Please help me decide between Core i7 and Xeon E3

[ADeYo]

I'm considering a http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/workstations/thinkstation/p-series/p300-tower/ Lenovo ThinkStation P300 Tower Workstation (Windows 7 Pro), which I will use for normal office use, HD video streaming, and some (parallel) scientific simulations using Matlab, Mathematica, Fortran, and C/C++. I don't need ECC memory, and I don't plan to ever use more than 32 GB of memory in the system. I will be getting a discrete graphics card with my system, so I don't need a processor with integrated graphics.

I want a processor with 4 cores / 8 threads. I'm very much on the fence as to whether to go with Core i7 or Xeon. Here are three particular such processors I'm considering (one Core i7, two different Xeons):

(1) http://ark.intel.com/products/80909/ Intel Xeon E3-1241 v3

8 MB cache

4 cores / 8 threads

3.5 GHz base frequency

3.9 GHz max frequency

80 W TDP

32 GB max memory

Includes Turbo Boost and Hyperthreading

(2) http://ark.intel.com/products/80806/ Intel Core i7-4790 [add $70 USD to (1)]

8 MB cache

4 cores / 8 threads

3.6 GHz base frequency

4.0 GHz max frequency

84 W TDP

32 GB max memory

Includes Turbo Boost and Hyperthreading

Includes integrated graphics (Intel HD Graphics 4600)

(3) http://ark.intel.com/products/80908/ Intel Xeon E3-1271 v3 [add $80 USD to (1)]

8 MB cache

4 cores / 8 threads

3.6 GHz base frequency

4.0 GHz max frequency

80 W TDP

32 GB max memory

Includes Turbo Boost and Hyperthreading

Please help me decide between Core i7 and Xeon.

http://ark.intel.com/compare/80909,80806,80908 Here is a detailed side-by-side comparison.

If I go with the Core i7-4790, will I be missing anything that a Xeon provides (assuming that I don't need ECC memory)?

Does the Xeon (3) with the same clock speed as the Core i7 (2) offer me anything more (except support for ECC memory, which I will never use)? Can I expect the Core i7 (2) to offer better single thread performance? Can I expect the Xeon (3) to offer better multi-thread performance?

Can I expect the Xeon to be more reliable or have a longer lifespan?

I don't have the time or know-how to build my own system, even though that would give me more options and would probably be cheaper. So I am stuck with the processor options that Lenovo is offering me (listed http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/workstations/thinkstation/p-series/p300-tower/ here). Lenovo is offering several Xeon E3 processors, whereas i7-4790 is the only Core i7 they are offering with this particular system.

Thank you for your time and advice.

[Kevin_M_Intel]

Hello classic35mm,

This comparison is very interesting because all processor are very similar however there are some things to take in consideration.

The Intel® Core i7 4790 is a processor intended for desktop solutions and the Xeon processors are intended for Server Solutions (most of the times).

If we take a look closed to these processors, I would say the best option for you is the Intel® Core i7-4790 processor since it has the same specifications as the Xeon but it also includes other technologies that at this point you say you will not need them but in the future you could use them.

Besides this, the Intel® Core i7 comes with onboard graphics which in the hypothetic case the video card you will use fails, you still can use the onboard graphics.

At last but not least, the price of the Intel® Core i7-4790 is cheaper than the Xeon processors. I can assure you that you will get the best performance ever using any of our processor but in your case, I think the Intel® Core i7 is the best option.