When I purchased my current PC, it was more than sufficient for my needs but I then started blogging and writing about CAD and other applications. I have since been cursing myself for not purchasing a real workstation when I had the chance. I have recently decided that the time has come for me to begin looking for a new workstation instead of a regular desktop PC. In general workstations are better than the average desktop PC. This is because workstations are generally designed with performance, stability and scalability in mind. That is why most high end software packages such as CAD, video editing and animation software need to be used on workstations instead of a $500 PC purchased at Walmart.

I decided to share with you my search for my new workstation. I have a couple of criteria that must be met before I commit. First, and most important to me, is the price. I don’t want to just laydown thousands of my semi-hard earned money to buy the best system available.  Instead I want to find the system that best suits my needs without breaking the bank. Next, I must be able to use software packages such as SolidWorks, Autodesk Inventor, Adobe Premier and various 3D rendering packages. I also want to make sure that I get a system that won’t be obsolete before I even get it set-up.

To start things off, I want to spend the next couple of weeks giving you some background information on a few areas to consider when purchasing a new system. After looking more into areas such as the CPU, RAM, Hard Drive, Power Supply; I want to then look at some workstations available on the market. Unfortunately, since I am new blogger in this field it will be near impossible to actually get a hold of a couple of different systems to test. So I will do what the average consumer needs to do and research websites, spec sheets and read user comments. Hopefully at the end of the process we will all have a better idea about what is available.

So let’s get started by looking at a few areas to consider when determining which CPU will work for you. I must admit that I am not exactly a hardware geek but I have done my research. I would like to share with you what I have learned and if you have anything to add, please share.

Intel vs. AMD

Don’t be fooled into thinking that one is always better than the other. Do your research when planning on buying a new system. Do not just go with brand loyalty since both sides have great processors. The only true way to choose a new PC is by really looking at the specs of a few different systems. Find benchmarks online and check to see if there are any compatibility issues to resolve with existing hardware. I will admit that I do tend to gravitate toward AMD but I have also purchased some great systems with Intel.

Frequency

The frequency of a CPU is described in either Megahertz or Gigahertz. The CPU frequency can also be described as the clock speed. It should not be considered the only factor to consider when purchasing a new PC since the entire PC configuration has more of an impact on the speed. When looking at the specs for a CPU you will see a number such as 3.06 GHz or 800MHz. To put it simply, the higher the number… the faster the processor. When looking at the speed of a processor, the frequency will tell you the number of cycles or instructions per second for the specified chip. For example, if CPU shows a frequency of 3.06 GHZ it means that the processor performs 3,060,000,000 instructions per second.

A growing trend among many CPU manufacturers is to omit the frequency when describing the specification of a processor. Although the frequency of a processor is often a good indication as to the speed in relation to other processors of the same manufacturer, it will not be a good indication when compared to other manufacturers. A processor offered by AMD can be rated at a certain frequency but would still out perform when put up against is similarly rated processor from Intel. You can imagine why AMD chooses not to indicate the CPU’s frequency. To the average consumer, if two processors have the same “Clock Speed” they would often go with the name they know. Unfortunately that is bad for AMD since Intel is bar far a better known brand for the average consumer.

Front-Side Bus

When looking at the specs for a processor, you should also note the FSB or Front-Side Bus. This refers the bus that carries the data from the CPU to the northbridge.  No I am not talking making a reference to the movie “Speed”; instead the Bus is a subsystem that transfers data between computer components in the computer. The Front-side Bus is the connection between the CPU and the memory controller hub or the northbridge.  The higher the frequency of the FSB, the faster the communication between the CPU and the northbridge.

As you shop for a CPU you may notice that you will only find the FSB specified on Intel chips and not on AMD64 chips. The reason is that AMD chips do not have a Front-Side Bus. Instead AMD chips have the memory controller located on the chip itself and the memory transfer is done over the HyperTransport bus link. On other processors, the FSB is the only connection between the CPU and the other components. That means that the CPU cannot communicate with the memory and other components at the same time. ON AMD64 chips there are two busses, one for communicating with the memory and another for the other PC components. Theoretically, the means that the AMD64 chips are better since thy can communicate with the memory and other components at the same time.

Cores

CPU Cores are nothing more than additional processors on a single module. Instead of two separate processors on the motherboard, many CPUs now come as dual-core, quad-core and even up to hundreds of cores.  There are a couple of advantages to a multi-core processor, including power usage, improved response time when running CPU-intensive operations, and less circuitry on the board. Although a workstation that has multiple cores has a better performance potential, it will not always be apparent to the user. Not all programs have the capability to fully utilize the multi-threading capabilities but that is becoming less true as software developers begin to make the required adjustments.

Cache

If you do what I did and try researching the CPU cache online your head will spin. SO many big words I felt like I needed to return to kindergarten. I will make this easy because honestly I can only think of it in simple terms but if are really technical and curious, check out the Wikipedia article on CPU Cache.  The CPU cache helps in the performance of the processor by providing a smaller, faster area to read and write information instead of the systems RAM.

 CPUs can have up to three levels of cache and are represented with L1, L2 and L3. The L1 cache is the smallest of the three but it is also the fastest. Then if unable to write to the L1 Cache, the CPU will then write to the L2 Cache before writing to the RAM. In multi-core systems it is common for the L2 to be bigger and shared by the cores but AMD chips often have individual L2 caches for each core. The next level after L2 is L3. This is the biggest available cache but it is also the slowest of the caches but it is still significantly faster than the system’s RAM. Not every CPU will have a L3 cache. Instead of putting the L3 cache on the CPU some systems will have the L3 cache on the motherboard.

Benchmarks and reviews

When shopping for a workstation or CPU, don’t just look at the values described by the manufacturer. The frequency, number of cores, cache size and other variables can be helpful when trying to find a CPU but they will not always give you any real indication how a CPU stacks up against other manufacturers.  Instead of relying on the manufacturers specs, do your homework. There are many great sites available that provide in-depth hardware reviews and provide benchmark results. Benchmarks are extremely helpful when you want to compare similar processors from different manufacturers and see exactly how they stack up.  The following sites are a few of my favorite sites for researching hardware. Go check them out…but make sure you come back:

Tom’s Hardware
AnandTech
Bit-tech

Conclusion

I hope this brief introduction to CPUs will come in handy the next time you decide to purchase a new system. Coming soon I will go into some other areas of a workstation such as the RAM, Video Card and Hard Drives. Make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed so you don’t miss a thing.