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Comparison help. Xeon v Corei

idata
Employee
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hi folks

I trying to spec up a couple of pc's suitable for running Unigraphics NX and Solidworks. I need them to be reasonably strong and dont want too much delay when opening or regenerating assemblies. We usually buy HP Z400s, usually configured with Xeon processors and nvidia graphics cards. We are very happy with this type of config and want to stay with this type of setup.I need some help however understanding the difference between some of the processors nowavailable.

I have a choice between a HPZ210 small form factor workstation using an Core i7-2600 3.4GHz, it's got 4 x DDR3 dimm slots and comes with an 512MB nvidia quadro 400. I would usually spec a higher end graphics card but this is being offered at a very compeditive price and might be suitable for our purpose.

The other pc I'm looking at is more typical of what we already have in place. HPZ400, Xeon W3550 3.06Ghz, 6 X DDR3 dimm slots, 1GBQuadro2000 graphics card. This is a little more expensive

My question is regarding the processors, Is the core i7 a lot better than the Xeon W3350? I could also configure the z400 with Core i3. Is there a big difference between this type of xeon and Core i processors? I understand this may be a very general question, a very general answer might be enough to guide my decision.

thanks

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idata
Employee
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From what I can see over on this other thread, these processors seem to have very similar capabilities?

/thread/4033 http://communities.intel.com/thread/4033

Can I apply this to the particular processors I'm talking about?

thanks

 

Core i7 = High-end Desktop Nehalem 

Xeon 3500 = Adds optional ECC memory support [Targeted for workstations] 

Xeon 5500 = Adds support for 2 CPUs [Targeted for dual CPU servers & workstations] 

At the same MHz, all these CPUs will perform exactly the same.

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idata
Employee
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Hi Marc,

I too, had this same question when I was asked to build new systems for our office. I choose the i7 chip over the Xeons and have been very satisfied with them. We run Autocad, Autodesk Inventor, Altium Designer, and few other high level programs without a hitch. I believe either processor would be fine for your application however I would tell you to atleast go with the i7. My main reasons choosing the i7 over the Xeon was price of the processor and price of the associated hardware. There is a larger market for the i7 processors therefore there are more motherboards and memory configuration options available. The more options there are in the marketplace the cheaper the price is. Now, on the other hand, if had had an unlimited budget I would have gone with a dual Xeon setup as two is always better than one . I would still recommend that you go with a high quality video card that has been tested and recommended by the software company for the program you are using. I'm not sure about Solidworks, but I know Autodesk has a "certified hardware" section on their website. I'd would steer you toward an Nvidia Quadro card personally. Hope this helps, good luck.

idata
Employee
333 Views

Hi J.Urbs

Thanks for your reply. In the end I plumbed for the Xeon just because the particular bundle from the wholesaler actually worked out cheaper than the i7 bundle. Hopefully it fits the bill anyway. thanks for your input.

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