Best multicore (8 to 12) workstation CPU for the money

[posterdesigner]

Dear Forum,
I do a lot of 2D work that is processor and ram intensive. My heavy illustrator vector files, and large photoshop files are bogging down my AMD dual core 4gig ram system. It is time to upgrade. I want a killer system. I know a 6 core with 32 gigs of ram would probably take care of my slowness issues, but I thought while I am at it, I should go with an 8 core+ system.

Which should I go for?
Thanks for your input

Requirements: Must use Windows 7, and MB fit in a Micro-ATX case.

Possible options:

AMD Opteron 6180: 12 core, 2.5 GHz $1000 (Do they even make an MATX workstation board for this CPU?)

Intel Xeon E5-2695 12 core 2.7 GHz $2400 +

Intel I7 5960X 8 core 3 GHz $1000+

 

[Afterdark3]

If you are looking for workstation, use an 8 core xeon, they are more "affordable" than the 12 core one and it has a higher clock rate, and you still get all the Xeon Perks.

 

[posterdesigner]

Those 3.3 ghz 8 core xeon processors are still pretty pricey. They get near $2,000
The ones with slower clock speeds in the 2.9 ghz like the e5-2667 are still $1700

I might be better just getting the i7 5960 desktop processor for a little over a grand. Is it worth it to go for the xeon?

 

[synphul]

Something else you may consider is a much more affordable quad core xeon or i7. 2d graphics (such as illustrator vectors) aren't as intensive as you think. Not like full blown transcoding or 3d model rendering/cad work. The thing bogging down your system can be a variety of things, such as the dual core cpu, the low amount of ram (16/24/32gb would be better though 16-24gb would likely be plenty), how you have your hard drive(s) set up. It will work much better if you have your os/programs on one drive, scratch file on another and working files on a third to prevent i/o bottlenecks.

The huge cost of 8-12 core cpu's will be well past the point of diminishing returns that would be better spent on more productive hardware configurations. I have a machine with a quad i5 4690k and 16gb of ram and it handles photoshop, bridge and illustrator quite well even with an older ati hd 4850 for gpu accelerated features. That's working with photoshop .ps files at around 4200x4200 (around 40mb to 60mb files) and same with vectors in illustrator.

 

[Eettwartti]

You should get Xeon E5-2630LV3, its super cheap for 8 cores. Only 700$. its 1.8GHz core speed but it doesn't matter as much in professional work as in gaming. Besides the turbo is at 2.9. 16 logical cores is fine for your needs. Its faster in your field of work than the i7-5960x and its cheaper.