Render farm OR a workstation?

I just recently looked at the Six Core Xeon's.
Buying two of these would cost over $2000, not including RAM/Case/PS/MB/etc.

Quad Core i7's 3ghz are only $300, not including ram/case/ps/mb/etc.


Now... I am thinking if I get cheap cases/mb/ps and the minimum of ram for THREE i7's, I could probably build 4-6 quadcore i7 computers for the price of ONE dual Six Core Xeon workstation.


Obviously, my rendering engine supports render nodes.


Now... which would be better?

To have 4-6 computers running quadcore i7's @ 3ghz each

OR

To have ONE workstation running Dual (2) Six Core Xeon's.



Honestly, there is no reason to waste my money on a $1000 processor IF I can buy MULTIPLE $300 processors and the extras to build those computers are well worth it.

Alternatively, I haven't even looked into workstations that are cheaper than the Six Core Xeon's. I just did some quick research for the best possible workstation vs. the cheapest possible i7.

Hello nitros85;
I like your idea of building a good workstation and a couple (quartet?) powerful less expensive systems for a basic render farm.
I can't see how 12 Xeon cores would outperform 16 i7-950 cores.
And you'd be able to have a workstation system while the render farm is busy.
Would a dual Xeon quad workstation fit anywhere into the budget picture?

How flexible are you on the timing of putting this altogether? Those new Sandy Bridge CPUs due out (again) in a few more weeks give you more options.