Single processor (high-speed, medium cores) vs. dual processor (low speed, many cores)

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Suresh_30

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Mar 3, 2017
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Hello,

I am trying to configure a Dell computational workstation (that will work with Matlab/Python/R and fresh software that will try to take advantage of concurrency).

A. I have this single-processor option:

Intel® Xeon® E5-2699 v4 Prozessor (22 Kerne, 2,2 GHz, 3,6 GHz Turbo, 55 MB, 145 W, 2.400 MHz)

vs. this dual-processor option:

Intel® Xeon® E5-2687W v4 Prozessor DUAL (12 Kerne, 3 GHz, 3,5 GHz Turbo, 30 MB, 160 W, 2.400 MHz)

The dual-processor has more cores and higher speed, but the cores are split between two processors (bad ?) and the cache is much smaller (bad ?).. how does one weigh these factors ?

B. I also have these other dual-core options:

Intel® Xeon® E5-2683 v4 Prozessor, dual (16 Kerne, 2,1 GHz, 3 GHz Turbo, 40 MB, 120 W, 2.400 MHz)
Intel® Xeon® E5-2690 v4 Prozessor, dual (14 Kerne, 2,6 GHz, 3,5 GHz Turbo, 35 MB, 135 W, 2.400 MHz)

that have a few more cores per processor, but much lower base clock-speed: how does the number of cores vs. base speed/turbo speed trade-off work out ?

Thanks !!


 
Solution
alceryes
Software creators usually have an 'approved' list and may do some basic comparison testing but I doubt they would have gone to the lengths to have an answer for you. You're more than likely to get a 'magic 8-ball' answer from whoever you ask.

Here's the 2 CPU's in question -
http://ark.intel.com/products/91317/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E5-2699-v4-55M-Cache-2_20-GHz
http://ark.intel.com/products/91750/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E5-2687W-v4-30M-Cache-3_00-GHz

I'm inclined to say, unless you will be pegging all 12 cores of the 2687W v4, to go with that one. If you think you will constantly be hitting all 12 cores at over 50% with tons of multi-threaded computations then go with the big boy.

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The Original Ralph

The Original Ralph

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Sep 14, 2011
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i'm not the expert but have some experience in a similiar scenario - a lot depends on the software being run. While clock frequency can be a large factor, core count can be equally important.

I render quite a bit of video files, and one of the programs is a core hog, ie it wants all the cores it can get. Running the same 40GB video rendering job on an i7-4790 at 4.0 with 4 cores, it takes 41-25 minutes - running it on an i7-5960x also clocked at 4.0, with 8 cores, it takes 13-15 minutes. On the 4790 w/4 cores, task manager will show the cpu at 97-99% usage or load, while on the 5690 w/8 cores it's still in the 92-94% usage range

Another program, only shows 32-37% load on either cpu, and actually runs about 15% faster times on the 4 core cpu.

I'd suggest contacting the software companies to ask their recommendation

fwiw
 
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Suresh_30

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Mar 3, 2017
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Thank you !! This addresses my question B above... and I had a feeling the answer would be that "it depends".

Question A is the more pressing one, though.

 
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madzientist

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Apr 6, 2013
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Hmm.. I will ask in the Matlab/Python/R forums..

I still somehow suspect that this issue of (more cores + higher speed per core) vs. (smaller cache and cores split between two processors) may have a generic software-independent answer..but perhaps I am wrong.

Thanks again !
 
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alceryes

alceryes

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Jun 11, 2004
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Software creators usually have an 'approved' list and may do some basic comparison testing but I doubt they would have gone to the lengths to have an answer for you. You're more than likely to get a 'magic 8-ball' answer from whoever you ask.

Here's the 2 CPU's in question -
http://ark.intel.com/products/91317/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E5-2699-v4-55M-Cache-2_20-GHz
http://ark.intel.com/products/91750/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E5-2687W-v4-30M-Cache-3_00-GHz

I'm inclined to say, unless you will be pegging all 12 cores of the 2687W v4, to go with that one. If you think you will constantly be hitting all 12 cores at over 50% with tons of multi-threaded computations then go with the big boy.

 
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