I'm considering a Lenovo ThinkStation P300 Tower Workstation. I'm considering these two options:
Option 1: $290 US above base system price
Intel Core i7-4790 Processor (includes integrated Intel HD Graphics 4600)
-- CPU base frequency: 3.6 GHz
-- CPU max frequency: 4.0 GHz
NO discrete graphics card
Option 2: $360 US above base system price
Intel Xeon E3-1241 v3 Processor (NO integrated graphics)
-- CPU base frequency: 3.5 GHz
-- CPU max frequency: 3.9 GHz
Discrete graphics card: NVIDIA Quadro K420 1GB (DVI+DP)
I'm planning to use this system for standard business use, streaming HD video, playing DVD and possibly Bluray discs, a little gaming, and some not-terribly-heavy scientific simulations (using Mathematica, Matlab, Fortran, and C/C++). I will NOT be using this system to design the next Porsche or render Toy Story 4.
Since I'm going to do some scientific simulations, I'd like a processor with 4 cores / 8 threads. Both the Core i7-4790 and the Xeon E3-1241 v3 processors that I selected above have this, and these processors also have similar frequencies.
A big difference between these processors is that the Core i7-4790 has integrated graphics, whereas the Xeon E3-1241 v3 doesn't. So if I choose the Xeon E3-1241 v3, I will definitely need a discrete graphics card.
Do I need a discrete graphics card?
Well, one thing a discrete card offers is GPU computing with CUDA, whereas I integrated graphics doesn't. For example, the Quadro K420 has 192 CUDA cores. So if I want to run scientific simulations on GPU, I'll need a discrete graphics card. But since my simulations will not be terribly heavy, I may not need to do this; I may just stick with doing all the floating point arithmetic on the CPU, which has multiple cores anyway. So, for now, ignore GPU floating point arithmetic in my decision.
As far as discrete cards, Lenovo's workstations only ship with either NVIDIA NVS or NVIDIA Quadro cards -- they do NOT ship with GeForce cards, and this discussion seems to imply that Lenovo's workstation motherboards are not supported with GeForce cards. Since I understand that NVIDIA NVS cards really only work with very basic office applications, I have to go with Quadro. Even if it's somehow possible to get a GeForce card to work with a workstation motherboard, this would void the system's warranty -- something I don't want to do. So if I'm going to get a discrete graphics card with the system, it has to be Quadro.
What about gaming? I'll be doing some gaming, but I don't need the best frame rates or anything like that. Might the integrated Intel graphics actually perform better than the Quadro K420 for gaming? This video says that GeForce cards far outperform Quadros at the same price level. This article says that while it's no longer true that one cannot game on Quadros, it's definitely still true that Quadros are not very good for gaming. Since the Quadro I've selected -- Quadro K420 -- is an entry-level Quadro to boot, I expect it will not be very good at all at gaming.
Finally, what about video playback? I want to be able to stream HD video (Netflix, etc), which presumably both the integrated and the Quadro can do. Presumably they can both also play DVDs. But will both the integrated and the Quadro be able to play Bluray discs? My system will not come with a Bluray drive (Lenovo is asking $249 US for an internal one), but I'm thinking to look into an external Bluray drive down the road.
In summary, since I'm not going to be using my system to design the next Porsche or render Toy Story 4, and since a GeForce card is sadly not an option for this system, do you think I might be actually happier with integrated Intel graphics than the Quadro K420?
Thanks for your time!
Option 1: $290 US above base system price
Intel Core i7-4790 Processor (includes integrated Intel HD Graphics 4600)
-- CPU base frequency: 3.6 GHz
-- CPU max frequency: 4.0 GHz
NO discrete graphics card
Option 2: $360 US above base system price
Intel Xeon E3-1241 v3 Processor (NO integrated graphics)
-- CPU base frequency: 3.5 GHz
-- CPU max frequency: 3.9 GHz
Discrete graphics card: NVIDIA Quadro K420 1GB (DVI+DP)
I'm planning to use this system for standard business use, streaming HD video, playing DVD and possibly Bluray discs, a little gaming, and some not-terribly-heavy scientific simulations (using Mathematica, Matlab, Fortran, and C/C++). I will NOT be using this system to design the next Porsche or render Toy Story 4.
Since I'm going to do some scientific simulations, I'd like a processor with 4 cores / 8 threads. Both the Core i7-4790 and the Xeon E3-1241 v3 processors that I selected above have this, and these processors also have similar frequencies.
A big difference between these processors is that the Core i7-4790 has integrated graphics, whereas the Xeon E3-1241 v3 doesn't. So if I choose the Xeon E3-1241 v3, I will definitely need a discrete graphics card.
Do I need a discrete graphics card?
Well, one thing a discrete card offers is GPU computing with CUDA, whereas I integrated graphics doesn't. For example, the Quadro K420 has 192 CUDA cores. So if I want to run scientific simulations on GPU, I'll need a discrete graphics card. But since my simulations will not be terribly heavy, I may not need to do this; I may just stick with doing all the floating point arithmetic on the CPU, which has multiple cores anyway. So, for now, ignore GPU floating point arithmetic in my decision.
As far as discrete cards, Lenovo's workstations only ship with either NVIDIA NVS or NVIDIA Quadro cards -- they do NOT ship with GeForce cards, and this discussion seems to imply that Lenovo's workstation motherboards are not supported with GeForce cards. Since I understand that NVIDIA NVS cards really only work with very basic office applications, I have to go with Quadro. Even if it's somehow possible to get a GeForce card to work with a workstation motherboard, this would void the system's warranty -- something I don't want to do. So if I'm going to get a discrete graphics card with the system, it has to be Quadro.
What about gaming? I'll be doing some gaming, but I don't need the best frame rates or anything like that. Might the integrated Intel graphics actually perform better than the Quadro K420 for gaming? This video says that GeForce cards far outperform Quadros at the same price level. This article says that while it's no longer true that one cannot game on Quadros, it's definitely still true that Quadros are not very good for gaming. Since the Quadro I've selected -- Quadro K420 -- is an entry-level Quadro to boot, I expect it will not be very good at all at gaming.
Finally, what about video playback? I want to be able to stream HD video (Netflix, etc), which presumably both the integrated and the Quadro can do. Presumably they can both also play DVDs. But will both the integrated and the Quadro be able to play Bluray discs? My system will not come with a Bluray drive (Lenovo is asking $249 US for an internal one), but I'm thinking to look into an external Bluray drive down the road.
In summary, since I'm not going to be using my system to design the next Porsche or render Toy Story 4, and since a GeForce card is sadly not an option for this system, do you think I might be actually happier with integrated Intel graphics than the Quadro K420?
Thanks for your time!
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