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Core i9 vs. Xeon

DFabr2
Beginner
3,500 Views

Hello,

I want to put a new workstation together for my university. The maximum budget is around 7000 € (central europe).

It has to handle advanced CAx and AI-applications.

Is it better to go with a Xeon (like E5 2680 - maybe dual) or with a single i9?

Am I right that there is no possibility to get more than one i9 at a motherboard?

Best regards,

Clemens

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4 Replies
idata
Employee
1,332 Views

Hi DF1: Thank you very much for contacting the Intel® Processors communities. We will do our best in order to provide the information you are looking for.

In regard to your inquiry, it actually depends on the requirements of the tool in question. If you have the option to get in contact with the manufacturer of those applications or visit their web site just to confirm the requirements, please do that, then we can check the processor's specifications to make a decision, since it is directly related to the usage and the tools that will be installed on the PC. Also remember that the good performance of the PC will not only depend on the processor, it includes also hard drive, memory RAM, motherboard among some other components.

Also, to answer your question about the Intel® core i9 processor that you are interested in, please provide the specific model of it?

Any further questions, please let me know.

Regards,

 

Alberto R
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DFabr2
Beginner
1,332 Views

Hello Alberto,

There is no specific program I have in mind. It's just a general question wether a PC with a medium priced Xeon or i9 (7980XE) is more powerful (with same environment like hard drive, RAM etc.) or what you/others would suggest to buy.

And also if it is possible to have two i9 CPUs at one motherboard.

Regards

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idata
Employee
1,332 Views

Hi DF1: Thank you for providing that information.

In regard to your question, no, the Intel® i9-7980XE processor does not support dual socket configuration. Look for "Max CPU Configuration":

https://ark.intel.com/products/126699/Intel-Core-i9-7980XE-Extreme-Edition-Processor-24_75M-Cache-up-to-4_20-GHz https://ark.intel.com/products/126699/Intel-Core-i9-7980XE-Extreme-Edition-Processor-24_75M-Cache-up-to-4_20-GHz

On the link below you will see the specifications for both processors, the Intel® i9-7980XE and the Intel® E5-2680:

 

https://ark.intel.com/compare/64583,126699 https://ark.intel.com/compare/64583,126699

The higher the frequency and the more the cores the better, based on that the Intel® i9-7980XE seemed like the best option, but as mentioned above it will depend on the requirements of the applications in question. Additionally, on the dual socket configuration, even though the system will have more cores it does not necessarily means that it will be better, because the processor 1 is still the main one, is the one that process the instructions from the OS, the processor 2 works as a co-processor helping the first one in some tasks as for example memory. Since the processors are communicating with each other and they are processing instructions together the response might not be that fast as with the core i9 processor. If you are going to work with a high quantity of applications and tools and the time for response is not that relevant, the Intel® E5-2680 will be a good option as well. Remember also that the boards they support are very different, the Xeon was designed to work with server boards in a big environment. If you are planning to use this PC as your home PC, then the Intel® i9-7980XE processor will be a good choice. Just to be clear, the requirements of the applications are very important and this response is just a recommendation since both processors will work for you.

Any questions, please let me know.

Regards,

 

Alberto R
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n_scott_pearson
Super User
1,332 Views

Clemens,

Only the Xeon is equipped with the QPI bus, which is necessary for multiprocessing. Farther down in the comparison, you will see that the Xeon is listed as supporting a 2-processor configuration whereas the i9 processor cannot.

...S

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