[SOLVED] help me understand what I need

[nonstandarderror]

Hi there,

I work on a research team and we're looking at purchasing a substantial workstation. This computer would be running software on very large files (things like natural language processing etc.). For this reason, we need something rather powerful, by which I mean at least a 16 core processor and ideally more (thinking Intel Xeon W processor).

I've never used a computer like this and was hoping people could enlighten me on where I might be able to buy solid pre-built solutions (I know Dell sells some solutions but I avoid them for personal computing and am not aware of their reputation in this realm). Additionally, would this effectively function like an extremely powerful personal computer or would additional software be required beyond the OS (i.e. windows)?

Any help would be much appreciated. While our budget is not infinite with respect to this particular item, we can afford to spend a pretty sizable amount.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Newtonius]

I'd recommend going with the new AMD chips, either their server line-up of Epyc CPU's or their threadripper series which would perform pretty well too for AI applications or large file processing at a much better cost-performance currently.

You can use Digital storm to order or customize a pre-built (I'd recommend customizing and getting a 3960X threadripper from AMD)
https://www.digitalstorm.com/configurator.asp?id=2075799
They have live support in case you need assistance with compatibility.

However they only offer the threadripper options.

For an Epyc server pre-build you can use server direct.
https://www.serversdirect.com/servers/amd-epyc-servers-cpus
They should be able to provide live-assist as well.


Though I wouldn't mind building a computer for your research project myself for low-labor cost, if only you're located in NYC ) Just because I enjoy building and researchin'.

 

[hang-the-9]

For business use, I would go with the major companies, not custom PC makers. Unless your research team is some odd setup, you would be part of a larger group or company that should already have an IT department that would deal with this, and people that buy your computer equipment. Dell, HP, Lenovo would all have workstation systems that would suit you. For what software you would use, it may not even be Windows, Linux may run what you need. Again, this is where your IT department and the computer vendor will come in, for something like you need they would be able to configure and suggest what operating system is best for you.