OP, regardless of which one you go with, if you're maxing out the CPU enough to feel a big difference between the computing power of those chips, it's probably time to go with a more powerful processor than either of those.
Intel doesn't market those as "server grade" processors, and marketing aside, that means one giant distinction. You will see the i-series in both desktop boards and a server boards but you won't see a E3-series (the congruent product in the server series) in a desktop board. The i5 or i7 just fine in a server for many years, but hardware that supports it is what to consider. There's more to it than just a processor. Your star needs a good supporting cast.
What does that mean?
If you must go with one of those, consider the aspects of memory support. The i5 and i7 both use DDR3 memory, but that does not mean that the memory is running in triple channel! If you're looking strictly at advertisement numbers (the name of the processor and the memory being listed as DDR3) you might not be getting the whole picture. The processor may be installed on a desktop board. On desktop boards it's reasonably common to find DDR3 running in dual channel.
I'll let someone else give the spiel about ECC memory, but in a nutshell, server memory is designed to be online for long periods of time, desktop memory is designed to see reboots every now and then.
So if you're looking at two server vendors right now and one is slinging an i5 and the other is slinging an i7, consider more than just the CPU speed. Those processor lines are similar enough that if one is in a desktop and one is in a server, I'd pick the one in the server, even if it's marginally "slower" on a benchmark test.
Intel doesn't market those as "server grade" processors, and marketing aside, that means one giant distinction. You will see the i-series in both desktop boards and a server boards but you won't see a E3-series (the congruent product in the server series) in a desktop board. The i5 or i7 just fine in a server for many years, but hardware that supports it is what to consider. There's more to it than just a processor. Your star needs a good supporting cast.
What does that mean?
If you must go with one of those, consider the aspects of memory support. The i5 and i7 both use DDR3 memory, but that does not mean that the memory is running in triple channel! If you're looking strictly at advertisement numbers (the name of the processor and the memory being listed as DDR3) you might not be getting the whole picture. The processor may be installed on a desktop board. On desktop boards it's reasonably common to find DDR3 running in dual channel.
I'll let someone else give the spiel about ECC memory, but in a nutshell, server memory is designed to be online for long periods of time, desktop memory is designed to see reboots every now and then.
So if you're looking at two server vendors right now and one is slinging an i5 and the other is slinging an i7, consider more than just the CPU speed. Those processor lines are similar enough that if one is in a desktop and one is in a server, I'd pick the one in the server, even if it's marginally "slower" on a benchmark test.
