Dell’s Optiplex Dilemma
Beating up on Dell continues with an analysis of Dell’s lineup of Optiplex computers. Yaknow, the systems designed as business “Managed PCs.”
April 19, 2000
by Eric Svetcov
After my last potshot at Dell I thought I was done beating them up for a while. However, in light of the flap about the Tom’s Hardware Guide report on RDRAM vs. SDRAM in both Dissecting Rambus and Rambus Revisited, I felt I needed to point out Dell’s Optiplex dilemma.
Dell’s Optiplex line of products is considered by Dell to be the standard computer system a company should purchase in order to improve: Reliability, Configuration Stability, Serviceability and Manageability. It is the system that each Dell business sales rep is trained to recommend to their business customers. The problem is that the most of the computers are equipped either with Intel’s i810e chipset with onboard video (not so fondly thought of as Intel’s video decelerator) or with Intel’s i820 chipset which features the expensive (and not quite so fast as touted) RDRAM memory or the lame memory translation solution to allow you to use SDRAM, but at a significant performance penalty.
Ah, you might say, “But Dell still offers 440BX based systems in the Optiplex line.” Well, that’s true, Dell does have a couple of systems that are based upon the 440BX chipset that are still available in the Optiplex line. The problem is that Dell is labeling these systems as legacy products and the question then becomes...how long will they be available. Will those disk images I just created become totally obsolete in just a few months? Will I be stuck with a system with a built in video decelerator? Will I be stuck buying expensive RDRAM of dubious worth? Will I cripple my nice new machine by using SDRAM via a translation architecture?
These are all important questions that Dell needs to address. Other companies, Gateway, Compaq, IBM and just about every other PC suppliers has chosen to open up to alternative architectures. Either by using VIA based motherboards with Intel processors, a 133 MHz FSB, AGP 4x, and 133 MHz SDRAM or by choosing an AMD based system (recently shipping with a new VIA chipset as well - 133 MHz memory bus, AGP 4x, and 133 MHz SDRAM). The advantages of considering alternative architectures is that you can actually choose a solution that will perform decently and you won’t be charged the seemingly outrageous Rambus memory tax. Although I admire Dell’s execution over the years in capturing a huge percentage of the business computing market, I just think they have missed the boat on the alternatives that are available in light of Intel’s recent chipset fiascos.
If you agree, and are a purchaser of Dell Optiplex systems, contact Dell and tell them how you feel. If enough of us get together and tell Dell to alter their strategy, maybe...just maybe... they will actually listen to us and provide a line of computers based upon real performance and not a bunch of Intel/Rambus hype.