Xeon vs. P4

[TotalEclipse]

Hey all -

looking to build a workstation for my university's solar car team and I suspect that university buying agreements may restrict me to buying Intel. They're paying for it, though, and have said that cost isn't (too much of an?) issue. I add the bracketed question in case they balk when I bring them a $5K+ system

Bearing this in mind, I'll let you know the apps we're running and ask the questions: a) Xeon or P4 and b) is hyper-threading worth getting in this case? I've been told that Xeon might be the processor to get, but not why yet...

We'll be running things like computational fluid dynamics programs, solid modelling and (possibly) finite element analysis software. This is in addition to the usual apps like MS office...

Apologies if this covers similar ground to a previous post.

Thanks for all input!

*As the username implies, I'm generally in the dark*<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by TotalEclipse on 02/05/03 10:07 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[sjonnie]

Well, the only reason to get a Xeon would be if you wanted a Dual processor machine as that is the only difference between Xeon chips and the multithreading capable P4. If you're apps are MP enabled, consume 100% processor time or you need multiple CPU intensive aps to run at the same time, then a Dual Xeon setup is for you. If you really want to spend $5K+ then a 4-way Xeon MP setup should make that simple.