Xeon vs i5

[jamoor]

I am just reviewing my desktop at work, I do a lot of multitasking.

I currently have an i5-4460 with 8gb of RAM, I was going to make it 16 but I have seen used workstations on eBay such as the following -
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lenovo-C...028638?hash=item3f95e9365e:g:sAUAAOSw0hRZcNNX

Will something like this that has 2 xeon processors with 16 GB of ram outperform my current setup? Or is the i5 a better bet?

 

[Delta3D]

When you say "Multitasking" what sort of programs are you using?

Web based things? Photoshop + CAD Tools etc? Spreadsheets?

 

[kefan77]

outperform in what? personally i would not buy 4c4t IB Xeon.

just get E3 1230/1 v3 and extra 8GB

 

[BongoHunter]

I would remove the Ebay link from your post (forum rules)

Anyway back to topic

E5v2 is still a good chip bit it is showing its age now, on paper it still has strong specs, but the difference in performance between v2 and v3 is quite large for some workloads (40% uplift in perf for enterprisey Java for example).

So if you going v2 you need to be looking at a more powerful box IMO - HP Z620 workstation with dual E5 v2 (8t16c) and 32GB of RAM can be had for under £500 with a bit of patience

Edit: I used to run duel Xeon x5660's (6c12t each) - you will be seeing these all over the show if searching for Xeon workstations - don't bother they are to old now and draw a lot of power. E5v2 is as old as I would go

 

[jamoor]

When you say "Multitasking" what sort of programs are you using?

Web based things? Photoshop + CAD Tools etc? Spreadsheets?

Endless chrome tabs and office software, email etc.

 

[spolsh]

I'd just get the RAM then. Office style software doesn't normally require very powerful hardware, RAM though, chrome can eat that right up.