Dell Poweredge SC420 For $229!!! Celery 325J

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PrkChpXprss said:
Argh. I was waiting to get paid so I could get this. Sucks to have missed out.
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I know what you mean man.. I barely had enough to squeeze out a box.. consider me lucky :p
 
I wouldn't worry to much, considering Dell the deal will be back. Typically hey rotate discounts, at least in Dell Home, so after it goes up for a week or two, it goes back down. Still, even though it's $50 more, it's still a good deal.
 
The Celeron and the P4 systems both have the same Heatsink. Both copper heat pipes with aluminum heatsink.

I have one of each system and they are the same. Huge!!
 
Yeah, it is huge, that's for sure. Stands mighty tall there, and with the big "green shroud" it makes it look even larger.

Anyone else have a problem with the wire-routing for the "square" power connector near the CPU? They had mine running between the heat-pipe and the fan, so the fan would grind against one of the wires. Move the green shroud up (it is hinged and flips up) and then push the wires around to the underside of the fan instead of in front. Quiet again, and no worry about tearing up the insulation.

This thing makes almost no sound, so if yours makes that small "grind" or "rub" sound, this is the problem so its an easy fix - obviously this only for people who don't know any better to start with. :)
 
I had wanted to get in on this deal and put the computer in a 2u rackmount case I have. I guess with that huge heatsink, that won't work. Is it almost the width of the whole case?
 
i just swapped the CPUs (3.4 and 3.4F w/EM64T) between my 8400 and new SC420. Now to remove the 2 tabs from the PCI-E slot. The hot blade method looks safest.
 
nomar said:
I had wanted to get in on this deal and put the computer in a 2u rackmount case I have. I guess with that huge heatsink, that won't work. Is it almost the width of the whole case?
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Yeah sucker goes from the board all the way to the other side. Massive is a good descriptor. I thought my Zalman 7000 was big, however it isn't very heavy.

I am very impressed with construction, mainly the plastic used. Much better than a standard dell desktop. The bastards didn't send me enough rails (used the extra set on my other 120gb SATA), and now I have to go steal some to put a floppy in. Good thing all the computer lab computers are dells.
 
amd ati FO SHO said:
lol joe, your last couple posts are useless. if you really believed that people shouldn't post useless stuff then; why didn't you just ignore the responses in the first place?
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haha, ownage.
 
tom61 said:
I wouldn't worry to much, considering Dell the deal will be back. Typically hey rotate discounts, at least in Dell Home, so after it goes up for a week or two, it goes back down. Still, even though it's $50 more, it's still a good deal.
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Last I checked, the system is $150 more, at a minimum.

...and after seeing the build quality of this machine, anyone that thinks Dell is crap is a fucking MOE-ron.

Anyone try to plug the monster Promise Fastrak SX4 into the box? If so, does it fit? I'm looking to set up a 1TB Raid5 file server now that Tivo allows you to archive yo shiznit.
 
joecool234 said:
Last I checked, the system is $150 more, at a minimum.

...and after seeing the build quality of this machine, anyone that thinks Dell is crap is a fucking MOE-ron.

Anyone try to plug the monster Promise Fastrak SX4 into the box? If so, does it fit? I'm looking to set up a 1TB Raid5 file server now that Tivo allows you to archive yo shiznit.
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how would you, personally, work those drive space? I was trying to think of how i could get more drives in there but at best i'm only seeing a possibilities of like 5 if you can some how manage to get 2 drives in the floppy bays... unless there are only one, i cant remember now.
 
cybertron said:
how would you, personally, work those drive space? I was trying to think of how i could get more drives in there but at best i'm only seeing a possibilities of like 5 if you can some how manage to get 2 drives in the floppy bays... unless there are only one, i cant remember now.
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I haven't exactly figured that out yet, as MY server hasn't arrived (I gave one to my bro for xmas...my memory is a little hazy as to the spatial arrangement). From what I have read, the cage has space for 3 3.5" drives (not sure if the floppy counts as 1). I will also mount one in the 5.25" bay. If I still need more space, off to the local metal shop I go. The case has tons of spare room in it, I just need to ghetto-rig it to suit my needs.
 
cybertron said:
at best i'm only seeing a possibilities of like 5 if you can some how manage to get 2 drives in the floppy bays...
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6 if you remove the CD-ROM. The case has 4 x 3.5" bays and 2 x 5.25" bays.
 
I'm pulling the HD out to use as another backup storage device and giving the computer to my motherinlaw. If it can get it to work, I'm hoping to run DSL just off the ram. Spyware issues be gone!

:)
 
hey for the guys that own this: are you experiencing loud cd-roms? I just got my server and powered it up for setup, I put my server 2003 enterprice eval in and the cd-rom buzzes.. not too loud but kinda makes me worry. just wanna make sure this is normal.. thanks guys.
 
StinkyMojo said:
hey for the guys that own this: are you experiencing loud cd-roms? I just got my server and powered it up for setup, I put my server 2003 enterprice eval in and the cd-rom buzzes.. not too loud but kinda makes me worry. just wanna make sure this is normal.. thanks guys.
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Yea. Normal. I think 48x or 52x.
 
You probablly have a cheaper model cdrom. My 1st sc420 had a whisper quiet cdrom (only used it for a week, then gave it away); however, the cdrom for a dimension 4700 i bought a year was loud as all hell. I guess its hit or miss when it comes to peripherals with Dell. Just replace it with a CDRW anyways.
 
Just as an update, I got my case about 3 or 4 days ago, it is a wonderfully built box. We tossed in Linux, built it up in about half an hour, then downloaded HLDS and Source on it, and it's currently sitting in my office on my business T1 as a dedicated source server for local friends, and it does the job perfectly.
 
VERY well constructed. I love the swinging out side of the case idea for the server. Makes it really easy to get in and out of. All the cables are very well routed out of the airflow or obstuction. Huge heatsink with heatpipe and it looks pretty cool :)

I'll be putting MS win SBE 2003 on it shortly in the next couple weeks.
 
Just got mine all set up and installed with Win2k. The hard drive it came with was accually a 80Gig Maxtor not hte seagate. Kinda dissapointed in that but hey it was only $10 more for 40 more gigs. Everything seems great and like previously said quality is top notch.
 
Jovian said:
Just got mine all set up and installed with Win2k. The hard drive it came with was accually a 80Gig Maxtor not hte seagate. Kinda dissapointed in that but hey it was only $10 more for 40 more gigs. Everything seems great and like previously said quality is top notch.
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i got a maxtor too :/
 
pxc said:
i think he complained more on the principle because obviously the hardware to make something similar is going to cost more at newegg. LOL
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I have stuff already sitting around so no, it won't cost me more. I could use a nice MCNP machine though. I think I'll get one with a P4 2.8 next time the sale comes around. Could swap the HD out for another drive I have sitting around and sell it to save some more money.
 
There was some discussion earlier about not getting X working with Linux and the onboard video with this SC420.

I'm not a Linux noobie, but certainly not an expert either. I have Mandrake 10.1 Official running on my machine. Here are the steps I took to get it there, I'm not at work any longer, so I can't type it all in, but you'll get the gist. If anyone needs the stuff typed out, just ask, and I'll post it here tomorrow.

Before I wasted my time, I thought I'd try the new Knoppix (think it is 3.7, released Dec 8, 2004) if it didn't boot to X with that, no reason to even try installing Mandrake for a while (since 10.1 is an 'older build' than the current Knoppix). CD in drive, what do you know, Knoppix boots up into X, and at 1024x768, with 800x600 and 640x480 options as well.

Went into console, found XF86config (or whatever, not particular in this rendition to caps) looked in the file, found the "Device" section, and wrote down everything related to the video card.

Driver "vesa"

Bingo, that's what I wanted. Shut down Knoppix, installed Mandrake 10.1, it gets to the X setup, and as everyone has reported, it fails. Didn't matter much to me, since I had the gold written on paper.

Did the reboot after install, let Mandrake boot (NOT into the X login, never do that, it’s a waste) logged in, and proceeded to SU. Edited the XF86config file in my Mandrake install to include all the lines that were in the Device section for the video card under Knoppix, and saved it.

Exited out of SU. StartX. Bingo, X loads up, sweet! It did have a problem though, only 800x600 and 640x480 so some more editing was needed. I do lots of things with the GUI (I /am/ using Mandrake after all) so went into the "Hardware Configuration" and changed some parts in there, by adding 1024x768 to the list. I didn't want to push it too much, since this is a fixed 8meg card. Had to restart X, and viola my standard desktop.

Now, to theme it, but that isn't needed in this thread... :)

So, X is possible with these boxes, it just takes some work. As I said earlier, I don't have the device section here, it is at work. If someone needs it, reply in here (I have it subscribed) and I'll post it tomorrow.

Wow, this ended up being a long post, for no more information it contained!

I'm sure this will work with Fedora and other distros as well.

Good luck fellow Linux'ites!
 
kleptophobiac said:
Kernels 2.6.9 and 2.6.10 picked up and ran beautifully with this system. Be warned that if you want to run X for some reason (I needed it to configure mythbackend - it has no way to configure it otherwise) then you'll be stuck with the vesa drivers, as there isn't an accelerated driver for the i915 chipset yet.
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Hehehe...
 
Yep, good ole Vesa drivers. They suck, which is why I didn't even try anything beyond 1024x768.

But, I figured there were a few people who just gave up, so I thought I'd post a heads-up. :)

Not great, but works just fine. Perfect really, for what this onboard is capable of anyway, lousy performance. :)
 
OK you guys are pissing me off! I'm mad at myself for not getting in on the deal. Next time... :D
 
Got mine, Slapped an ITE pici 133 card in, dropped in 3 drives I had kicking around, makes a nice little storage machine, and for a celery its quite peppy.

I used Nlite to create a bootable XP sp2 cd with the drivers I needed to install (the onboard SATA) and everything went smooth as butter, Running it headless on the network.
 
aghhhh

could a mod please change the title to say [dead]? it gets me every time ;) :D
 
ziddey said:
aghhhh

could a mod please change the title to say [dead]? it gets me every time ;) :D
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I totally agree. As this thread IS in the HotDeals section...and the deal is OVAH...all posts here have absolutely nothing to do with a deal. A new thread should be started in a hardware section.
 
:) ok i went to buy one of these & got instead a sc1420, after modding the pci-express slot to take my card, i find there is an issue that my onboard nic no longer works reliably :confused:
it works for a few minutes then im offline, hit the disable icon & the re enable it & it works for a few more minutes?
also i got a seagate u320 with an adaptec card since thats what we use..
not enough standard pci slots in this unit & had to add my own sound card & promise ata133 card + a NIC :(
NO Floppy Mounting Brackets EITHER :(

Note: For server use only; CANNOT BE USED AS A DESKTOP.
Dell does not support the use of a graphics card on the SC420
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Instead of voiding the warranty (motherboard, at least) by modifying the slot, I modified the PCI-E card instead. Of course I don't recommend doing this to a card actually worth anything...

http://www.notveryserio.us/pix/x300se-x8.jpg

I used a cutting disc on my el cheap-o dremel clone and yes, i just sliced through traces, contacts, etc without regard. The system is going to my brother (with a regular 84W P4 3.4GHz... I kept the 3.4F :D) and he needs a DVI port. The x300SE is perfect since he doesn't play games at all.

And last night, for less than 2 hours, dell had a pretty awesome deal on the Dimension XPS for $519 after $1250 :eek: off coupon:
Dimension XPS
Pentium® 4 Processor 550 with HT Technology (3.40GHz, 800 FSB), Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition Qty: 1
Unit Price: $1,769.00
Dimension XPS Pentium® 4 Processor 550 with HT Technology (3.40GHz, 800 FSB)
Memory 512MB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz (2x256M)
Video Card 128MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon™ X300 SE (6800GTO was $290 extra)
Hard Drive 80GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
Floppy Drive and Additional Storage Devices 3.5 in Floppy Drive
Operating System Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
CD or DVD Drive Single Drive: 16X DVD-ROM Drive
Sound Card Sound Blaster Audigy™2 ZS (D) Card w/Dolby 5.1, and IEEE 1394
etc
$1769 - $1250 = $519

I got one of those. :D
 
Falls Included said:
its shitty how there are no XP drivers...anyone find any decent info on this yet?
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:confused: All the drivers are readily available. Download the regular infinst_enu.exe intel chipset driver package and the Broadcom 570x gigabit driver package. If you're using the integrated graphics, download win2k_xp149.exe. That's everything.

If you want the Dell versions (same as available from intel, just repackaged), download R79695.EXE and R87461.EXE. I'm not using the Dell repackaged graphics driver so i don'r know the name of that. Use teh google and/or SC420 FAQ.
 
You guys seriously have to stop posting about drivers in this thread. This is a hot deal thread, not a hardware related thread. The reason I say this is that this question is answered on pages 4,5,7,9,10 and now 12. When people see a 12 page thread they skip right to the end and post their stupid question.

If you know anything about computers...AT ALL...you would know that 99.99% of all drivers written for server 2003 are compatible with XP.

USE THE GOD DAMN DRIVERS FOR SERVER 2003!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And if you still can't figure it out, PM me and I'll send u my address. Just send me your SERVER.....becuase YOU don't deserve to own it.
 
pxc said:
Instead of voiding the warranty (motherboard, at least) by modifying the slot, I modified the PCI-E card instead. Of course I don't recommend doing this to a card actually worth anything...

http://www.notveryserio.us/pix/x300se-x8.jpg

I used a cutting disc on my el cheap-o dremel clone and yes, i just sliced through traces, contacts, etc without regard. The system is going to my brother (with a regular 84W P4 3.4GHz... I kept the 3.4F :D) and he needs a DVI port. The x300SE is perfect since he doesn't play games at all.

And last night, for less than 2 hours, dell had a pretty awesome deal on the Dimension XPS for $519 after $1250 :eek: off coupon:
Dimension XPS
Pentium® 4 Processor 550 with HT Technology (3.40GHz, 800 FSB), Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition Qty: 1
Unit Price: $1,769.00
Dimension XPS Pentium® 4 Processor 550 with HT Technology (3.40GHz, 800 FSB)
Memory 512MB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz (2x256M)
Video Card 128MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon™ X300 SE (6800GTO was $290 extra)
Hard Drive 80GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
Floppy Drive and Additional Storage Devices 3.5 in Floppy Drive
Operating System Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
CD or DVD Drive Single Drive: 16X DVD-ROM Drive
Sound Card Sound Blaster Audigy™2 ZS (D) Card w/Dolby 5.1, and IEEE 1394
etc
$1769 - $1250 = $519

I got one of those. :D
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i've read. they are cancelling all the orders. game over :(.
 
amd ati FO SHO said:
will you pay for shipping?
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Hells yeah, I'll pay for shipping....just don't expect to get it back :p

But seriously though, this thread should be killed or at least moved elsewhere.
 
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