ok i went on dell.com ok? and well i decided i wanted to make a super computer and this is what i got =D
rate on a scale from 1-10 10 is best
click here to see the "super computer"
click summary to get a summary

The link doesn't work...you'll have to copy the specs for us.

If it's from Dell, there's a -4 rating right there. The best and only real way to get an awesome computer is to do it yourself or have an enthusiast do it for you or help you with it.

Dell generally don't do 'supercomputers'. The most powerful you can get are the 'XPS gaming' ones, and they aren't really anything special if you think you can get 1gb graphics cards nowadays.

I don't know i've always regarded Falcon North West to be a rather good maker of computers - even though they overcharge a lot. The Dell XPS are actually fairly adequate for gaming. I really don't like the way dell cut corners though, mainly on the RAM and PSU. They also overcharge a LOT of RAM. I mean i just saw 4gig of my RAM sell for £45 - not bad hey? Go to dell and they'll charge you £200 for 4 gig of mediocre RAM.

Still i'm curious about this configure for a "Super computer" .

Well I just specced up an 'Dell PrecisionTM T7400', and here's what I got...

OS - WinXP x64
Processor - Dual Intel Xeon X5482 with riser (3.20GHz,1600FSB,2x6MB,Quad Core)
RAM - 64GB, 667MHz, ECC Memory (16x4GB)
Graphics Card - DUAL 1.5GB PCIe x16 (DVI/VGA) nVidia Quadro FX 5600, Quad DVI or VGA
HDD - 750GB (7,200rpm) SATA II Hard Drive
HDD2 - 750GB (7,200 rpm) SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive with NCQ and 16MB DataBurst Cache™
HDD3 and HDD4 - Additional 320GB (7,200 rpm) SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive with NCQ and 16MB DataBurst Cache™
Optical Drive - 16X DVD+/-RW + 16X DVD-ROM
Media Card Reader - 19 in 1 Internal Media Card Reader
Network Card - Dell Wireless 1505 (802.11a/b/g/n dual band) PCIe Card with Antenna
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Warranty - 3Yr Basic Warranty - NBD Included - No Upgrade Selected
Keep your Hard Drive - Not included
Anti Virus - Not included
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Monitor - 24in 2408WFP WIDESCREEN UK/Irish Black (1280X800) with TrueLife TCO99 DVI-D Height Adjustable
Additional Monitor - Not included
Keyboard - Dell Quietkey USB Black Keyboard -UK/Ire (QWERTY)
Mouse - No Mouse [blimey, I thought a mouse was standard...]
Speakers - Internal Speaker
Mouse Pad - Not included
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Total - £13,920.00 (ex. VAT)
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Read up and here are some features:
-Intel® 5400 Chipset
-4 internal 3.5" hard disk drive bays, 3 external 5.25" optical bays, one of which can accommodate a fifth SATA HDD, 1 external 3.5" flex bay for floppy or media card reader
-[PSU] 980W 80%+ efficiency
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Couldn't find anything on the make of the motherboard.

Thats a nice workstation build actually, although i don't see why not a few solid states couldn't be thrown into that . Price is a bit high ($25,000 for Americans) I could build a lot better myself but wouldn't use it. Mostly i'm interested in gaming computers though to be honest

Geeze--it's all wrong. You don't need to spend $25,000 bucks on a freaking computer!! Also, while 8GB of RAM is believable, 64GB is a freaking waste of money!

OS - WinXP Pro 32 & WinVista Ultimate 64
Processors - 2 x Intel E5420 Harpertowns BSEL modded to FSB400 (1600MHz rated--brings them to 3.2GHz chips IIRC)
Motherboard - Intel "Skull-Trail" D5400XS
RAM - 4x2GB DDR2 800 FB-DIMMs
HDDs - 2xWD Raptor 150s in RAID0, 4xWD Caviar GP 1TB in RAID5
Graphics - Radeon HD3870X2 or GeForce 9800GTX
Optical - 2xDVD Burners w/ Lightscribe, SATA
PSU - 1xSeaSonic M12 600W, 1x SeaSonic M12 500W
Case - Silverstone TJ10-BW

Monitor - Dell 24" is a pretty good choice
Keyboard - IBM Model-M (yes--those huge usually-beige keyboards that never die and are the best keyboards you can ever type on)
Mouse - Your favorite Logitech mouse
Speakers - Computers do not work well with "quality" audio--so a Logitech X-540 set would be plenty

@ Bobsama, this topic is more for the awe of the specs and not the overall price. The user isn't actually looking to purchase the system, he just wanted to see the best specs or highest prices available.

Edit: @ post 10. I agree with you.

Oh well. Still massively overpriced for quite the POS system. Specs look great but it's not worth $25,000.

If you do alot of video editing that much RAM could be useful.

If you were doing 8 different videos, then the most that would be useful is about 16GB. Anything more is really overkill--paying for something you will not need and you will not use. It's cool to have 64GB RAM, but it really is a waste of money. 16GB will be more than enough for a year or two--in which time 4GB DDR2 800 FB-DIMMs will be much cheaper and more available.

Nice PC...
64GB ram is a bit much?
Only if your a movie director with a huge screen (1280x1024?) and many movies to edit then its handy..
1.5GBVRAM is good! could play almost any game then!
And whats the CPU? 6.4GHZ? If so, its double of what i got

Definitely.

1280x1024 is a small screen. Are you thinking 2560x2048?

There's much more to games than VRAM. The graphics cards, while nice, are actually crippled for gaming, compared to their 8800GTX counterparts. That's the problem with Quadro graphics--they're designed for engineers more then for gamers. Putting the most-expensive Quadros in SLI aren't going to help gaming.

3.2GHz processor. There are two processors and each processor has four physical core. That's 8 cores, each at 3.2GHz.

Shame 4-8 core scaling isn't all that at the moment . P.S. you choose Windows Vista 64, i was under the impression only server 2003/2008 supported 8 core? even so, that's one number crunching machine .

No--Server 2003/2008 support more than 2 physical processors. WinXP Home is limited to 1 socket, WinXP Pro is limited to 2 sockets. Same thing with Vista Ultimate & Business/Enterprise--2 sockets, versus Home Basic/Premium's 1 socket.

lol Bob-sama I was just seeing how far I could push it

I'd personally NewEgg it all, and then throw in 4 Dell 30" LCDs for good measure! After all, if you're spending that much, you should have the best of everything--not Dell c**p.

Best personal computer for gaming from Dell is H2C. So goood, except it overheats... even with H2C cooling.

Whoa just checked out that comp,

680i = hot northbridge + low FSB wall
QX6850 - good chip but why not a qx9650? even a q9450 would OC better

I don't know much about TEC's (bob-sama might be able to fill that one) but they seem to suck up a lot of power? Personally i don't see the point, everyday use = 3x yate loon + black ice rad + high flow = cool?

Someone mind jumping in with why TEC's would make a good everyday usage cooling system?

Yeah? No. Seriously--if it's Dell, it's not the best. I've said it many times--the only way to get the best computer possible is to put it together yourself. Contracts prevent companies such as Dell, HP, and Gateway from making you your uber computer. look at the Dell H2C for proof--it doesn't have the best of the best. Things to change from their configuration would be motherboard chipset--nVidia's nForce 790i is pretty good--though Intel's X48 chipset is a better choice, most of the time. You can get everything you want and more, and it's still not the "best".


TECs are thermal-electric coolers. In short, TEC systems are like small freezers. They'll let you drop temperatures and many can handle a respectable heat load, most retail models lose their potency above 150W-200W of heat dissipation. They're not exactly exotic--at least not as exotic as the usual Phase, DICE, LN2, and Chiller systems. It functions on the concept of a Chiller, but it still is much different. Actually--chiller systems are basically souped up air conditioners, cooling liquids far sub-ambient. Depending on the unit and the amount of liquid, they can handle hundreds of watts of heat. They suck power, but they are also pretty good--a good choice if you really want sub-ambient. I see no point, really. Most of the time you need a large cooler to put the supplies in, and it adds hundreds of pounds. I know of several water-cooled systems that will be able to easily dissipate 600W or more of heat--usually huge computers compared to your everyday towers.

For water cooling, it all depends on what you want to do. Black Ice rads (Pro, Extreme, 1x120 to 3x120) are a bit of budget models. Usually I'd say look at Swiftech rad or something similar. A few Yate Loons (low or medium speed) are awesome for fans--and they're very inexpensive while still quite silent and long-lasting. Flow doesn't matter that much... high-flow can get more liquid to absorb heat, low-flow has the liquid there long to absorb more heat. As long as you have above about a 0.8 GPM (gallons per minute) flow rate, you should be fine. Most of the time, high-flow comes with higher pump settings--meaning it can add some extra sound. If you have it dampened enough, that's not a problem. Usually people recommend high-flow, because future upgrades won't kill your flow. High-flow blocks, such as a D-Tek Fuzion, are usually paired. Petra's Tech Shop FTW for water cooling supplies.


EDIT: Forgot to answer another part of the question...

TECs make sense for lower-load systems. They're compact, though retail models are quite loud. Upgrade to a 120mm fan (120-to-92mm adapter) and you are on the right track. I know some people will mod some of those CoolIt units, adding extra TECs and putting it on a 2x120mm rad. It's pretty far to go, but it's still more compact then many standard water cooling systems when stock and handles a higher load then water or air.