Software: A lot of you hardcore computer geeks out there think that Dell computers are loaded with a bunch of crud that no one really needs. That stereotype was completely shutdown as I opened up the start menu for the first time. The only software that was installed was the Dell Keyboard Utility, MusicMatch 6.0, Image Expert 2000, and MS Works Suite 2002, all of which can be uninstalled from the add/remove programs menu. These programs are very useful for anyone to explore… but I knew exactly what I wanted so formatting wasn’t that big of a deal for me.
Again, my system was preloaded with XP Home. This is quite sufficient for the average user, but if you must have that extra mile, you can upgrade for $99, or find some other means of acquiring a copy of XP Pro (hint). Briefly, XP Pro has remote desktop capabilities and IIS services, two things I personally need and use all the time.
The Dell logo shown is not the real one that comes preloaded… I uh....forgot to back that one up…
Performance: The Dell 4400 series is specifically designed for better P4 performance, being loaded with PC2100 DDR ram and not the cheap SDR ram that quite a few retail machines use. However, keep in mind this system’s components are OEM and will not always perform as well as retail products.
Driver wise, Dell does not come bundled with the newest 23.11 drivers… so I installed them myself. The GeForce3 Ti200 that came looks identical to the generic nVidia sample with only a black passive heatsink on the core. Kind of pathetic, but this is a Dell- which isn’t meant for overclocking.
Benchmarks: And now for some Sandra scores:
In comparison to OCA’s look at the Northwood 1.8 and Abit BD7-RAID board, we can see that performance suffers by just a tiny bit. Both it being composed of OEM parts and that the Dell is using the older 1.8GHz Willamette CPU are factors responsible for this loss.
And now the highly acclaimed 3DMark2001:
With a score in the 6000s, you would be a little disappointed in such a weak 1.8ghz DDR GeForce3 rig. Overclocking the Ti200 to 235+/485+ speeds only yielded a score of 7000. But hey, when it comes to computers like Dells, stability and user-friendliness beats performance.
Here’s a shot of Black & White with Quincunx AA and 8x anisotropic filtering.
The drive is shown as a “WDC WD400BB-32CLB0” under XP. My second Western Digital drive that I added on my own, purchased from Best Buy, is almost identical in terms of speed and loudness, it being a “WDC WD400BB-75CAA0”.
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