Important differences between desktop and workstation for everyday office tasks?

[elsenoire]

Hi guys,

I've been doing up some reading regarding the differences between desktops and workstations. Generally, the idea I get is that workstations offer more performance when it comes to certain areas like CAD/Engineering software as well as being able to support more error-free mechanisms and multiple processors (???).

Say I need computers for the following office tasks:

• Checking of emails, >25mb attachment sizes, >10gb mailbox size
• Working with excel worksheets with lots of calculation (not complicated, just many)
• Viewing of AutoCAD drawing, occasional modification (2-3 hours per week)
• User account connected to domain, not local (if it makes any difference?)

Does it really make a difference? Or am I just much better off going with a normal desktop and calling in a 3rd party if I need repairs beyond the standard warranty period?

 

[86technie]

FYI nowadays workstation cost almost the same as a regular desktop.
Since you are using it for AutoCAD, best go for workstation as
the graphics card plays an important role to ensure your drafter/engineer
can draft design smoothly.
In my previous coy, I did test AutoCAD on a normal desktop and
a workstation. Drafting on the workstation is more smooth than
on normal desktop.
Primary is because of the hardware features found in the workstation
graphics.
You can get quotes for HP Z230 or Dell T1700 which cost about $1.5 - $2.k without monitor.
Primary specs for this two models which I purchase last time was:
Intel Xeon V3 E1230
8Gb (More ram is better)
Nvidia Quadro 600
500GB SATA hard disk
Windows 7 64Bit
You only need a more powerful workstation unless the staff needs to drafting most of the time and large scale modelling.

 

[Maeda_Toshiie]

In the old days, workstations offer significantly more performance. Nowadays, consumer grade CPUs from Intel go up to 6 cores, while AMD go up to 8 cores. Server grade CPUs from either side do not have any clockspeed advantage, only a larger number of cores.


In general, you don't need a Xeon/Opteron based workstation over a workstation unless it is 24/7 with minimal downtime and low tolerance for errors, ie ECC RAM required.

If you can use 10 cores, you can probably use more, which means going for a server chassis, not some workstation.


Unless you need specific features, or do CUDA, Quadro and Firepro are not really necessary.

 

[pa9797]

If you want a consumer workstation board, Asus is one brand that offer that

 

[GrimaH]

If the most intensive stuff you're gonna do is a bit of AutoCAD 2D, just get the cheapest desktop with a dedicated graphics card. None of the other tasks you're doing will pose a problem to any desktop CPU from the last 6 years.

You only need a workstation if you're doing intensive graphics design/rendering/calculations etc, in which case you're better off just getting the company to get a good pre-built one from the vendor.

 

[muddle]

get a mobo with ecc ram support like asus p9d-ws and xeon 1245v3.

or like what others mentioned, based on your usage model, even my current 4 yr old rig on the right can handle with no problems...