Dell laptop

David Werkheiser · Post by **David Werkheiser** » Fri, Aug 03 2007, 10:01AM

Am looking at a Dell M90 at their outlet store and I see that it is available with either a FX2500 or FX3500 with a price difference of $500-700. Would the FX3500 make much of a difference running E-cabs or would the money be better spent getting 4MB of memory instead of 2MB? After fighing with a old desk-top system that kept crashing, I got a Dell desk-top 9 months ago with the Quardo FX4500 card with 3GB of memory and E-cabs really flies. Thanks to all of you for your advice, this is a great forum.
David Werkheiser

Post by **Dean Fehribach** » Fri, Aug 03 2007, 10:46AM

If cash is a factor, the 2500 processor will do you just fine. Also, 2GB is currently a very good memory point for running Windows and eCabinets.

Al Navas · Post by **Al Navas** » Fri, Aug 03 2007, 11:53AM

One more point:

Unless the eCabs people announce compatibility with Vista, stick with WinXP Pro.

Al

Michael Yeargain · Post by **Michael Yeargain** » Fri, Aug 03 2007, 3:50PM

Dean,

I think what David was asking was (is the 3500 card worth the difference or is the money better spent on memory.)

My computer is a Dell Precision PWS490 Intel(R) Xeon(TM) CPU 3.2 Ghz 3.19 Ghz, 3.0GB RAM XP Pro Service pack 2. I also have a NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 PCI xpress x16 512 MB with the downloaded tweak applied. This computer really flies.

Nick M Singer · Post by **Nick M Singer** » Fri, Aug 03 2007, 11:46PM

I took the leap and ordered a Dell M90 with the FX3500 on the 16th/07. Well I am still waiting and it is sitting in pre-production. The hold up I think is the card, They promise 7 to 10 days delivery but once they got your money they set any time they need! When I finally get it I will let you know how the thing runs eCabs with a 3500 card. the rest of the machine is recommended spec with a 2.0ghz processor.

DanEpps · Post by **DanEpps** » Sat, Aug 04 2007, 7:44AM

The nVidia website has a comparison chart for all of their GPUs. According to the chart there is no difference in specs between the 2500 and 3500 as far as speed and performance.

The only differences shown on Dell's website are graphics clock speed (575e/600m for the 3500 versus 500e/600m for the 2500) and power consumption (70 watts for the 3500 versus 65 watts for the 2500).

Both have 512MB dedicated RAM so video memory is not an issue with either card.

Nick M Singer · Post by **Nick M Singer** » Sat, Aug 04 2007, 2:26PM

Dan, besides the obvious like they just want to make more money, why is there a price difference between the 2500 and the 3500 if they are the same?

DanEpps · Post by **DanEpps** » Sat, Aug 04 2007, 4:49PM

Nick M Singer wrote:Dan, besides the obvious like they just want to make more money, why is there a price difference between the 2500 and the 3500 if they are the same?

They do have a different GPU and the 3500 is a little faster than the 2500 (according to Dell's specs). Looking at Dell's site, the 2500 adds about $250 USD and the 3500 adds about $950 USD to the price of a new M90. Personally, I don't think there is enough of a performance difference to warrant the big price difference.

Michael Yeargain · Post by **Michael Yeargain** » Sat, Aug 04 2007, 7:47PM

So to interpret this googamagig the money is best spent in memory. You can not go wrong putting in more RAM.

My opinion is that if you are on a budget and are looking for a computer to handle the performance; you need the recommended 2Gig processor and RAM of 2Gig.

Second is to use a PCI card and not the standard cards. The performance is dramatically different.

This has been a very important issue with every computer I have ever owned using e_cabinets Systems, especially of late builds. As the software improves in future builds the increased performance of the machine will become increased. So to say this in a nut shell. If you are on a budget go ahead and get the minimum system. And add RAM as you get the funds. The memory is not that expensive. Any cabinet shop that is successful puts money in their tools and also the office \"design center\".

Don't sacrifice and try to run a shop with inadequate tools. And the computer is one of your KEY tools you will need.

I have been told by many former cabinet designers that they can produce a set of drawings faster than me on my computer. And I just laugh. Because once the design is done (if they can keep up) we can click a button and produce a cut list. Where are they in their cut list development at this point. Just getting the pencil sharpened.

David Werkheiser · Post by **David Werkheiser** » Sun, Aug 05 2007, 9:44AM

Dan , thanks for the claification on the 2 cards, I will go with the FX2500 and go with more memory (4 GB). Michael, correct me if I'am wrong, but the M90 has 2 slots for memory and if you get 2GB both slots are filled, than you replace them both to upgrade to 4GB. When I bought my new desk top 9 mos. ago, I asked a friend who is an engineer and works with Auto Cad about the Navida FX4500 card, and he though I was nuts to spend that kind of money , but I'am glad I did , as E-Cabs no longer crashes. Thanks to all of you,
David Werkheiser

Michael Yeargain · Post by **Michael Yeargain** » Sun, Aug 05 2007, 5:32PM

David,

I'm not that familiar with the M90, but looking at the Dell web site the specs they list there are:

Available DIMM Slots:
Two memory slots supporting up to 4GB of DDR2 dual-channel memory
Memory Capacities:
512MB to 4GB capacities available at 667 MHz speed
Speeds of 8.5 GB/s with dual-channel to help improve performance

So there are two slots available and they do support an upgrade to 4GB.

Thermwood / eCabinet Systems

Dell laptop

Dell laptop

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