what would be a better processor for rendering?
 

what would be a better processor for rendering?


1 Quad Core Intel® Xeon® Processor E5504 2.0GHz,4M L3, 4.8GT/s

or 1 Core™ i7-920 processor(8MB L3 Cache, 2.66GHz)

Hi, Dave. Here's the thing about the Intel Nehalem microarchitecture processors: Core i7, Xeon 3500 and Xeon 5500.

Ultimately when your compare them just core speed to core speed, they are very much the same. So when comparing the two processors you mentioned, the i7 is faster. What you get with the Xeon serious is support for ECC ram, and in the case of the 5500 series, dual processor and therefore dual memory controller support. The cores themselves are the same. Here's the real difference between series.

Core i7 = High-end Desktop, single processor configuration, standard non-ECC ram
Xeon 3500 = Adds ECC ram support, targeted for workstations
Xeon 5500 = Adds support for 2 CPUs, Targeted for dual CPU servers & workstations

In the long run the Xeon will cost you more money for the motherboard and ram, but the Xeon 5504 gives you the option of putting two CPUs on a board for a total of 8 cores and a butt-tone of ram. That could be cool.

Build a DIY render farm with core 2 duo processors. On the main workstation, go with the i7, or if budget doesn't allow - a quad core will do fine.
+Fast Hard drives and loads of RAM!

The i7-920 (Bloomfield) for sure.

The Xeon E5504 is based off a previous generation chip design and runs at a noticeably slower clock speed with 1/2 the L3 cache (4MB vs the i7 8MB per core). The only upside is that the Xeon consumes less energy...