Dell Precision T1650 Workstation Review: Ivy Bridge Xeons Bring Performance
by Dustin Sklavos on July 31, 2012 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
- Dell
- Workstation
- Ivy Bridge
- Enterprise
Conclusion: A Great Value That Could Be More
When compared to HP's competing Z220 workstation, Dell's Precision T1650 comes out looking awfully compelling. It's true you can probably get roughly the same performance out of a comparably-equipped Z220, but that Z220 is going to cost you more money in the long term. Given my mixed feelings about and experiences with HP's much-ballyhooed Performance Advisor software, I'd definitely be willing to pocket the difference between the Z220 and the T1650's pricetags. HP has become fairly complacent, but with the Precision T1650 it looks like the same thing is threatening to happen to Dell. Why should they fight any harder when their chief competitor can't get it together? Dell's already undercutting them by hundreds of dollars while offering arguably better build quality, why offer more?
At the same time, as a reviewer it's my job to ask for more where I see that it can be offered. This chassis should be put out to pasture and a new one built to bring the entry-level Precision model in line with the rest of the family, complete with the accoutrements that make them so compelling. The default 65% efficiency power supply needs to be killed stone dead; if perception is important (and I believe it is), Dell should just get rid of that option and bump the default price of the T1650 as they still have plenty of headroom at the entry level. I'd also like to see the swappable power supply of the higher end Precisions brought down to this price point, along with their memory technology. Dell made it abundantly clear that we don't really need 5.25" bays the way we used to, so why does the T1650 still have two? Because they're recycling the underlying chassis, that's why.
.jpg)
Enterprise users are going to continue paying dearly for upgrades, though. Our processor has an OEM price of just $623, but Dell tacks another $400 on to that upgrade price. $50 for a decent power supply is nearly as ridiculous, and our 2x4GB of garden variety non-ECC DDR3 is more than five times the cost of a retail kit. The upgrade prices are bloated to the kinds of levels that would make Apple weep with envy, but then you have to ask yourself just how many machines you need to deploy and then how much it would cost to order the kits of RAM separately and have someone install them, and then theoretically how much it would cost to troubleshoot systems if one of those kits turns out bad.
Either way, the parade of embarassment for HP doesn't seem to stop. Lenovo theoretically has a dog in this race, but it's telling that Dell and HP will mention each other in press conferences while Lenovo doesn't come up. Dell is continuing to attack the lucrative enterprise market with compelling products at lower prices while HP seems to be sitting still, and even if the Precision T1650 isn't a marked improvement over the T1600 in terms of design, the performance is there and at a lower price. If HP doesn't pay attention they may end up having the desktop workstation market slip through their fingers.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
38 Comments
View All Comments
secretmanofagent - Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - link
Perhaps I'm being naive, but why would you still include USB 2.0 ports if USB 3.0 is backwards compatible? The only thing I can think of is that they don't think four USB ports are enough, and I can maybe buy that, but it means the user has to think about which port they're going to plug into.Also, how is 8GB middle of the road for a workstation? I would think the minimum would be 16GB.
Has HP's reliability gotten any better? I've had horrible experiences with them, and our IT department isn't keen on them either.
aicom64 - Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - link
USB 3.0 is only backwards compatible at the hardware level. Without proper USB 3.0 drivers, the ports won't work at all, even in USB 2.0 mode. With Windows 8, I'd expect we'll start to see some motherboards with only USB 3.0, but for now we need some USB 2.0 ports just to get through installation to install the USB 3.0 drivers. On the Apple side, it's not a problem because the keyboard and trackpad are connected via internal USB 1.1 connection even though all external ports are USB 3.0.secretmanofagent - Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - link
Very interesting, I had no idea. Thanks for the reply.Robert Pankiw - Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - link
I know aicom64 posted a great answer, but I just enforce that with, my keyboard doesn't work at startup using USB 3.0, but on USB 2.0 it is fine, even though once I am in Windows, my keyboard works in either port. As aicom64 alluded to, issues (like that) will be solves in Windows 8.Braincruser - Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - link
In addition to that, adding 10 USB 3.0 instead of 4x 3.0 + 6x 2.0 can exhaust the internal bandwidth or will take up too much PCI-E links to operate, and on the other hand, only a few devices benefit from usb 3.0, mostly ones that are data storage and transfers like hard drives. there is no point connecting a mouse and a keyboard to a usb 3.0 when an inexpensive 2.0 will do just the same.augiem - Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - link
If your keyboard doesn't work before you get into Windows, having Windows 8 on your system won't solve anything. The Bios/UEFI would have to support it. Windows 8 preinstalled systems may have this requirement, I don't know, but certainly installing Win8 on your current PC won't help in that regard.softdrinkviking - Friday, August 3, 2012 - link
Yup. Except that I don't think any mobo companies will bother with usb 3.0 support in any bios. Bios is almost legacy, so they will probably focus on enabling it in UEFI only.IanCutress - Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - link
I would like to add, as I end up installing OSes on different Z77 motherboards every week, that sometimes the chipset USB 3.0 do work on install. I have a motherboard here now that has only USB 3.0 on the back panel, but enough of them work during a USB Win7 install to go through it until we can install the rest of the USB 3.0 drivers.Ian
bobj3832 - Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - link
USB 3 has separate transceivers for the USB 2 and 3 parts. USB2 uses 4 pins while USB3 uses 9 because it's the the 4 from USB2 plus 5 more. Another transceiver means more die space on the chip is used and more pins which increases cost.owned66 - Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - link
never ever buy from companies like thesethese desktops wont live long
the first thing that gonna die is the motherboard just look at it !