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Hello ...seeking new computer advise please chime in Which processor???????

chubby

New Member
Ok we are upgrading to the latest version of flexi pro and this will require a new machine. I would like some input on which processor everyone prefers and ram and such. I haven't bought a new system for awhile and need some direction. Oh yes I want to do this at a reasonable price LOL. Where have you guys found to be the best place to buy from?
 

Marlene

New Member
yes, do give Casey a call at signburst or e-mail him casey@signburst.com we bought our new computer from him recently and it is amazing! he also provides beyond the call of duty support and that makes a world of difference.
 

VinylLabs.com

New Member
There is no need to get an i7 unless you are ripping on it, the day to day operating speed on both will be the same, (albeit a tiny bit lower) than justifying it's price increase. an i7 will outperform an i5 in throttling conditions, such as encoding, rendering and long mathematical calculations.

the i5 ivy bridge series and the i5 haswell processors are about par, with the exception that the haswell (4XXX line) consumes significantly less power, and has a very cheap thermal compound under the heatshield. they both cost the same as of writing.

get a K series chip so down the line you can overclock it.

save the 100$ get an additional 8gb ram (16gb)

and I cannot stress the importance of you getting a SSD for your operating system, and ultimately a separate SSD for your applications and cache files/pagefiles.

I have built my computer over the years upgrading here and there.

my Main PC is

i5 2500k stock with the hyper 212 EVO cooler.
16 gb ram
128 gb OS ssd
128gb application SSD
raid-10 data drive
geforce 780ti classified

it's a few years old, but I keep upgrading, my next upgrade will be a z87 motherboard. (or z97 if a better one comes out)

my backup pc is

Q6600
8gb ram
21tb quasi-raid4 (unraid) (8x3tb drives)
 
Computer

I have 3 new computers all bought within the last 6 months in my shop. I will give my opinion of each.

Dell xps8500 i5 8gb. Runs basic programs great. Multitask pretty good. Flexi runs good on it until you start doing the plugs or advanced shadows and it slows down. Runs photoshop ok but when you start designing larger files it slows down.

CyberpowerPC. Runs basic programs ok. Flexi about the same as the dell but when you start using the new effects on flexi is slows down. Would not recommend running photoshop unless you dealing with small files. It really slows down.

Signburst inferno. It's a beast of a machine. Runs everything very fast. Very little lag time even with large photoshop files. Plus Casey is easy to work with. He helped me set up my software preferences to help performance. And I was having a problem and it did take a little while but he worked with me through it and I have not had a single issue with the machine. If I grow and need another designer for large files I will buy another machine from signburst because the time you save will pay for itself over time.
 

player

New Member
I have 3 new computers all bought within the last 6 months in my shop. I will give my opinion of each.

Dell xps8500 i5 8gb. Runs basic programs great. Multitask pretty good. Flexi runs good on it until you start doing the plugs or advanced shadows and it slows down. Runs photoshop ok but when you start designing larger files it slows down.

CyberpowerPC. Runs basic programs ok. Flexi about the same as the dell but when you start using the new effects on flexi is slows down. Would not recommend running photoshop unless you dealing with small files. It really slows down.

Signburst inferno. It's a beast of a machine. Runs everything very fast. Very little lag time even with large photoshop files. Plus Casey is easy to work with. He helped me set up my software preferences to help performance. And I was having a problem and it did take a little while but he worked with me through it and I have not had a single issue with the machine. If I grow and need another designer for large files I will buy another machine from signburst because the time you save will pay for itself over time.

This is no comparison as there are no specs on the different pc's. Different processors, ram, graphics cards etc. are the difference.
 

Techman

New Member
There is no need to get an i7 unless you are ripping on it,

The price of an I7 verses I5 is so slight there is no reason to waste a penny on an I5. Get an I7 and get it over with.

I see no need or reason to get a Xeon server chip for desktop usage. The chips are essentially the same except that xeon are certified for 2/4 hours a day for years to run in servers. However, these days a chip failure is rare.. Just because the MAcs use xeon some think xeon are super chips.. The expense for the desktop user is not necessary.

Xeon is a brand of Intel chips. I7 is the brand of another Intel chip. Both are using the latest technology Intel has to offer.
 

SightLine

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I'm a proponent of the Xeon processors which are far from being just "server" processors. Ultimately it is up to you and what you feel an investment in reliability, performance, etc warrants. There are a lot of variables, as mentioned multiple times, Casey at Signburst can give excellent recommendations based on your budget and needs.

Intels site has a section specifically for "workstations" which are really a different class of computer than your typical "desktops". http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/workstations/workstation-products.html
Read some of their briefs like "workstation or desktop" and some of the others on there.

You will notice on the Signburst website, they also refer to their systems as workstations and their top of the line model is specified with a Xeon processor.

That being said - for what most of the shops on here are doing, the i5 and i7 based systems are probably fine for your needs.
 

SightLine

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There is a very big difference between system from Signburst and off the shelf piece of junk consumer class PC from Best Buy with the same processor and amount of ram...... On one side you have a system built with top of the line components aimed at bullet proof business class reliability, no bloatware, a far better spec'd hard drive, components that are specifically benchmarked to work well together, cooling specifically selected to ensure absolute optimal performance, and built with performance specifically for our industry in mind. On the other side you have a system built with the cheapest possible, slowest crappiest components (2mb cache 5400 rpm hard drive junk motherboard with crap capacitors that will have a pretty short life, etc, etc), loaded and bogged down with a ton of crap that you do not want or need for a business, crippled bios, crippled expandability, proprietary parts, etc. The cheapo system is cheap for a reason.
 

AF

New Member
Look at Intel Ark website to see what capabilities are lacking on the processors you are considering. The unlocked chips may give your system some legs down the line as they start to bog down with new software, but many lack virtualization support which may be a problem before we know it based on the whole "cloud" scheme being thrown at the consumer. If you don't need ECC memory, Xeons are not so attractive due to extra cost and locked speed. For longevity, get cool running chips with high thermal design temperatures. This will help prevent a chip failure if you fail to clean the dust out of your machine and things start to get hot. I believe the 4930K chip offers the best value for many of the above reasons, if you plan to design and rip on same machine. ripping and photoshop both benefit from tons of memory, tons of CPU cores and SSD scratch disks. Ideal is a dedicated rip server for each output device, but that is not always practical for the small shop or the technically challenged.
 

Christian @ 2CT Media

Active Member
The price of an I7 verses I5 is so slight there is no reason to waste a penny on an I5. Get an I7 and get it over with.

I see no need or reason to get a Xeon server chip for desktop usage. The chips are essentially the same except that xeon are certified for 2/4 hours a day for years to run in servers. However, these days a chip failure is rare.. Just because the MAcs use xeon some think xeon are super chips.. The expense for the desktop user is not necessary.

Xeon is a brand of Intel chips. I7 is the brand of another Intel chip. Both are using the latest technology Intel has to offer.

The XEON is cheaper then the comparable i7 and i5, which is why I prefer that route. It also increases reliability for always on computers, and they run cooler and slightly more efficiently when taxed.

i7-4770: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116900&cm_re=i7_4770-_-19-116-900-_-Product

E3-1241 V3: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117315
 

Techman

New Member
that baby Xeon is just about equal comparable to an old I7 860.. Sleepy at best..

It will never compare to that 4770 in the least. The 4770 is a much better chip with the latest in technology. That i7 is worth more,, it costs more. It does more and it will just plain run faster.
 

Christian @ 2CT Media

Active Member
Ha that is a laughable comment, that XEON is exactly the same as i7 4770. The problem is you are stuck in the past when consumer and server chips were completely different, the new XEON E series is built on the same exact platform as the core series except they have great improvements like ECC support, lower TDP, Pro Grade integrated graphics, and so much more. Have you even used these processors?

Here you go: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html
From Intel:https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...gQFjAD&usg=AFQjCNFcunJwDCrPASUcW5Am9jhEjPUeAg
 
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