New Dell Workstations Raise Speed Limit up to 155%

Dell Precision 690 and 490 Deliver Increased Productivity, Value ROUND ROCK, Texas, May 23, 2006 — Dell today announced a new generation of performance workstations capable of handling some of the most demanding applications up to 155 percent faster than its predecessor.1 The Dell Precision 690 and 490 workstations feature innovative dual-core Intel® Xeon® technology, a new, faster and more scalable memory architecture and some of the latest dual graphics to deliver performance gains over previous models of up to 45 percent2 on single-threaded applications and up to 155 percent1 on multithreaded applications. “Customers want higher performance and memory capacity, particularly when running compute-intensive applications or dealing with extremely large or detailed images such as mechanical design and seismic data analysis,” said Darrel Ward, director, Dell Precision Workstations. “We listened to our customers and our application software partners’ needs when we designed these new workstations. Our goal was to set a new standard for performance and scalability in an industry-standard professional workstation and we have done just that.” The new memory architecture is designed to enable customers who work with massive data sets to more easily manipulate and manage workloads and images. The new systems double the number of memory channels to four fully buffered dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs) and feature a unique, scalable advanced memory design – up to 16 DIMMs via optional memory risers – for very large memory configurations. The graphics capabilities of the Dell Precision 690 and 490 workstations have also been enhanced for some of the most demanding graphics environments.. The Dell Precision 690-1KW workstation features an optional dual-graphics riser card that combine two NVIDIA® SLI™ graphics cards for increased performance and visual quality. Dell also has acted on customer feedback with new 490 and 690 chassis designs. The 490 features a convertible chassis that can be deployed as a tower or desktop, depending on customer requirements. In addition, both chassis provide easy access to system components, excellent front panel access and outstanding reliability. Dell Precision 690 highlights: ·New dual-core Intel® Xeon® processors ·Up to five times more memory bandwidth over dual-channel memory with new, fast quad-channel memory ·Memory scalability up to 64GB with new DDR2 fully buffered ECC DIMMs ·Dual-graphics capabilities that support quad monitors or NVIDIA® SLI technology for enhanced graphics performance (available via an optional graphics riser card in a specially designed 1KW 690 chassis) ·New serial-attached SCSI (SAS) disk storage delivers up to 50 percent higher performance than SATA 10K3 ·Innovative chassis designed for increased reliability, ease of access and exceptional expandability with support for up to five disk drives Dell Precision 490 highlights: ·New dual-core Intel Xeon processors ·New memory architecture increases bandwidth by 500 percent ·Up to 32GB quad-channel DDR2 fully buffered DIMM ECC memory ·New SAS hard disk storage delivers up to 50 percent higher performance than SATA 10K3 ·Innovative, compact dual-orientation chassis for flexibility and 6 slots for expandability Pricing and Availability The Dell Precision 690 and 490, certified on some of the workstation industry’s most demanding CAD, CAE, DCC, GIS and other applications, are available today worldwide. Prices for the Dell Precision 490 start at $1,529. The Dell Precision 690 is priced from $1,779. For more information, visit http://www.dell.com/precision. About Dell Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services they trust and value. Uniquely enabled by its direct business model, Dell sells more systems globally than any computer company, placing it No. 25 on the Fortune 500. Company revenue for the past four quarters was $56.7 billion. For more information, visit http://www.dell.com. To get Dell news direct, visit .