What is the Difference Between a Workstation and a Gaming PC?

Gaming

Gaming

Modern video games are so demanding that most gaming PCs can easily handle work in heavy programs and applications, for which it was recently necessary to assemble high-performance computers. Therefore, it is logical to think that professionals do not need to buy specialized PCs and can get by with gaming models. In reality, this is a big misconception. For professionals, workstations are produced – computers that provide maximum performance in programs and applications. Together with HYPERPC, a Russian manufacturer of premium computers, we will tell you how gaming PC models differ from real workstations.

Central Processor Cores

Gaming PCs do not install processors with more than 24 cores, since video games simply do not know how to work with them, and they cannot load every computing block. It is the opposite with working programs and applications. They perfectly know how to load every core. The more computing units the processor has, the higher the performance in programs. Therefore, workstations install multi-core processors such as Intel Xeon and AMD Ryzen Threadripper.

Video Cards with Large Video Memory

Video cards such as NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 and 4060 Ti [16GB] are not very popular among gamers. The reason is not only the high cost, but also the large amount of video memory that gamers simply do not need. Even in the most demanding video games, it is not always possible to fill all the available 16 GB of video memory, but it is very easy to do in programs. Applications for video editing, 3D modeling, sculpting are very demanding on memory and quickly fill the entire available volume. The situation is even worse with machine learning. Some AI algorithms may require tens or even hundreds of gigabytes of memory for stable operation. Therefore, professional PCs install expensive video cards with a huge video buffer.

Large-Capacity RAM Modules

The situation with RAM is the same as with video memory: video games simply do not need more than 32 GB of RAM. Therefore, gaming PCs do not install a lot of RAM. Work programs, on the contrary, are very demanding on the amount of RAM, and if it is not enough, then errors, lags, freezes and crashes are guaranteed. To avoid technical problems, workstations install large-capacity RAM modules.

SSD Drives with High Read and Write Speeds

Computer video games are not demanding on the speed of the SSD. Loading times are almost the same on budget SATA drives and expensive SSDs with a PCI-E 4.0 interface. The quality of program performance, on the contrary, depends very much on the speed of the solid-state drive. Therefore, workstations use very fast SSDs, such as Samsung 980 PRO or 990 PRO.

Quiet and Efficient Cooling System

A professional should not be distracted from work by anything. Even the slightest noise can distract from a thought and hinder the creative process. Therefore, workstations install a high-power but very quiet cooling system, based on liquid cooling systems and fans with hydrodynamic or magnetic bearings.

Summary

Workstations differ from gaming computers in:

  • processors with a large number of cores;
  • video cards with a large amount of memory;
  • very fast SSD drives;
  • large-capacity RAM modules;
  • a quiet cooling system.

James William

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