Dual xeon? or Dual i7
 

Hi,


first of all, I'm not good at english,
forgive my mistakes(spell, grammer etc.) please :D



I'll going to buy a new workstation which have two CPUs(for unning fluent):D.

here is a problem that I have to assemble the workstation with limited cost.

so I considered xeon e5650(12M Cache, 2.40 GHz, 5.86 GT/s, quad core),


someone advised me to buy double i7 for workstation,(he doesn't know about

CFD, but is good at assembling a computer)

the i7 has better performance even though it is cheaper than xeon

please guide me to select wise one :D


tnx for your attention and I 'll wait for your reply




Cartman

Let's try to clear some stuff up.

1. There is no E5650 Xeon. What you listed here is the E5620 processor and what carries the 5650 tag is the X5650 (six core) which is out of your price range if you are trying to stay withing a tight budget.

2. There is no dual/double i7. There can be two i7 workstations connected over the network, but if you are not a computer power user (and very familiar/comfortable with hardware and networks) you should really stay away from this option.

So, what you should do is get a Dual E5620 workstation. It has a triple channel memory controller onboard and a ~26 GB/s memory bandwith, while the i7's you could afford sport only a dual channel and around 21 GB/s (memory bandwith is crucial for CFD performance). The ECC RAM will cost you a bit more (unless you don't need a lot of RAM, in which case you can go for a dual socket 1366 board that supports unbuffered RAM up to 64-96 GB), but overall it's still a much cheaper and hassle-free solution to have everything in one case and under one operating system.

Stay away from your hardware guru friend. :)

thanks for your reply scipy!


sorry about misstyping:z

E5620 is right

I have no idea with 'clustring' right now

so xeon will be an answer :D




ps.

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Int...011/Z9PED8_WS/

this guy looks acceptable for dual -i7 CPUs

No, it does not. I repeat, there is no dual i7! This is a motherboard for Dual E5 series Xeon cpus which cost 1000-2000 euros per CPU, so.. stay away from silly ideas. Look for a dual socket 1366 motherboard, not dual socket 2011.

Well ... that board will work for dual E5-2620 CPU's (Around USD 650 each). I'm not saying that it is a better option than anything else, but it is certainly not unreasonable. FWIW, if you are trying to figure out realistic options, take a look at http://www.elnexus.com/default.aspx , which will allow you to custom-configure and price a dual or quad-socket workstation. A realistic bottom of the range dual E5-2620 comes in at USD 3650.

I appreciate your information, CapSizer

that sites looks very useful for me :D

I think that I 'll go with 2-way Xeon

As an additional explanation to scipy's post: The main difference (the most important for us "high-end users") between is the additional QPI link of the Xeon cpu's intended for dual socket systems. This QPI link allows the cpu's to bypass the RAM when to communicate.

i7 don't have this QPI link. Assumed, there would be two i7 on the same board, the communication would need to take place via RAM, which is pretty slow compared to the QPI link. So it doesn't make any sense and therefore you will most likely not be able to build a decent dual i7 system.

thanks, abdul099

that was really nice information for me:D



can i ask additional question?

does windows7(64bit) supports dual-xeon hardware?

1.) The first thing you should think about is how many cores will you be able to run. If you do not have HPC licenses and will be running on one core, then a dual Xeon would not be a very wise investment.

2.) The Xeon E5620 is a dinosaur, and while it does have triple channel memory, it is only rated for 800/1033 MHz memory speeds. Plus the CPU itself is very weak. Even a single i7-2600K would blow two of these away no problem. If you are really considering buying these processors, then I have some really nice VHS tapes to sell you too!
If you are going for dual Xeon, or even single Xeon, get the new E5-series, they have a MUCH better architecture and quad channel memory.

3.) You said limited budget, but never gave what that was, which will make a big difference in choosing the best parts within that budget.

4.) Windows 7 64 bit supports dual processors no problem, but you have to get professional or better to use more than 16GB of ram.

5.) If you can't afford Dual-Xeon, consider the i7-3930K, its by far the fastest per dollar processor on the market, is very tweak-able, and you can run insane RAM speeds like 2133MHz+, quad channel.