outperforming z230 e3 1225V3 3,2 GHZ vs older z600 dual quad core L5620 V1 - B

[DGroves]

(SDH),...I think your upgrade list for the z600 is spot on, it gives a very good return on investment and i think is a unbeatable upgrade(s) for the price. anything that is faster or has more features will cost much more and give very little more

in my case, faster bus speed/Drive access is a requirement due to large file xfers that are over 3gigs in size  (some are 8-10gig in size) while doing editing or rendering but for most users as long as you have a midrange SSD installed it's a moot point

[Ro808]

I agree with both DGroves and SDH.

Updating the server seems to make more sense than buying a new PC/Workstation to replace the Z600.

Upgrading the Z600 according to SDH's suggestions would turn the Z600 in a competent system, which would give most of today's "throttled" laptops a run for their money.

[SDH]

To AnthonyK.... in case you have not upgraded processors it is relatively easy, and the skill set is here to help you with that.  This idea is pared down to a pretty simple process that we would estimate taking about 45 minutes total, including one restart.

I do have some specific tips on clearing old video card drivers and loading the latest for the Quadro 2000.  Keep us posted for what added help you might want.

[AnthonyK]

SDH (Scott), DGroves and Ro808 I thank you three for sharing your views, comments and advice on what I can do, the options to choose from.

I tend to go with SDH (Scott's) idea of upgrading my wifes z600 with a matched pair of Xeon's X5570 and... a newer better graphics card.  Scott suggested the Quadro 2000 but unfortunately a decent Quadro 2000 in my neck of the woods is generally more than 35 USD but .. also that is what comes to my mind is a Geforce alternative like GTX 750TI which according to PassMark -
https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp%5B%5D=1543&cmp%5B%5D=2177&cmp%5B%5D=2815 a GTX 750TI seems to score better than a Quadro 2000. But what is wisdom in this case?  I know about the Geforece vs Quadro debate but just from real world everyday financial computing and doing some image rendering is a Quadro 2000 or later a better choice above a Geforce variant?  What about a older Tesla C2075 card? Aren't Tesla's not better on financial computing / Excel power use ? My wife's Excel documents are weighin in at 250 Mb.

[Ro808]

Here's some info on performance related developments/requirements of Excel.

250Mb is a pretty large file size. 

I guess, it depends on add-ons used and the structure of the Excel documents in question, whether it would be beneficial to invest in a high end GPU like the Tesla.

Upgrading the CPU, RAM still seems to make more sense. 

In general GTX 750TI should more than suffice.

However, you can optimize Excel to make use of CUDA cores by custom (VBA) programming.

More info here, here and here.

[DGroves]

a quadro card is only of use if your applications can make use of it's openGL drivers that are optimized for increased speed

and acuraccy in rendering/displaying images in 10 bit color

acounting software will not make use of any quadro features, so a geforce based card will be fine

[SDH]

Agree with DGroves and Ro808..... she will have better performance for cost, and you will have easier time finding the card used to keep the costs down.

The card in this Z400 I'm at is a very fast but older EVGA GeForce GTX 650 Ti BOOST, with 2D and 3D video scores on the Windows 7 64-bit Windows Experience Index of 7.8/7.8 (those scores max out at 7.9).  The "BOOST" version made a significant difference.....

The Quadro 2000 gets 7.0/7.0, and the Quadro K2000 gets 7.2/7.2 for those scores on that reference test.  We use the Quadro cards for medical imaging on large grayscale displays.... built into the Quadro ODE driver installers are the necessary grayscale drivers for those monitors.  They have treated us well so I seem to default to those cards, but a GeForce card will serve her very well.

[Ro808]

To illustrate how much hardware specs matter:

• My buddy uses Petrel, very expensive and "heavy" software from Schlumberger on his Z420 E5-1650 with maxed out RAM and Quadro K6000 without any hiccups.
• My brother designs with Vectorworks on a XW4600 (Q9550 and Geforce GT 545) as well as a Z230 CMT (E3-1275 + Quadro 2000), the latter system is more than enough and the former will suffice for smaller drawings. 
• I use Audio (production and design), Photography + Video and several CAD, BEM/FEM/FEA apps on my Z600 (single) X5670 (48GB and Quadro 4000) without ever running out of steam. I must admit, Iam not a power user with any of these applications.

Exceptionally heavy and complex tasks are rarely  excecuted on a single workstation, but ported to a cluster/farm.

[DGroves]

specs do matter, but to what extent depends on the software/hardware combo

while microsoft office is not demanding on hardware, the software below is very dependant on what is used

try opening up a  saved image created in ProE/wildFire on a 4GB card that has thousands of sub assembly's/parts

and you will see the system brought to it's knees when trying to viiew/rotate the part due to video ram being maxxed out

same for a lot of video work (including 4/8  k resolutions), the hardware used is critically important!!

and i suspect some medical imaging software is just as touchy  in reguards to hardware used

[AnthonyK]

Guys I have dilemma, a young guy wants to sell me his two Quadro 4000 graphics cards for 70 euro, I really only need one but then it hit me. What if I not only upgraded my wifes system with 2- Xeon's X5570 and not one but two Quadro 4000 , each for driving just one monitor, she as a Samsung TN panel BW2443 and a HP IPS panel LP 2475w.