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T9300 vs X9000 + other 1730 questions

post #1 of 7
5/6/08 at 11:36am
Thread Starter 
Hey guys. I ordered a 1730 w/ a T9300 and SLI 8800s, 2GB Ram, and 160GB 7200 rpm HDD. The config I ordered was just over $2700 before shipping. I think I did pretty well there. I have 4GB of ram from my 1710 that I will put into it, and I plan on giving the 1730 my 1710's 200GB HDD, buying a second one, and setting up 2x200 raid 0. I also have an HD-DVD reader I will put into it (yes I know it's dead). Some day I will buy a blu-ray for it if I see a good deal.

My first question is - I see some X9000s for sale on the web, ranging anywhere from $500 to $1000. They are socket P, which I assume the 1730 is as well. What is your opinion about going from a T9300 to the X9000 if I could do it for under $600? Would you do it? The way I see it, I could then sell my T9300 which would further reduce the cost of the X9000. I'm thinking $400 or so for an extra 500Mhz with a mild OC. Would you consider that a good option?

Also - I saw something that seemed to indicate that one of the HDD bays in the 1730 is SATA and the other is IDE. Is that true? Or can I get the exact same SATA hdds? Is the Raid 0 config worth it? If not, I can probably live with just using my 200GB as a primary and the 160gb as the secondary for storage.

Any other thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks!
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post #2 of 7
5/7/08 at 3:42pm
According to the service manual the HD's are stacked in one bay and both are SATA. Not sure if RAID 0 gives any performance gains or not. Just out of curiosity how did you get your configuration down to $2700? I've been playing around with configurations for a couple days now and the best I have been able to do is just over $3100 for 2gb ram, 160gb 7200 HD, 8800 gtx sli and T8300 processor.
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post #3 of 7
5/7/08 at 4:00pm
If you are planning to upgrade the CPU, then configurate the cheapest CPU from Dell to save up the money.

The HD bay both connectors were for SATA. The IDE prot are for DVD-ROM.

Everything else is personal preference. Should you go to an expense resturant or Burger King.

For myself, I like to purchase faster system, so I dont have to bother about upgrades in year or two. Upgrading is painful and expensive if you buy parts separately.

You can save money on HDs, memory..etc, do what you like.
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post #4 of 7
5/7/08 at 4:38pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the replies. I was able to save some money by going through my employer's EPP program with Dell. I think there was an initial discount of around $400, + I saved an additional 12% by going with a 3 yr warranty (I think the 12% is only available through EPP). Then I called dell and said i would buy it if I could get it to under 3K shipped so they did it.

I'm not so sure the X9000 is worth the extra $400 expense. A T9300 probably flies. Heck the T7600 in my 1710 flies. Still, I'm very torn. I will definitely do the Raid though just to try it. Raid 0 works very well on my desktop. Worst case, if it doesn't perform any better, I will just have two drives with lots of storage space.
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post #5 of 7
5/7/08 at 6:15pm
From what I have been reading the X9000 really only helps if you overclock it and are using cpu intensive apps. Gaming however does not see much benefit as the graphics cards are still the biggest bottle neck not the cpu.

I tried contacting my University's EPP but the best price they would give me was $3120 for the same config except with the T8300 processor. When I mentioned your price the agent told me to talk to you. Not sure if he was blowing me off or what but I am not impressed with their customer service right now.
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post #6 of 7
5/7/08 at 6:51pm
yes, I use Autocad and Photoshop. @3.4GHz + RAID 0 really help to render the graphic faster.
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post #7 of 7
5/7/08 at 10:27pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jjslacker View Post
From what I have been reading the X9000 really only helps if you overclock it and are using cpu intensive apps. Gaming however does not see much benefit as the graphics cards are still the biggest bottle neck not the cpu.

I tried contacting my University's EPP but the best price they would give me was $3120 for the same config except with the T8300 processor. When I mentioned your price the agent told me to talk to you. Not sure if he was blowing me off or what but I am not impressed with their customer service right now.
What's interesting is that I had my system ordered once and cancelled it. Then I had second thoughts so I contacted them and they wouldn't do the order again for the same price. But I tried one more time and got a different rep and they were able to build it again at the same price. I'm not cancelling this time
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