County Durham DH1 1TW T: (0191) 374 2020 MILTON KEYNES OFFICE Cranfield Innovation Centre.There are of course further differences but the purpose of this document is to give you a usable overview as opposed to being a technical whitepaper.Additionally the CAD workstation cost will also be in question, but this needs to be seriously deliberated giving consideration to business productivity needs and cost differences, which should also be split down over the life of the workstation.
It also goes without saying that the i7 processors range does offers excellent performance which is not in doubt, but we are considering here the difference between Xeon processors versus i7 processors, so let us take a closer look. Xeon Versus i7 Processors Explained Supported Memory A factor that is often overlooked is the amount of memory supported by particular processors, for example, a typical desktopmobile processor (depending on version of course) will only support a limited amount of memory (i7 32GB16GB32GB mobile dependant on memory type). Xeon Vs I7 Intel Processor Comparn Plus Depending OnTherefore if you need to have upgradeability going forward (future project requirements) or are using largecomplex data sets or perhaps point cloud data, CAD workstations with Xeon based processors (maximum memory support of 375GB plus depending on processor) will be your best choice. Cad Workstation Stability Hardware stability is far better than it has been in previous years as a general rule of thumb, but that said in the Xeon vs i7 debate stability goes to deeper levels. If you tend to work with largecomplex data sets or are involved in lengthy computational workflows such as Finite element Analysis (FEA) for example or structural analysis, stability will be very important to you as a failed calculation or program crash could result in many hours or even days productivity loss at significant cost or even caused missed project deadlines. Xeon processors support error checking and correcting memory so are more stable and less prone to data corruption due to memory errors, whereas i7 processors do not, so in this scenario a Xeon based workstation will be far more preferable than an i7 processor based one. Memory Bandwidth Prior to being processed, data has to move from the hard drive (hard drive access and read write speeds are another issue) into memory and then in to processor cache before finally being computed. It goes without saying therefore that the faster this can happen as a general rule of thumb the better performance will be. The current i7 range of processors (i7 - 3770k for example) are limited to 2 memory channels, and a maximum memory bandwidth of 25.6GB. However Xeon processors reach far beyond this with 4 memory channels in total and subsequently an excellent 51.2GB memory bandwidth so Xeon processors can move significantly more data to cache. Processor Cache Once data moves out of memory the quicker it can move into the processor the better, so processors have different levels of cache (bigger is better) to aid the speed of data transfer. Intel i7 processors have a maximum of 8mb of cache (only 6mb in i5 processors for example) whereas Xeon processors have much larger on-board cache than i7s and start at 10mb 30mb for high end Xeon processors. Xeon Vs I7 Intel Processor Comparn Software You AreWorking With Multi-Threaded Applications If the CAD software you are working with supports multithreading then chances are the maximum number of processor cores you can use the more productive you can be. Intel i7 processors are currently available with up to 6 processor cores, however i7 processors currently do not support multi socket configurations. Xeon processor however do support multi socket configurations (an HP 820 CAD workstation for example supports up to 16 processing cores) so businesses who work with multithreaded applications (i.e. Max, Rendering apps and computational applications) will undoubtedly favour Xeon processors versus i7. So as the need for more than four or six processor cores is often a major requirement in order to massively increase productivity and reduce rendering bottlenecks, Xeon processors score very favourably here. Conclusion Of course in the final analysis there are unquestionable differences between i7 and Xeon processors, but a question that should also be coupled with this should also be what am I going to be using the CAD workstation for as this is also fundamentally important. ![]() If you have any question regarding buying a CAD workstation or specifying the best one please give us a call on 023 8086 8947. CAD Services 3D Modelling 2D Drawing 3D Visualisations 3D Animations BIM Content Creation Support Services Autodesk Support Advance Steel Support IT Support Services MillerCAD Support Autodesk Autodesk Software Subscribe to Autodesk Revit Powerpack Advance Steel Software Hardware HP Workstation Mobile Workstations Desktop Computers Large Format Printers SOUTHAMPTON OFFICE Riverside House. Hampshire SO40 3WX T: (023) 8086 8947 BRADFORD OFFICE Quayside House. West Yorkshire BD18 3ST T: (01274) 532919 NOTTINGHAM OFFICE Sherwood House. Nottinghamshire NG7 6LB T: (0115) 969 1114 DURHAM OFFICE Chancery Court.
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