Dual Xeon E5520 2.26 Vs Core i7

Hi,

guys i am in a big Dilemma i am going to buy a new system for professional
3d architectural Visualization and i am confused in these two new different
technology

First Thought

In my first thought i was thinking of buying a Core i7 920 2.66 ghz,8 Mb Cache and do that overclock till 4 or 4.2 with Liquid cooling Kit. that way i am able to get a decent rendering time for a Normal project.

Second Thought

After some time i get to know that Intel had launched a Xeon series called
5500 then i send my requirements to my computer guy and he send me the
price quote for dual xeon quad core E5520 system. The whole system price is almost same like core i7 system.

So What to Do now, i am in a big confusion. Please suggest some advice so that I should buy some thing in which i did not regret in future.

Also i am listing the hardware configuration for both systems so that you guys suggest me what to add or remove.

Xeon System Configuration

Intel 5520 2.26 ghz Xeon Quad Core ( 2 CPUS)
Intel Motherboard 5520 SC
Hard Disk 150 gb Raptor Western Digital 10000 RPM
Hard Disk 1 TB Western Digital 7200 Rpm
Dvd Rw Sata HP
Graphics card Nvidia Quadro FX 1800
Intel Chasis SC 5300 + 600 watts Psu
Ram 6 gb ddr3 ECC ram (2 gb x 3 ).

Core i7 System configuration

Motherboard Asus P6T Deluxe V2
Intel I7 920 2.66 ghz
Hard Disk 150 gb RAPTOR WD 10000 RPM
Hard Disk 1 TB Wd sata2 32 Mb Cache
Dvd Rw Sata HP
Graphics Card Nvidia GTs 295
Cabinet Coolermaster HAf 932
Psu 850 Real Pro Coolermaster
Tft 24 “ Benq G 2412 HD Full HD with HDMI Port
Ram 12 gb Corsair Dominator (2 x 6 gb kit)
Ups 1 Kva Luminous

Please Suggest,

Best,
Sagar Sharma

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My first instinct would be the Xeon. What software are you using? Have you checked hardware support (ie. threading/GPU acceleration)?

Reply to mi1ez

If you use the system for professional 3D application then the suggestion would go for nVIDIA's workstation graphics card nVIDIA Quadro FX4600. For Graphics card reference: http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 2258.html.

In my point of veiw, for processor you can go for Dual Xeon 5520 (Quad core, Nehalm architecture). Two Quad cores would be sufficient to met your requirement. To know about Intel Nehalm based processors: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel [...] hitecture) .

Reply to enayet_redeemer

I agree with enayet. for a workstation the quadro would probably beat a gtx 295.

so i would go with the xeons. (you can OC xeons too if you want to)

Reply to neonmonkey

Even a single Xeon 5520 (its a Quad core Nehalm, man) would be enough to serve your requirement. You can save money and invest on nVIDIA Quadro FX4600 as it is more expensive compared to Quadro FX1800 but will give more performance.

Reply to enayet_redeemer

Hi guys

I going to install windows xp 64 bit or vista 64 bit and 3ds max 2010 with vray latest
photoshop and after effects for that software setup what should i buy a xeon or
Core i7

Also is there a major Difference between Quadro 1800 and 4600 i know that price is just bubble.

Thanks,

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to sagartotal3ds

sagartotal3ds wrote :

Hi guys

I going to install windows xp 64 bit or vista 64 bit and 3ds max 2010 with vray latest
photoshop and after effects for that software setup what should i buy a xeon or
Core i7

Also is there a major Difference between Quadro 1800 and 4600 i know that price is just bubble.

Thanks,

For professional graphics works Xeon would be better choice (Single processor would be enough, after all if you buy Core i7 you will not find dual processor motherboard, as far I know).

To know about Qaudro cards you can go to the link: http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,2258.html . Mainstream equivalent of Quadro 4600 is Geforce 8800 and Quadro 1800 is Geforce 8600. There will be significant performance difference between these two cards. But Quadro 1800 is not a bad card at all, you can choose it if you want. Also you can look at the benchmarks: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/v [...] html#sect0, tho . FX3800 or 3700 will also do (am I confusing you??).

Lets take a look also in the link: http://www.nvidia.com/page/quadrofx_family.html

FX1800 is a mid-range product and FX4600 is an ultra high end product. My opinion is if you are buying a high-end system then why would you buy a mid-range card?

Reply to enayet_redeemer

Hi,

Guys can anybody tell me about the quadro card?

My Q is,
Is the quadro fx 1800 card is full HD I mean I am going to buy a full hd monitor
of 24", i know that ATI 4890 HD is compatible with the Monitor. But i Don't know about Quadro.

Thanks,

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to sagartotal3ds

Also where i can find the Cheapest Workstation for my Configuration?

Reply to sagartotal3ds

sagartotal3ds wrote :

Hi,

Guys can anybody tell me about the quadro card?

My Q is,
Is the quadro fx 1800 card is full HD I mean I am going to buy a full hd monitor
of 24", i know that ATI 4890 HD is compatible with the Monitor. But i Don't know about Quadro.

Thanks,

What is the monitor make and model? And what was the price offered for the Xeon based workstation you mentioned in the post? For HD support you can go to nVidia site (I gave the link in one of the previous posts).

Reply to enayet_redeemer

1 more Q what is the best suitable chassis For this setup
Can we use CM HAF 932 or Cosmos 1100 or any Full tower.
or the workstation chassis are only.

Best,

Reply to sagartotal3ds

Hi Guys can Anybody tell me suitable chassis For this setup
Can I use CM HAF 932 or Cosmos 1100 or any Full tower.
or the workstation chassis only.

Reply to sagartotal3ds

Some simple steps can make a Geforce card to work like a much more expensive Quadro card. You can buy a Geforce 8800GTS and make it work like a Quadro FX 4600 card. This guide can help you out: http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=539

This will save lots of money of yours....

You can use the guide for other Geforce cards also....

Reply to enayet_redeemer

if it helps here is my configuration, I do heavy VM , but no rendering or 3D work.
Asus Z8NA-D6C
2 XeonE5520s
2 INtel BXSTS100CA cpu coolers
24Gb Patriot PC3-10600 ECC Registered ( runs only up to PC3-8500 b/c of board)
HighPoint RpcketRaid 2640X4 SAS Controller
4 X Fujitsu MAX3147RC (147GB) 15K RPM SAS HDDs in Raid 1
Creative FX-Xtreme Gamer audio card
SP-MOD700-700W PSU,
SAMSUNG SHS223L DVD,
MSI ATI HD4670,
2xHanns-G HH24 inch monitors

OS: Windows Server 2008 (Enterprise) running 8 virtual machines : MS SQL Server 09, Solaris 10, Kubuntu 9.04, RHL 5.4, Vista Ultimate, MS XP, Fedora 11, FBSD
System is used for application testing, database application development and testing, software engineering ,testing.

The main reason for the Xeons were: multi-threading and energy efficiency. TDP metered out at 40% load was around 34.5 W, at full it never came close to 75W/core. Extremely pleased with them. At the office we do have both Shanghai, Barcelona AMDs and older Xeons, AMDs do extremely well , but overall more power hungry. As well going with 1366 socket, upcomng hexcores will be a drop in upgrade, which is important for software development and optimizing future products

Core 7's do not have CPU-CPU interconnect qpi so they cannot communicate even if you could pop them into a dual socket designed for dual 1366s.

Ah and it's in a no name full tower,

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by exq on 09-22-2009 at 06:54:49 PM

Reply to exq

exq wrote :

if it helps here is my configuration, I do heavy VM , but no rendering or 3D work.
Asus Z8NA-D6C
2 XeonE5520s
2 INtel BXSTS100CA cpu coolers
24Gb Patriot PC3-10600 ECC Registered ( runs only up to PC3-8500 b/c of board)
HighPoint RpcketRaid 2640X4 SAS Controller
4 X Fujitsu MAX3147RC (147GB) 15K RPM SAS HDDs in Raid 1
Creative FX-Xtreme Gamer audio card
SP-MOD700-700W PSU,
SAMSUNG SHS223L DVD,
MSI ATI HD4670,
2xHanns-G HH24 inch monitors

OS: Windows Server 2008 (Enterprise) running 8 virtual machines : MS SQL Server 09, Solaris 10, Kubuntu 9.04, RHL 5.4, Vista Ultimate, MS XP, Fedora 11, FBSD
System is used for application testing, database application development and testing, software engineering ,testing.

The main reason for the Xeons were: multi-threading and energy efficiency. TDP metered out at 40% load was around 34.5 W, at full it never came close to 75W/core. Extremely pleased with them. At the office we do have both Shanghai, Barcelona AMDs and older Xeons, AMDs do extremely well , but overall more power hungry. As well going with 1366 socket, upcomng hexcores will be a drop in upgrade, which is important for software development and optimizing future products

Core 7's do not have CPU-CPU interconnect qpi so they cannot communicate even if you could pop them into a dual socket designed for dual 1366s.

Ah and it's in a no name full tower,

Looks like an expert comment. :-)

What Virtualization software you are running? VMware or other? If VMware then what version do you run VMware GSX? As far I know ESX server runs on its own bed.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to enayet_redeemer

enayet_redeemer wrote :

Looks like an expert comment. :-)

What Virtualization software you are running? VMware or other? If VMware then what version do you run VMware GSX? As far I know ESX server runs on its own bed.

This particular machine : VMWare-Workstation 6.5.1 r 126130 and VBox 3.0.6 r 52128.

Yep, ESXi is OS independent and really nice, did not tinker with it, but sure I will.

At the office all the new workstations are Xeons, but the servers an clusters are all AMD based mainly b/c of memory and application/ hardware lifecycle reasons, running RHL 5

thanks for the compliments, i'm far from being an expert, just a tinker/thinker

Reply to exq

there is no way the xeon machine is priced anything like the core i7 machine... no way no way no way..... no way.

Reply to rand_79

agreed and should not be, if it comes to rendering, the guy should go for a cheap quad system with a pro gfx card and set up another server just for rendering (a cheap dual socket dualcore system would do just fine)

Reply to exq

just for fun i quickly throw together a server:
IBM LS20 BladeCenter Baresystem- 24.00- free shipping ebay-new
2xAmdOpteron275 CPU- 55.00-free shipping ebay- used
heatsink- 50.00 -10.00 shipping ebay-new
73.Gb 10K SCSI Ultra320 HDD -25.00-refurbished
2GB ECC reg DDR3200 RAM - 40-used
OS- linux/ yet to be decided which flavor
POVRay
so in total : 204.00 including shipping, wheni have assembled the system, will run some test ands see how it works for rendering , will be back with the results

Reply to exq

Humh... I'm CG artist and after working for farious companys I NEVER saw any1 PC with any NVIDIA QUatro/ATI CG cards(in these studios ofc)... no1 use them.... what are bennefits of them coz from what I know the work in 3D dont speed up(viewpoers fps etc etc) nor rendering....

Reply to Dariusz

Hi bough my workstation
it cost me around 1400$

but i am very upset with the noise i sounds like generator what should i do
update the bios or what

But the rendering speed is Cool 16 buckets render all the scenes deadly fast

But Noise is killing me any advice

Regards,
Sagar Sharma

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to sagartotal3ds

sagartotal3ds wrote :

Hi bough my workstation
it cost me around 1400$

but i am very upset with the noise i sounds like generator what should i do
update the bios or what

But the rendering speed is Cool 16 buckets render all the scenes deadly fast

But Noise is killing me any advice

Regards,
Sagar Sharma

What type of Workstation have you bought? Is it a tower or rack? Can you inform about the model? And why you are thinking of BIOS upgrade? Noise is coming from the system fans, right? Also have you noticed the high temparature of processor, GPU and system?

Reply to enayet_redeemer

Its a tower type and its Chieftec Smart series Modal no is WH-01SL-SL

Well i think the bios make a lot of difference may be the new bios has the feature to reduce the noise. and seriosly speeking i really dont know But my hardware guy is saying that bios is the main problem.

Yes you are right the noise is coming from the Fan of the chaise it self i dont know why its blowing so fast.

no i dont notice the temparature of processor GPU and System

Please help me when ever i start my syetem it feel like i am working in small factory becouse it make so mush noise.

Regards,

Reply to sagartotal3ds

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