Xeon W3520 vs E5520

[grypht]

We have to order a new designer workstation for a user that use Mastercam X3.
I had a quote with a QX6850 cpu but it seems that the hardware is no longer available so I have to setup a new system.

My choice of cpu is: between the W3520 and the E5520 (90$ more then the W3520).
I read that the W3520 was an earlier nehalem base version but the clock speed is at 3.2ghz while the E5520 is 2.26ghz.

So is the E5520 truly worth more then the W3520 speedwise?
I'd hate to pay more for something that works slower.

Also, for the memory, would you suggest ECC or Non ECC memory? I beleive the ECC memory is slower because of the error checking, but does it work better for designers? I could understand in the case of a server...

Thank you,

[moshpit]

Re: Xeon W3520 vs E5520

We have to order a new designer workstation for a user that use Mastercam X3.
I had a quote with a QX6850 cpu but it seems that the hardware is no longer available so I have to setup a new system.

My choice of cpu is: between the W3520 and the E5520 (90$ more then the W3520).
I read that the W3520 was an earlier nehalem base version but the clock speed is at 3.2ghz while the E5520 is 2.26ghz.

So is the E5520 truly worth more then the W3520 speedwise?
I'd hate to pay more for something that works slower.

Also, for the memory, would you suggest ECC or Non ECC memory? I beleive the ECC memory is slower because of the error checking, but does it work better for designers? I could understand in the case of a server...

Thank you,

You must have misread the W3520 clock speed. It's actually 2.66Ghz, same speed as an i7 920.

[grypht]

Re: Xeon W3520 vs E5520

It is an error on the Dell website, when you switch to french profile, the information isn't accurate... on many items.

I searched on the intel website for the 2 models and what I've found is that the E5520 has 6 memory channels instead of 3 (max memory is higher) and the Intel QPI Links Bandwidth is 5.86 GT/s instead of 4.80 GT/s.

We'll get the E5520 but I don't think it would of made much of a difference getting the W3520.

[moshpit]

Re: Xeon W3520 vs E5520

It is an error on the Dell website, when you switch to french profile, the information isn't accurate... on many items.

I searched on the intel website for the 2 models and what I've found is that the E5520 has 6 memory channels instead of 3 (max memory is higher) and the Intel QPI Links Bandwidth is 5.86 GT/s instead of 4.80 GT/s.

We'll get the E5520 but I don't think it would of made much of a difference getting the W3520.

I think you misread that. There is no 6 channel CPU from Intel right now. All Nehalem's are triple channel at the moment.

And no, the 400mhz difference between the E5520 and W3520 wouldn't have made much difference at all. You really have to go over 400mhz in difference to really feel much improvement. Benchmarks would show a much more marked difference then what you'd perceive.

[Aleslammer]

Re: Xeon W3520 vs E5520

The 3520 is for single processor setups, entry level. The 5500 are multi processor capable.

Workstation Processor - Intel

[grypht]

Re: Xeon W3520 vs E5520

The 3520 is for single processor setups, entry level. The 5500 are multi processor capable.

Workstation Processor - Intel

I guess that's why I got confused about the 3 memory channels and the 6...
The information I read was
W3520:
E5520:

Thanks for clearing this up Moshpit and Aleslammer.

[moshpit]

Re: Xeon W3520 vs E5520

Our lab has a W3520 being shipped to us right now for testing. We just finished testing a W3505 and I have to say it, it SUCKED. Clock for clock it barely kept ahead of Core 2 Duo. A real crying shame that a Nehalem generation chip could suck so badly when all my other Core i7 experiences have been so good. But, in the W3505's defense, it IS a stripped down Nehalem. Only 2 cores, no HT, no Turbo. It's the Celeron of Nehalem. W3520 is expected to fair much better.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Xeon W3520 vs E5520

Our lab has a W3520 being shipped to us right now for testing. We just finished testing a W3505 and I have to say it, it SUCKED. Clock for clock it barely kept ahead of Core 2 Duo. A real crying shame that a Nehalem generation chip could suck so badly when all my other Core i7 experiences have been so good. But, in the W3505's defense, it IS a stripped down Nehalem. Only 2 cores, no HT, no Turbo. It's the Celeron of Nehalem. W3520 is expected to fair much better.

Let me know how you like it, I am a huge Xeon fan myself and have been saving to grab one of these. Seems it is going to take a while though, you can send me one for testing when you are done Or hook me up with your source, that would be great!!

Let me know if all the multi's are unlocked (QPI/Uncore/Ram) and on what board and BIOS you do your testing.

Thanks Moshpit!

[moshpit]

Re: Xeon W3520 vs E5520

Let me know how you like it, I am a huge Xeon fan myself and have been saving to grab one of these. Seems it is going to take a while though, you can send me one for testing when you are done Or hook me up with your source, that would be great!!

Let me know if all the multi's are unlocked (QPI/Uncore/Ram) and on what board and BIOS you do your testing.

Thanks Moshpit!

Will do. Our initial testing is being done on a Dell Precision T3500. We received it with the W3505 and a lonely 1Gb stick of ram. Terrible. Won't cut it at all. The W3505 is so stripped down already, and then being fed by a single channel of memory, it was unusable. Nobody believed me up there that it was being starved of memory bandwidth. I brought in 3Gb of Corsair DDR3 1333 and dropped it in and it got better, not perfect, but much better. There's only so much you can do to help a Nehalem Celeron, and that's what the W3505 reminds me of. The W3520 should fair much better when it gets in.

And my source charges us. We do get free samples of some stuff, but all this was purchased gear for testing since our vid surveillance server's lowest model is based right now on the Dell T3400 and that's getting long in the tooth. Too bad the T3500 in it's base config actually performs WORSE! At least the T3400, which comes with a Core 2 Duo in it, has a pair of 512mb DDR2 chips in it for dual channel mode.

[ajellis]

Re: Xeon W3520 vs E5520

Will do. Our initial testing is being done on a Dell Precision T3500. We received it with the W3505 and a lonely 1Gb stick of ram. Terrible. Won't cut it at all. The W3505 is so stripped down already, and then being fed by a single channel of memory, it was unusable. Nobody believed me up there that it was being starved of memory bandwidth. I brought in 3Gb of Corsair DDR3 1333 and dropped it in and it got better, not perfect, but much better. There's only so much you can do to help a Nehalem Celeron, and that's what the W3505 reminds me of. The W3520 should fair much better when it gets in.

And my source charges us. We do get free samples of some stuff, but all this was purchased gear for testing since our vid surveillance server's lowest model is based right now on the Dell T3400 and that's getting long in the tooth. Too bad the T3500 in it's base config actually performs WORSE! At least the T3400, which comes with a Core 2 Duo in it, has a pair of 512mb DDR2 chips in it for dual channel mode.

You mentioned that you were running the i7's also; were these also on the T3500? Does the T3500 run the i7's ok?

[moshpit]

Re: Xeon W3520 vs E5520

You mentioned that you were running the i7's also; were these also on the T3500? Does the T3500 run the i7's ok?

That's actually a good question! I haven't thought to try that yet. I could bring my 920 into work and give it a shot. I need to bring my rig up there anyway soon, so I could give it a try and see. So far, we've only run the Xeon W3505 and the W3520 on the T3500.

[ajellis]

Re: Xeon W3520 vs E5520

That's actually a good question! I haven't thought to try that yet. I could bring my 920 into work and give it a shot. I need to bring my rig up there anyway soon, so I could give it a try and see. So far, we've only run the Xeon W3505 and the W3520 on the T3500.

Cool - post back if/when you try it (the 920). If all is good, do you think it'd be worth it to slap the 965 on there? I know there is a HUGE price jump - just wondering if it would justify the cost with performance gain.

[moshpit]

Re: Xeon W3520 vs E5520

Cool - post back if/when you try it (the 920). If all is good, do you think it'd be worth it to slap the 965 on there? I know there is a HUGE price jump - just wondering if it would justify the cost with performance gain.

No, it would not justify it. The ONLY justification for an EE965 is on a motherboard that allows multiplier adjustments. Dell has never allowed that. I'd just get the highest end Xeon and drop it in there. It's not like Core i7 has anything Xeon doesn't performance wise.

[ronnzz]

Re: Xeon W3520 vs E5520

i think T3500 is becoming compatible to i7

EDIT: Keep your links to yourself please......