i5-6500T vs i5-10500 (server/desktop) help me decide

[Soogs]

Hi all,

I've got a Dell optiplex 3080 mini and a HP elitedesk 800 G2 mini and am thinking about swaping their roles. Both have sata and nvme on board. Both support three monitors which i use most of the time.
Have a few questions I'm hoping someone can help me with.

1. TDP - when both systems are idle, will the be much difference in power draw?
2. Desktop experience - I mainly use the workstation for browsing (lots of tabs and windows open) email/MS office apps and bluestacks/nox player android emulation all at the same time. will stepping down to a 4C4T cpu be noticable in this scenario?
3. if yes to the above would these tasks be ok when not multi-tasking them?

Dell - workstation

• i5-10500 65w TDP
• 64GB DDR4

HP - Proxmox server

• i5-6500T 35W TDP
• 16GB DDR4 (thinking about upgrading to 32GB)

what would you do?
Thanks

 

[HangTime]

Dell all the way. 30W isn't much to worry about, over a year assuming you use the PC for 8hrs a day that's less than 100kWh per year.
Quadruple the RAM, if you upgraded the HP RAM to have half as much as the Dell then it will take you years to break even on running costs.
6c12t just much better than 4c4t even ignoring the fact that it's got much higher IPC.
Presumably the Dell is like 5 years newer as well so less likely to generate a fault.

That said the way your post is worded "swapping roles" implies you are going to use both rather than it being a shootout between the two. I would say just make the Dell the "main" machine that is going to do the heavy-lifting and/or be used the most.

When allis said and done a 6500T with 16GB RAM will generally be fine for desktop usage although I can't comment on the emulation aspect. I use a 3570K (also 4c4t) with 12GB RAM in our kitchen for browsing and playing video, it works absolutely fine.

 

[Soogs]

Dell all the way. 30W isn't much to worry about, over a year assuming you use the PC for 8hrs a day that's less than 100kWh per year.
Quadruple the RAM, if you upgraded the HP RAM to have half as much as the Dell then it will take you years to break even on running costs.
6c12t just much better than 4c4t even ignoring the fact that it's got much higher IPC.
Presumably the Dell is like 5 years newer as well so less likely to generate a fault.

That said the way your post is worded "swapping roles" implies you are going to use both rather than it being a shootout between the two. I would say just make the Dell the "main" machine that is going to do the heavy-lifting and/or be used the most.

When allis said and done a 6500T with 16GB RAM will generally be fine for desktop usage although I can't comment on the emulation aspect. I use a 3570K (also 4c4t) with 12GB RAM in our kitchen for browsing and playing video, it works absolutely fine.

yeah so the hp is running proxmox and the dell is my current daily driver.

i've got upto three machines running proxmox to make up for the lack of memory so was thinking swapping these two might mean i can turn the others off or repurpose them.

think ill just leave things as they are and just upgrade to 32gb if i find a bargain.

 

[Tetras]

1. TDP - when both systems are idle, will the be much difference in power draw?
2. Desktop experience - I mainly use the workstation for browsing (lots of tabs and windows open) email/MS office apps and bluestacks/nox player android emulation all at the same time. will stepping down to a 4C4T cpu be noticable in this scenario?

1. No, usually there is very little. The difference will likely be more due to platform and motherboard. Generally speaking, 10th gen has higher idle than 6-9th gen, but OEM systems do things differently so you might find they use very little. I certainly wouldn't make a decision to swap based on this alone. My suggestion would be to continue using the i5-10500 and turn off the turbo and HT, which will put it in a similar efficiency window for minimally threaded tasks. Plug meters aren't that expensive so I'd get one if you really want to check this out.

2. Probably not, but it depends exactly what you're doing. Having lots of tabs and windows doesn't really require a 6 core, it tends to need more memory and a snappy SSD than it does CPU power. Emulation tends to be more about single core performance, but it depends on the software.

 

[Soogs]

1. No, usually there is very little. The difference will likely be more due to platform and motherboard. Generally speaking, 10th gen has higher idle than 6-9th gen, but OEM systems do things differently so you might find they use very little. I certainly wouldn't make a decision to swap based on this alone. My suggestion would be to continue using the i5-10500 and turn off the turbo and HT, which will put it in a similar efficiency window for minimally threaded tasks. Plug meters aren't that expensive so I'd get one if you really want to check this out.

2. Probably not, but it depends exactly what you're doing. Having lots of tabs and windows doesn't really require a 6 core, it tends to need more memory and a snappy SSD than it does CPU power. Emulation tends to be more about single core performance, but it depends on the software.

I've had a look in task manager and the alloted cores are all in use for the emulation so i think its best i stick with the 10th gen as the daily work horse haha

Dell all the way. 30W isn't much to worry about, over a year assuming you use the PC for 8hrs a day that's less than 100kWh per year.
Quadruple the RAM, if you upgraded the HP RAM to have half as much as the Dell then it will take you years to break even on running costs.
6c12t just much better than 4c4t even ignoring the fact that it's got much higher IPC.
Presumably the Dell is like 5 years newer as well so less likely to generate a fault.

That said the way your post is worded "swapping roles" implies you are going to use both rather than it being a shootout between the two. I would say just make the Dell the "main" machine that is going to do the heavy-lifting and/or be used the most.

When allis said and done a 6500T with 16GB RAM will generally be fine for desktop usage although I can't comment on the emulation aspect. I use a 3570K (also 4c4t) with 12GB RAM in our kitchen for browsing and playing video, it works absolutely fine.

I have both machines so yes a role swap was on the cards as i technically push the server harder "at times" but i think the android emulators probably are the most cpu intensive thing i do so will just leave it as is for now...
when i finally build a gaming pc i can add the dell to the homelab and rejig things

 

[Defy Belief]

Virtualisation is all about RAM, so if you're planning to increase the amount of VMs you will be running etc, 100% make the dell with the 64GB your ProxMox server, the HP will handle a desktop experience just fine IMO.

If it's a 24/7 server, a 10500t can be bought for £75 at a certain second hand reseller if you're worried about power consumption, although at idle, probably a tiny difference in cost tbh.