Dual Quad Core Intel Xeon vs. single Six Core Intel Xeon

[Guest]

I am building a new workstation for photo editing and I cannot decide between a Dual Quad Core Intel Xeon Processor E5630- 2.53GHz or a single Six Core Intel Xeon Processor X5660 - 2.8GHz. The motherboard supports dual CPU and I am trying to get the best performance out of my new system for my budget.

I will be running window 7 professional 64bit and mostly using Photoshop, Illustration, InDesign, Lightroom and Microsoft office products.

The other components in the system will be 12 GB of RAM and a 1.0GB NVIDIA Quadro FX 3800.

So the question I have is should I go with Dual Quad Core Intel Xeon Processor E5630- 2.53GHz or a single Six Core Intel Xeon Processor X5660 - 2.8GHz as the cost between the two CPU setups is almost the same.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Dex

 

[lcp1109]

I hope this links help you decide; seems that 2xE5630 is best choice, but if you go for a single x5660 you will have more room for upgrade. But who knows what you will need in a couple of years...

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/multi_cpu.html

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=Intel+Xeon+X5660+%40+2.80GHz

http://www.sisoftware.co.uk/rank2009/show_device.php?q=cca598aad2f2bbd5a1c4a888d0b5dab494d1e4d2e1d1f785b888aec7fac8ee86bb8ea8d0eddcfa9ffac7f7d1a29faf&l=en

http://www.sisoftware.co.uk/rank2009/show_device.php?q=cca598aad2f2bbd5a1c4a888d0b5dab494ccf9cff9c9ef9da090b6dfe2d0f69ea396b0c8f5c4e287e2dfefc9ba87b7&l=en

 

[Guest]

Thank you Icp1009, from the web links info I think I will go with the 2xE5630.

cheers
Dex

 

[Emperus]

Xeons and opterons are server grade processors and are designed to operate in combination (so only the extra QPI links are provided).. For a single processor workstation an i7 930 based setup will overtake either of them.. Go with the duals..

P.S. - Just a pointer.. Except the ability to put on extra amount of RAM sticks, i don't think the apps you intent to use will fully utilize a dual xeon setup.. May be you could've used that extra cash to set up SSD raid as apps like photoshop love fast storage media.. Also, you may give a look to the recently launched (available at newegg) ATI firepro V4800.. Its just 200$ and surpasses the quadro 3800 in respective application performance..

 

[LePhuronn]

Overkill for Photoshop.

If you're doing HD video editing too then yes go dual Xeon, but otherwise you're wasting your money.

i7 930, 12GB RAM and a Radeon 5770 will suffice - Photoshop gets no benefit from Quadro cards and CUDA as it's OpenGL accelerated (since CS3) and then not really for much other than flick-panning, canvas rotate and smooth zoom.

I'd also get a small and "cheap" SSD for the scratch disk (Intel's 40GB will suffice).

 

[MU_Engineer]

Xeons and opterons are server grade processors and are designed to operate in combination (so only the extra QPI links are provided).. For a single processor workstation an i7 930 based setup will overtake either of them.. Go with the duals..

The i7 930 isn't going to be faster than the X5660 in very many things, since the X5660 is only 133 MHz slower than the i7 930 but has two extra cores and 50% more L3 cache. However, you can get a Core i7 980X for about the same price as the X5660 and that will be faster than the X5660 since it's also a six-core CPU but is clocked at 3.33 GHz instead of 2.67 GHz.

Oh, and I second the dual quad cores over one six-core CPU in a workstation.

 

[Guest]

Humm, this is interesting. I still have not ordered my system yet.

As this is a windows 7 64bit system I will have to go with a Quadra card as they support dual look up tables (LUT) on a single card. This way I can color calibrate two monitors with two separate profiles with just one card. My system now has two cards installed and it just gets to hot and is a pain to deal with.

My new workstation will have a main 500GB system drive, 250GB photoshop scratch disk and two 2TB drives in a Raid 1 setup controlled by a xPCI raid controller card. The SSD drive for a scratch drive is a good suggestion, I will have to look at that in the budget.

12 GB of RAM is important and the case has to big enough to allow for good cooling, that is why I am looking at the Dell T7500.

So the last step is Dual CPU or a single a six core? As video editing may be in my future as a lot of photographers are shooting video now, I think the dual CPU setup would be a good choice.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions, it has been very helpful.

Cheers
dex

 

[Emperus]

May be you can do with a single 6 core for now and add another along with some more RAM as your work intensifies..