Dell SC420 $224 free shipping

[Handruin]

http://www.bensbargains.net/ktalk/1103743598,20569,.shtml

I bought this when it was $249. So far I'm very happy with it. It works great so far with Fedora Core 3 and Server 2003 Small Business Edition. There are plenty of threads on how to turn it into a cheap gaming machine if anyone is interested.

 

[i]

Is that a great deal, or am I just showing how out of the loop I am again?

 

[Handruin]

I thought it was pretty good for a basic simple machine. Maybe I'm the one out of the loop.

 

[Pradeep]

It is a good deal, especially since it has more than 128MB of RAM standard.

 

[P5-133XL]

Come on guys -- A celeron???? Then we have the issue of a non-useful 8x PCI-E port leaving PCI video as the only real option. No sound. This machine won't work as a general purpose machine! As a cheap server it is OK once you upgrade the processor, but as a home machine it sucks the big one: To many upgrades needed. If it had a useable 16x PCI-E slot, I'd say go for it, but as it is: No way.

 

[Handruin]

I've read the ATI X700 Pro works fine in this machine with a little reworking of the PCIe slot. Sure, it's a celeron, but it does everything I need it to do just fine. Sometimes they have a P4 upgrade for the same price.

 

[Mercutio]

For the money, considering the upgrades involved, a shoebox with a processor of your choosing is probably a better choice.

But as servers, yup, they're pretty sweet.

Does anyone know where the X600 and X700 fit in to the 9600/9800/X800 line in terms of performance?

 

[Clocker]

It all depends on the intended usage. I think this would be a great machine for the person who doesn't care about gaming. For $225 you get a quiet, brand new no fuss machine that is ready to run and should have great reliability. This would be perfect for my dad if he needed a new machine. For him, all ll I'd need to do is add a cheap sound card. I think you had a great find, Doug. Thanks and keep up the good finds. I don't make it to bensbargains that much anymore but I saw youy were posting there...