Dell Precision T3600 Review: Dell's New Enterprise
by Dustin Sklavos on April 23, 2012 7:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
- Dell
- Precision
- Workstation
- Maximus
Conclusion: Most Improved Since 2011
Where build and design are concerned, Dell's Precision T3600 (along with the T5600 and T7600) are like night and day compared to last year's line. The Precision T1600 wasn't a bad desktop, but the revised design here is preferable in every conceivable way, and those design cues are echoed across the entire lineup (including the new T1650).
While Dell would like to talk to you about performance and just how fast their Precision desktops are, realistically that's not actually their strong suit when taken in context. HP can for the most part build desktops just as fast as Dell can because they're sourcing their parts from the same places. The underlying mantra with Dell's revised chassis design, and the thing that the end user should really be focusing on, is one word: "uptime."
In a perfect world computer parts just wouldn't break down, but this isn't a perfect world, so Dell did the next best thing: they tried to make the least reliable parts in a computer system as easy to service as humanly possible. Their RMT addresses memory-related issues and stability while toolless mounts for hard drives and especially the power supply ensure that should any of these parts actually fail, it's easy to just replace it and keep going. Simply put, Dell has designed around minimizing downtime due to service. Better still, they've made the systems easy enough to service that even a relative neophyte can do it.
The other thing I'd ordinarily want to address with the T3600 would be pricing, but this review is as much a preview as it is a review. The T3600 and its kin aren't going to be available until next month, and so until then we have no idea just how badly the end user is going to get gouged—and rest assured, they will be gouged. This is as true for HP as it is for Dell; you're paying for service and reliability, and in the process you're going to pay an arm and a leg for certain upgrades. There's a very good reason companies chase after the enterprise sector.
Ultimately, though, I think Dell has done very right by their customers with the new Precision towers. The T3600, at least in our review configuration, is as fast as Dell wants you to believe. They've also made the systems as easy to diagnose and service as humanly possible. We have a competing system from HP in house that we'll be reviewing soon, but the bar has been set.
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mfenn - Monday, April 23, 2012 - link
Nice to see some of the technology from their server line make its way into the workstations.cjcoats - Monday, April 23, 2012 - link
As the user of a previous-generation Dell T7500 forced on me by the bean-counters, I was appalled at the lack of potential storage--a max of four 3.5-inch drives (which is unheard-of for such a full-tower case).Some of us do real storage-intensive tasks on our workstations, and this is simply unacceptable (a typical single run of what I'm working on generates about 2 TB of output, and there's no way I can do even two-way comparisons in the space available.
Is the T7600 likewise crippled?
blackbrrd - Monday, April 23, 2012 - link
So, 4 hdd spaces of 3tb set in RAID 1 gives you 6TB space, enough to do a two-way comparision with 2TB of space left over. There are 3TB drives available...oynaz - Monday, April 23, 2012 - link
He wrote typical. that presumably means that some runs are larger.cjcoats - Monday, April 23, 2012 - link
Foundation (input) files take up space.Other projects take up space.
Model-calibration does multi-way comparisons, and wants at least 10 TB, but 6 TB was the most Dell would put in the machine.
My original spec had 16 TB, and was ignored by the bean-counters, because Dell could/would not put more than 6TB in the machine. (Which was delivered 3 months late, btw., and without the right monitor-cables.)
TheTechSmith - Monday, April 23, 2012 - link
Clearly you have a special need, and the machine is meant for a broader audience. Consider using an external RAID enclosure with as many bays as you need, perhaps connected via eSata.sphigel - Monday, April 23, 2012 - link
First of all the T7500 isn't really that big of a case. It is large compared to most modern desktops but accommodating 4 hard drives is perfectly reasonable for a case of its size. Secondly, if you need more than 4 hard drives in your system and aren't custom building your desktops you're going to have trouble finding desktops that work for you. It seems like you'd be better off using a high speed external raid enclosure. Also, you should have known the HD capacity of the system before you bought it. It sounds like your problem is with your "bean counters" and not Dell.ZeDestructor - Monday, April 23, 2012 - link
I think you need a DAS, or else a GPU-equipped server. The brand new PowerEdge T620 has room for up to 12 3.5" drives or 32 2.5" drives.I myself want a taller version of the T620 chassis to build a monster watercooled gamingrig because it has so much space inside and doesn't look too bad either. (assuming you add the bezel)
eanazag - Monday, April 23, 2012 - link
Basically, what does the motherboard's SATA count look like? I am guessing cjcoats would be looking at an external storage solution. I think this would likely require a SAS/SATA add-in card. You may be able to go the 4 x 2.5" drive route, but doubt you will be able to get enough free space to work it.Stick it to the bean counters with a 10GbE external iSCSI storage. CJCoats will likely have storage issues no matter what workstation they roll with if it is not a a 4U size chassis.
MichaelD - Monday, April 23, 2012 - link
I couldn't help but notice the physical configuration of the CPUs in the dual-CPU models.They are one right behind the other, in a line. So with the front-to-back cooling flow, the hot air from CPU0 blows right into CPU1. This is far from optimal in a workstation where cooling performance is attenuated in the name of acoustics. In a server with 1K CFM of airflow it wouldn't matter.
I know all this gets tested out in product development, and I'm sure the thing would probably run forever in the desert, but it's worth noting.
Other than that niggle, I feel Dell has done an admirable job with this new line of workstations! I really dig the hotswap PSU (long time overdue IMO) and the move to a slim DVD drive. The article mentions a possible 4x2.5" drive cage in place of the DVD drive. Is that a definite option? That much additional onboard HDD Storage would really add value in this market segement.