Which of these would be better for trading? Also I7 vs. Xeon in general? The E5-1607 is the chip that came with a Dell Precision that I was looking at.
No difference because you will use 5% of processing power of each for regular trading. Xeon is a solid stable server workhorse. i7 has better peak performance geared for retail gamer/power computer user. I would personally stay away from Dell because of proprietary system difficult to upgrade or fix, lower quality motherboards and other components. They may not last that long.
If you are looking at a system to do manual trading with interactive workstation style you might look at i7 or better... These would be desktop or desk side type systems with multi monitors, keyboard, mouse. If you are looking for a automated trading system server style you would look at the zeon based systems or better. These would be rack and roll redundant back room type systems. Of course you can blur the lines between the two... You can do better than dell, learn something new and build your own 8^) Cordially, -DD-
Any laptop from 2008 and on will work. Anyways, engadget cross posted Intel roadmap today. Xeon 10 core chips due soon. Ghz not mentioned, but ddr3 1866 mhz assumed standard.
That E5-1607 would probably be fine unless you are running something crazy. The difference between Xeon and non-Xeon CPUs is very small. Xeon CPUs are designed to work in pairs with other Xeon CPUs where as retail CPUs are only able to have one processor per computer. Xeon allows you to have more than one CPU per computer (in servers you can have 2-4 CPUs per machine). Apples to Apples, the Xeon chips will always be more expensive. You can get the same exact CPU in an i7 variant as well as a Xeon variant. There is zero difference if you will only be running one socket (one CPU). With Dell, the comments about the cheap parts, etc. are somewhat legit. If you are looking at their Precision Workstation line it's legit, server-grade parts & hardware. Anything lower starts to get cheap. I've had great luck with the Optiplex line in the past but have not used an Optiplex past the 755 model.
You appear to be laboring under obsolete information... at least partially. As far as cheap computers... Dells are no better nor worse than anybody else's el-cheapos. If you want a good computer which will likely serve a long life, buy one from the Precision line... off of Dell's Outlet site is OK.. as is buying "lease return" from Dell Financial Services. As for "proprietary"... and "lower quality motherboards"... The only components in a Dell which are proprietary these days are the case and the motherboard... everything else is "off the shelf" just like other OEM makers. (Dell uses an OEM PSU, but it's made to ATX standards... so it's not really proprietary. Besides, Dell's reputation on their PSU is good. What makes Dell's mobos proprietary is that they will only properly fit and mount in a Dell case.) The Precision motherboard is top notch... their cheaper lines are like everybody else... compromised to a degree to meet a low price. FWIW... I've had virtually nothing BUT Dells for the last 10 years. Early on, I had Dimension... which had actual Intel motherboards... for the last 5 years, Precisions. My home network has 6 Precisions... over the years I've had few problems... only optic drives going out and RAM failing.. and they were not Dell parts.