Xeon and core i7 compare

[idata]

Hi i ve got question im not sure that is in proper section ; but if you be so kind, answer me; so the point is i need to know if i buy myself motherboard that supports two physical processors for example intel , evga or assus , and it is for socket LGA 1366 , can i put at the begining just one physical processor and it will be working , than save some more money an buy another one for example half- year later , of course with the same parameters . My second question is can i do this with xeon processors , and are they only ones that they cooperating with themselves , or a may buy Intel core i7 with 6cores and put another one later for example for six months later, i mean does this will be working as well , or it is just posssible this 2x physical processors only for xeon solutions .

I really need to know taht becouse i'm 3D graphic designer im rendering a lot , working with video , and many more like 2D , and im trying to find what is the best for me , and what you think is better for me , of course i dont have 7000$ this is too much . I Found already motherboard for myself witch is Asus taht supports 144GB of ram , but i dont know that i need taht much .

And Last question maybe more difficult is what cen you reccomend for me becouse indel for last couple years is making processors for Apple Mackintosh as well , so meybe maybe is better for me buy apple , with intel processors of course two of them (physical) , i mean i had read a lots of articles and i dont know , what is better , im working with windows for 15- years , and im sometimes really upset and a ve heard that mac os system is much better , so if i chose PC platform with Windows , probably i will buy myself this moterboard that is supporting 144GB , becouse application uses a lots of ram , at the beginning for example Photoshop CS5 , of course more lasting platform is preffered , i mean no shutting downs without any reason , or reseting to much , so ECC ram is preffered but not only im asking about processor , And very last thing is i really need to use this computer for couple of years max to 10 , and don't spend any more money for it , i really dont need to have hedache about hardware for this years , i need to fully focus myself on software .

Thanks with regards for answering me as soon as possible Michael Zywert.

[DSilv11]

Go Xeon

If you looking for a DUAL CPU package system, check the processor specification for the number of QPI links the CPU supports.

You need a QPI link between the the processor and the chipset (1 QPI link) for a single CPU system

http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=52585&processor=i7-990X&spec-codes=SLBVZ http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=52585&processor=i7-990X&spec-codes=SLBVZ

For a dual CPU you need a QPI link to the chipset and to the second processor (2 QPI links)

http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=52578 http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=52578

They say a picture is worth a 1000 words so here is the Block Diagraham for an Intel S5520SC Dual Processor QPI Workstation

http://www.intel.com/products/workstation/motherboards/s5520sc/s5520sc-overview.htm http://www.intel.com/products/workstation/motherboards/s5520sc/s5520sc-overview.htm

I don't believe it is possiable to run 2 - I7's in the same system since the i7 only has 1 QPI link which is used between the processor and the chipset (Although someone might get tricky and route the data thuoght the IOH, but it was not designed for that), In a Dual CPU system, 1 QPI link goes to the Chipset and one goes to the second processor.Some boards will support both i7 & Xeon, the fine print usually's says dual Xeons or single i7.

Another thing to watch in your system is the memory is shared between processors, but the memory controller is in the processor so if you get a boad that supports say 12 DIMMs, 6 are on each CPU. If you only use 1 CPU you can only use 6 DIMMS. If you use 2 CPU's & 12 DIMMs both processors can access all 12 DIMMS.(using 16G dimms if you like for a total memoy of 192G)

For Intel products, look for the TPS (technichal product specification) which will give you a great deal of details on that mother board.

http://download.intel.com/support/motherboards/server/s5520sc/sb/e39530010_s5520sc_tps_r1_7.pdf http://download.intel.com/support/motherboards/server/s5520sc/sb/e39530010_s5520sc_tps_r1_7.pdf