29-11-2022, 02:20 AM
I run a desktop machine with an i7-12700K processor and 32GB of DDR5 RAM...
...but I run a digital publishing business and regularly work with processing files of 100s of MB and sometimes more than a GB in size.
Even so, for 90% of the time the host is vast overkill - the maximum number of simultaneous threads I use is about 8 which equates to 4 cores (hyperthreading effectively doubles the number of physical cores). This processor has 20 threads split over 12 cores, 8 of which are "performance" and the rest are lower power usage.
With the on-chip caching etc, this equates to several BILLION transistors on a single chip.
If I do 3d modeling and rendering or big database operations, I get close to the limits of the machine. It's about 6 times faster for a given task than my previous PC.
But this is a commercial machine running heavy loads - it's massive overkill for all but specialist users running applications that can take advantage of the available features - for normal users running Microsoft office or Linux with similar apps, it's like buying 12 cars when you can only drive one at a time - the other 11 sit in the garage gathering dust!
Note that these sorts of hosts need to be balanced: the motherboard and memory must be fast enough to not throttle throughput, the SSDs need likewise to be super fast - not all SSDs are anything like comparable. We use gen 4 M.2 NVMe superfast SSDs that are motherboard mounted just like a memory DIMM. If doing visual work, e.g. editing massive video files, then you need a superfast video card to be able to keep up - these can cost well over £1k on their own. Oh, and then (at least two) super fast high resolution and high contrast screens.
The PSU and cooling is matched to the motherboard - we use liquid cooling as that's now easy to do and far more efficient. Even so, idling this machine uses 100W which equates to about 880kwh over a year, or over £330 pa of electricity. So like all otherwise permanently powered equipment, when not in use it is put to sleep.
For 99% of all PC users, it's absolutely pointless having a host anything like this. If you are a madly competitive gamer or specialist commercial user, then yes, maybe
...but I run a digital publishing business and regularly work with processing files of 100s of MB and sometimes more than a GB in size.
Even so, for 90% of the time the host is vast overkill - the maximum number of simultaneous threads I use is about 8 which equates to 4 cores (hyperthreading effectively doubles the number of physical cores). This processor has 20 threads split over 12 cores, 8 of which are "performance" and the rest are lower power usage.
With the on-chip caching etc, this equates to several BILLION transistors on a single chip.
If I do 3d modeling and rendering or big database operations, I get close to the limits of the machine. It's about 6 times faster for a given task than my previous PC.
But this is a commercial machine running heavy loads - it's massive overkill for all but specialist users running applications that can take advantage of the available features - for normal users running Microsoft office or Linux with similar apps, it's like buying 12 cars when you can only drive one at a time - the other 11 sit in the garage gathering dust!
Note that these sorts of hosts need to be balanced: the motherboard and memory must be fast enough to not throttle throughput, the SSDs need likewise to be super fast - not all SSDs are anything like comparable. We use gen 4 M.2 NVMe superfast SSDs that are motherboard mounted just like a memory DIMM. If doing visual work, e.g. editing massive video files, then you need a superfast video card to be able to keep up - these can cost well over £1k on their own. Oh, and then (at least two) super fast high resolution and high contrast screens.
The PSU and cooling is matched to the motherboard - we use liquid cooling as that's now easy to do and far more efficient. Even so, idling this machine uses 100W which equates to about 880kwh over a year, or over £330 pa of electricity. So like all otherwise permanently powered equipment, when not in use it is put to sleep.
For 99% of all PC users, it's absolutely pointless having a host anything like this. If you are a madly competitive gamer or specialist commercial user, then yes, maybe
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