OCR Workstation Advice Sought

[mfenn]

First off, I would avoid using a Passmark scores as an indicator for anything. The only thing they tell you is how well a machine runs Passmark. You'd be better off extrapolating based on known FineReader numbers. As long as you're comparing the same processor architecture (Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge, Haswell, etc.) you can get a fair estimate by doing simple linear scaling by cores and clock speed.

The Xeon quad-socket platform has an extremely high cost of entry. You'd be lucky to get a barebones server with no CPUs, RAM, or drives for $5k.

Tynopik's dual-socket machine is a more interesting, however I think it still comes up short compared to a bunch of 4770s. It's (very roughly) worth about 4 of those 4770 Dells, so the cost equivalence would be $1350 including software. Even after adding $400 of software license fees to the Dells, they're only $1000 each.

 

[Pesca]

Mfenn, thanks for setting me straight about the quad-socket and PassMark. I'm going to think seriously about four 4770s. Appreciate your advice!

 

[MarkLuvsCS]

If you're buying multiple copies, maybe you can contact their sales dept and see if there's anyway you could get a break on multiple licenses. Reducing that cost would go a long way to reducing unit cost.

 

[tynopik]

there's no question that the dells would offer great performance for less cost

the question is if the convenience of 1 machine vs 4 would be worth it, and of course i can't answer that

 

[Cerb]

Since FineReader benchmarks aren't available for all processors, I'm looking at PassMark scores.

They're basically useless. Tom's does FineReader benching, though, and has representative samples, based on what's available. IE, that Intel > AMD, and Intel w/ HT > Intel w/o HT. The differences in what they tested between generations wasn't much, though. Their test speed may vary from what you will have, but the relative differences should stay fairly close to constant.

If the latter, then a strong candidate might be two machines, each with 2x E5-2630 (or E5-2640 v2, maybe?).

The issue with the E5 is the expense. You'll be making $3-5K workstations that only perform a little better than a $1k PC, and I generally agree with the others, that occasional bit errors are probably not a big deal for this use case. While you get more cores, they're each slower, and the workstation hardware gets much more expensive with the many-core CPUs. A 6-core LGA2011 could be a little faster per PC, but 8+ core Xeons cost more, just for the CPU, than a whole other quad-core PC will, and that PC will have faster individual cores. If your work can spread out like that, across PCs, I think it makes more sense. It's definitely better bang/buck.

Three or four machines with 4770s would be great, if I could manage them, and that might be what my decision comes down to, ultimately.

You could save $100-200 and try remote desktop, but a nice VGA & USB KVM switch (I've had excellent results with Trendnet, over the years, for affordable ones, and would avoid Belkin and StarTech) would make it literally just like being at it natively, complete with being able to see it POST (or not) and such, should it encounter problems. It's a little more complicated than swapping pins (hence the cost), but it's literally switching the ports used between the computers, like an A/V receiver swaps TV and speakers. Most have a keyboard shortcut that you can change channels with, but non-octopus types will typically have buttons on the front, which is more intuitive.

Here's a nice intro, with a cheaper 2-port type:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AbMgv74xUw
With a 4-port, you tend to want more buttons (to select each channel, rather than just toggle), and all the connections on the back, but it's really that simple.

 

[mfenn]

If you're buying multiple copies, maybe you can contact their sales dept and see if there's anyway you could get a break on multiple licenses. Reducing that cost would go a long way to reducing unit cost.

Excellent point. Since you're an existing customer who is looking to drop another couple grand on software, they should be able to do something for you.

 

[Pesca]

Tynopik, Cerb, and mfenn: thanks for your continued input. I'm leaning towards four 4770 machines with a KVM supporting AutoScan. I think that would be sufficient to monitor the OCR processes at a glance. As for the license costs, there are definitely discounts for 5+ licenses, so it's possible.

I'll update this thread when I've made a purchase. Thanks everyone for your help!