Intel Xeon E3-1535M v5 Performance

[DocPit]

I'm about to buy a Dell 7710 Precision Workstation for graphics applications, including 3D rendering. I noted that CPU choices include the Corei7-6820HQ and the Intel Xeon E3-1535M v5 CPU. The availability of a Xeon processor in a mobile workstation seems to have generate some press. However, based on what I've been able to find-out, “The most important difference of the Xeon series compared to consumer models like the Core i7-6920HQ is the support for additional management and security features such as ECC memory” and “According to the specified clock rates and the improved architecture, the E3-1535M v5 should perform roughly on par with the former, slightly higher clocked Core i7-4910MQ (Haswell).” That's the CPU that comes with the M6800, the precursor to the 7710. So, basically, from what I'm reading, the Xeon processor costs almost $600 more and really does not deliver any substantial performance advantage. Is that a fair assessment?

 

[Hawkshot]

Not really a fair statement no, The E3-1535 CPU officially supports faster memory with 2133 MHz data rate, while the Intel i7-4910MQ processor supports at maximum DDR3L-1600 memory. Consequentially, the microprocessor has more memory bandwidth, which helps to avoid memory bottlenecks and increase performance in memory bound tasks. Performance gains in applications, that are not memory-bound, will be much lower than 33% also the Power consumption of the Xeon E3-1535M v5 is better. Xeon are specifically made with things like Rendering in mind, these are very strong processors but if the difference is really $600 its not worth that much more.