the last deal?

 

[Monotaur]

Originally posted by: IgoByte
Has anyone gotten their 400SC from the last deal?

Yep, I got both of my boxen yesterday... plus I got Dell to price match under their 21 day price guarantee for an additional $100 back ($50 per box)... so, $274 AR for P4 2.8Ghz HT, 256 MB RAM, 80GB HD, etc.

Thanks!

 

[RossMAN]

These are so tempting, must resist.

 

[gpgofast]

Originally posted by: boboko
... and the case sucks....

What is your problem with the case??? It is EASILY opened, the drives install VERY easily, EASY access to all the PCI/AGP slots, RAM is VERY accessible, there is room for more drives than I need, MUCH room to work on everything, the case can be fully stipped in about 2 minutes if that is your desire and fully loaded, the processor is well within temperature spec. I don't get it. I can't argue with your other points, as I feel they are all personal but I am perfectley happy with my D3ll purchase. YMMV. GP

 

[ccbadd]

, but it lacks some functionality, e.g. 5.1 sound.

I set up 5.1 with out any problems.

I got one a couple of weeks ago, maybee three, and it performs great. I did put a 250Gig HD, 2 256MB PC3200 dimms (running in dual channel mode) and an FX5200 video card in it. This thing runs great, is very quiet, and looks good. I would definitely recommend it to anyone short of speed freeks like I used to be. Now I just want a reliable PC that is quick and will last.

 

[flot]

I got in on the deal - anyone want to sell me the 256mb RAM out of theirs for a reasonable price? I'll be happy with 512 mb total... PM me...

 

[imported_ssm0002]

Just in case no one has noticed, Dell is a publicly traded company and in the last month of every quarter they start offering better deals in order to meet or exceed earnings estimates they have made to the market. Dell's year end occurs in January. The last really nice deals on the 400SC occured at the end of July. So if you really want the best deal from Dell, hold on to your wallet until the month's of January, April, July and October roll around, unless of course it looks like they are going to drop a product line and want to clear out the remaining stock.

 

[tiroth]

plus I got Dell to price match under their 21 day price guarantee for an additional $100 back ($50 per box)...

I think I missed something, what/how did you PM to? Mine should arrive Tuesday.

Thanks.

 

[AlphaDraconis]

Originally posted by: tiroth

plus I got Dell to price match under their 21 day price guarantee for an additional $100 back ($50 per box)...

I think I missed something, what/how did you PM to? Mine should arrive Tuesday.

Thanks.

Bump because I'm curious about this too.

 

[SgtBuddy]

Originally posted by: bamacre
Meh, I consider any warranty from Dell worth about a penny. Truth is, I hate Dell's tech support and customer service. I used to love it, but I had a horrible experience with them once<snip>


Once?

Wow, I guess this fast food society is getting even more impatient.

Heh, kidding....yeah..I am kidding.