Dell unloads trio of Precision workstations; Intel Core, Xeon CPUs, NVIDIA Quadro graphics

Dell has expanded its Precision workstation offerings with a pair of new mobile models and another dual-socket rack option with plenty of customizable, high-end specs.

 

Starting with the 15.6-inch M4600 and 17.3-inch M6600 (pictured above, right), these mobile workstations are designed for anyone working with heavy, heavy amounts of data - especially when working with both 2D and 3D graphics. Additionally, even though they’re both a bit large for frequent travel, these machines are still ready for the road being outfitted in with a durable aluminum and magnesium alloy chassis and have been tested for extreme temperatures, vibration, dust, altitude and shock.
There are quite a few intriguing options to choose from with these new Precision workstations, notably the choice between a four-finger multi-touch display (ideal for graphic designers and engineers) or a 100% color-correct PremierColor IPS RGB LED display with PremierColor calibration software for improved image clarity.
Other shared specs include:

• Second-generation Intel Core processor options (Up to Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition)
• AMD Eyefinity (Provides support for up to five displays simultaneously)
• NVIDIA Optimus technology
• GPU options: AMD FirePro Mobility Professional Graphics, NVIDIA Quadro Professional Graphics with up to 2GB of GDDR5 dedicated memory
• DDR3 memory options: Four DIMM slots for up to 32GB of 1,333MHz RAM or up to 16GB of 1,600MHz memory
• Connectivity: Two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, and USB 2.0/eSATA combo slot, DisplayPort, VGA and HDMI

There are some definite differences on certain areas, such as maximum hard/solid state drive space and security. The M6600 is the winner here with an optional second hard drive and a 128GB solid state drive with RAID 5 support.
Continuing on to the R5500 Rack Workstation (pictured below), this computing device is also designed for heavy data purposes and is intended to be placed in a centralized location with “remote 1:1 access to the workstation from virtually anywhere.” There are a few options to make the connection, including PC-over-IP hardware-based compression transfers or VMware View software.

To understand the scope of what this workstation offers, here’s a few of the customizable spec options:

• OS options: Red Hat Enterprise Linux; Windows Vista and 7 (Ultimate, Professional or Business)
• Intel Xeon 5600 series quad-core or six-core processors
• Up to 192GB of 1,066MHz or 1,333MHz ECC memory in 12 DIMM slots
• NVIDIA Tesla C2050 GPGPU
• Can handle up to five 2.5-inch SAS or SATA hard drives
• Support for up to five industry standard full-height and full-length PCIe x16 slots (with many NVIDIA Quadro graphics card choices)

Pricing starts at $1,678 for the Precision M4600 mobile station, and the base cost rises to $2,158 for the M6600. These will both be available worldwide on May 10th. The R5500 mobile workstation will roll out sooner on May 3rd in the United States (along with Europe, the Middle East and Africa) with a starting MSRP of $2,551. The rest of the world will get a chance at that one on May 10th as well.