question about processors

[nagelibre]

Hello all,

I have a hardware question :

I'm not sure to well understand the difference between a Xeon processor and a core processor. Except the price which is very different (up to 8000 euros for a xeon chipset) does anyone know if there is a huge difference between these 2 kind of processors when calculating on Keyshot?

Concern to my work, my pc is a HP with a I7 860 proc and 8 Go ram.
My rendering time take 1-5minutes, the worst scene can go up to 20 minutes (rarely).
When an image is calculating, I'm using Photoshop or Illustrator to keep going on my work. ( and I listen music on the internet in the same time )

My questions are : I would like to change for a newer machine. Do I need to go for a xeon processor machine? does a simple core I7 new generation is enough for my case? Does a powerfull graphic card is an advantage? Does the Ram quantity is important?

Thanks for advises guys

Fred

[DriesV]

If you're interested in a single socket machine: go for Core i7.
If you're interested in a dual socket machine: go for Xeon. A mid to high end dual Xeon machine packs a lot more punch in KeyShot than than the beefiest i7.

I'm using a dual E5-2680 machine with 32 threads for these reasons:
*reserved +/- 3/4 threads for network rendering
*for dedicated rendering simply 2 times faster than my overclocked i7-3930K at home.
*able to do some heavy rendering, while still having lots of threads for SolidWorks and other resource critical stuff.

Concerning high end Xeon machines, you might want to look at refurbished euipment. Some great deals (like 50 to 70% off) can be found on nearly new equipment. That's what I did.

Dries

[PhilippeV8]

Alow me to add:

Does a powerfull graphic card is an advantage?

No 
(Not for KeyShot at least)

[nagelibre]

OK thanks for your comments guys