Fire-breathing workstations
Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 9:22 am
Gotta love off-lease resellers...
I just got a grand deal on an Intellistation Z Pro. Twin 3.6gig Xeons, 4 gig RAM, 73 gig U320 SCSI, all for just under $375 with shipping.
There are more available if others want to try for the same deal. The seller is tech-traders on That Auction Place, item #300309367261. Asking price, BIN, was $403, I offered $335. Granted, the things are only on sale for another few hours, so his threshold for accepting offers may change.
The system will replace a custom-built twin-AMD Athlon MP box which I put together back in 2002. It still works well, but I've been looking for something a bit less power-hungry than the Athlons (that's one edge Intel has always had over AMD -- better power management!).
UPDATE: 9-Oct-09
The monster arrived a couple of days ago. What a work of art! Built like the proverbial tank, weighs just about as much, but I can't believe how QUIET this thing is! IBM certainly seems to know what they're doing with the fans.
A bit of an unexpected bonus: The auction ad says Nvidia Quadro FX1000, but the card which came with the machine is actually an FX1400 which, if I recall, either has a bit more memory or better speed under some conditions.
I would be surprised if any of Lenovo's current offerings could hold a candle to this beast for sheer quality of build.
Keep the peace(es).
I just got a grand deal on an Intellistation Z Pro. Twin 3.6gig Xeons, 4 gig RAM, 73 gig U320 SCSI, all for just under $375 with shipping.
There are more available if others want to try for the same deal. The seller is tech-traders on That Auction Place, item #300309367261. Asking price, BIN, was $403, I offered $335. Granted, the things are only on sale for another few hours, so his threshold for accepting offers may change.
The system will replace a custom-built twin-AMD Athlon MP box which I put together back in 2002. It still works well, but I've been looking for something a bit less power-hungry than the Athlons (that's one edge Intel has always had over AMD -- better power management!).
UPDATE: 9-Oct-09
The monster arrived a couple of days ago. What a work of art! Built like the proverbial tank, weighs just about as much, but I can't believe how QUIET this thing is! IBM certainly seems to know what they're doing with the fans.
A bit of an unexpected bonus: The auction ad says Nvidia Quadro FX1000, but the card which came with the machine is actually an FX1400 which, if I recall, either has a bit more memory or better speed under some conditions.
I would be surprised if any of Lenovo's current offerings could hold a candle to this beast for sheer quality of build.
Keep the peace(es).
