PC for Cypecad

[uribag]

Hi,

Cypecad is a software for structural analysis of reinforced concrete.

My question is if there´s any difference on the precision of the calculations between a Xeon and a I7; or between an Opteron and a FX precessor.

Do you think that ECC memory is necessary (to avoid errors on the results)?

Thanks in advance.

 

[sm625]

ECC isnt really meant specifically to protect the integrity of your calculations, it is meant to protect all of your memory, including the program code. In many cases this is even more important since an error there causes a crash.

 

[uribag]

So, basically, there´s no special needs for a computer to run these kind of software?

I can buy a FX8350 for US$ 255,00 or a i5-4570 for USS 286,00.

What do you think?

 

[Cerb]

ECC allows detection of almost all, and correction of some, system memory errors. Many machines never have one in their lifetimes, others may have several per year (environmental factors apply, too, such as altitude), and others have RAM that's going bad (around 8% of DIMMs start having errors, eventually, according to Google's study).

You need one of a limited selection of chipsets, like the C series, and typically a Xeon, to be able to use it. So, it costs a good bit more, before you even get to the memory.

The actual calculations will have the same degree of precision across x86 processors.

Chances are, an i5, i7, and Xeon E3 will offer performance very close to one another, and all are likely faster than the AMD FX. I can't find anything concrete (ba-dum-tsh! :awe, but typically such software is limited by a single thread, so an Intel would be preferable to an AMD, a newer generation preferable to an older one (i5-4xxx > i5-3xxx, i7-4xxx > i7-3xxx, E3-12xxv3 > E3-12xxV2), and higher clockspeed preferable to lower clock speed. Within those constraints, how much is it worth to you to have another 5% or 10% more clock speed, going from mid-range to high-end?