Xeon vs. Pentium (Single Processor) (1 Viewer)

[MarkHastings]

I am asking the question because my new Dell workstation will have a single Xeon processor in it (something like a 2.8 or 3 GHz). The thought is that I can easily add another Xeon processor in the future to speed it up.

This makes sense to me, but what I'm concerned with is, what will happen right now? Am I better off with a single P4 or a single Xeon? Or does it really matter?

i.e. Is it worth thinking about future dual processors if the single Xeon is going to make things more difficult for me at the present time?

If you haven't read my past threads, I mainly use Dreamweaver, Flash, Director, Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, & QuarkXPress.

I've read that the dual Xeons are great for 3D, Video editing, and Server apps, but do they function as well as a P4 when it comes to basic Multimedia and Graphic Design?

Thanks

 

[JamesHl]

I would be annoyed about buying one now since the new chipset is coming out soon, but other than that I would say you're fine.

The dual stuff will no make a difference in windows unless the program is compiled to make use of more than one processor, generally. You might look to see which of those programs is.

 

[Ken Chan]

Last time I checked, the fastest P4 systems had a faster front-side bus than Xeons, 800 MHz instead of 533. And the P4 has HyperThreading now. Both had dual-channel memory. So for price/performance, a single P4 is probably better than a single Xeon system.

Of course, it's not like the Xeon is dog slow. And it is the only option for MP. More and more programs are written with multiple threads and compiled appropriately to take advantage of physical MP or virtual MP from HyperThreading, or both. And MP should help when running more than one program at once.

If you're getting a Xeon system just because you might upgrade to MP, you might be wasting your money. But if you're upgrading from something in the 1 GHz range, it would clearly be faster regardless.

//Ken

 

[Tekara]

imho with what programs you use, your better off with a p4 setup. Xeons are geared more for server environments which is where they shine with their massive cache. in addition moving up to mp's will show minimal improvement, mp setup are best for people that do CAD work and other extremely cpu intensive work.

 

[Mike Voigt]

Check out the following website:

2-CPU.Com

They have some good info on dual-processors, including good software for them.

Mike