mdburkey said:69ragtop said:Does the 530N use the same motherboard with both the E2180 and Q9300/Q6600?

In other words, could you put a quad-core processor in this later?

The answer is no.

The 530 series uses a custom Dell OEM FoxConn motherboard.
For all versions EXCEPT the Quads, the 530's come with a G33M02 -- which has 6 populated voltage regulators.
For all Quad core units, the 530's come with a G33M03 -- which has 11 populated voltage regulators.

To prevent damage/problems, the G33M02 is hardwired to refuse to start if the VID settings on the processor exceed it's rated capability. In essence, the G33M02 is incapable of accepting a Q6600 -- period.

Additionally, the Quad versions come with a 350W (typically a Lite-On) power supply and the others come with a 300W (typically Bestec or ACBel).

Thanks for the very detailed answer.

mdburkey said:MsLiz said:Can you rewrite the OS Ubuntu with Windows XP or Vista on this machine?

Yes. The unit is in no way different than the other 530 series units Dell sells.
However, they will only give you support or handle warranty issues when it is install with Ubuntu.
That said, if you are capable enough to install XP from scratch and load all the drivers correctly, then you are probably a lot more knowledgeable than the average Dell support agent is anyway!

I purchase the N series all the time for use as cheap file servers (loading Server 2003) and for use as XP machines (I have a stack of retail copies of Win98 that I got on clearance that are perfectly good for use with our SA program).

LOL! Don't know about being better than Dell techs, but I can navigate a computer pretty well. I am aware that my warrenty would be voided, if it showed Windows as the OP. Thanks for the prompt answer. This is a great deal.

There is no longer an option to remove the monitor, so this deal is dead (for now),

I purchased an extra one, so if you want a Q6600 with 4gb of ram then let me know i'll sell it to ya for invoice price

searchfordeal said:how do you buy it from EPP? I thought you have to have retail email address..

Kevindar said:not approving the order (two sets of order). how can I find out which companies are epp?

Is there somewhere where you enter your EPP member code or do they go by email address?

You didn't like it, blizzardo?

Sorry, free shipping and 'no monitor' option is still available if you start from the EPP link on the previous page. I'm not sure why it changed my configuration after it was in the cart, but when I started over, all was good.

scholar10 said:The cheapest Quad machine (with Q6600, 2MB RAM) runs about $450 (can't seem to get free shipping even from the EPP link).

Am wondering if I should upgrade to 4 MB but (very vaguely) recollect reading on a post somewhere that 3MB RAM is the most that can be effectively utilized -- is this something I've imagined or will Ubuntu benefit? My objective is to do some serious data crunching on this m/c, so more memory the better.

Btw, am I going to be able to get a Quad for about $200 within 6-mos?Unless you have a time machine, 4MB of RAM isn't worth much at all.