Need a new workstation need help with specs

[miwitte]

I am at the point where I am starting to stack some very large number of images and I find that functions like local normalization, integration, BPP, drizzle integration all take ungodly amounts of time. I am doing a drizzle integration right now of 500 frames and its been running 7+ hour and still have 50 to go. My latest project I've been preprocessing for 3 days so its time for a new workstation. I currently have a I5 workstation with 16 GB ram and SSD and its painfully slow. I am trying to keep it to a $1000 or so and that limits me to what I would get if I had $2500

Ive been scouring CN and here looking for some guidance but haven't seen to many thread(ive looked through the benchmark thread) that address my questions so ill ask;

-I plan on building this on Linux for starters have heard it runs way faster on that. Any free versions I should be looking at im not a big Linux guy
-I am between two builds. First is a older HP Z800 older Xeon procs but they can run dual CPU so I can get 12-16 cores and 96 GB DDR3 for 1000. 2nd build would be a I7 with 6 cores or Ryzen7 1700 with 8 cores. The I7 can support 128 GB but to keep on budget I would do 32 GB DDR4. The Ryzen only supports 64 GB. This would be more in the 1500 range to build
-PI loves cores. So would a older XEON based box with 16 cores perform as well as a 6 core i7 or 8 core Ryzen because of the core->swap storage mapping? Basically can PI utilize all 16 cores from 2 processors?
-PI loves memory. So would a 96 GB box with a 64 GB DDR3 RAM drive be as good as a 16 or 32 GB ram drive with DDR4. Basically is the read write speed that critical between DDR3 and DDR4.

I know the right build would be a Ryzen threadripper and 96GB of memory but thats 1000 more than I want to spend.

I really need something that is going to cut my preprocessing time down significantly.

[OldSkyEyes]

Did you do the PI benchmark with your current system, what are your scores?  (upload them then you have a link with the results here https://pixinsight.com/benchmark/)

Max amount of memory is basically based on how much they put on one memory module and how many modules you can be put in your PC.
Usually that is 4 slots with max 16GB per module DDR4, but maybe in a few years 32GB per module will be max. then you can double your memory.
Not all i7 CPUs and/or motherboards support more than 4 slots 64GB DDR4.
It is also more logical to have 4 memory channels (instead of 2), hence 8 slots, if you want more than 64GB.

And I don't think you will notice much difference in speed between DDR3 vs DDR4, but DDR4 you can take with you in your following build but it is more expensive, DDR3 is dying out. So you also have to ask yourself if you want to update it later or buy a complete new one later.

[miwitte]

Yeah I was just trying to figure out a way to not get the CFO(wifey) mad when I spend 2k on a computer. Honestly best bet is bite the bullet, buy pieces a little at a time and spread it out.

While I can probably cobble something together for $1000 that will run good, for a extra 700 I can get something really nice that's going to last and is new VS old and worn out. Things do burn out like power supplies etc. The point about updating is a great one, and the time and effort as basically im throwing $1000 down the drain that I could put towards a new build VS something from 6-7 years ago. If I could find one for $300 that's another story..

[the Elf]

You might want to check this page: http://www.userbenchmark.com/?redirFrom=userbenchmark.com&
They ask you to download a progam (as far as I can say no malware, but NO WARRANTY) and this uploads your components and results if you want to support the data base. It tells you if each component performs like average of all other users with the same stuff (no your point). But you don't have to, if you don't like.
In any case you can compare components there to find out whats best for you. For PI you need exellent floating point perfomance in parallel during image integration. (@PI-team: correct me if I'm wrong.) Check for that benchmark to find the best processor in your budget.
And please don't blame your wife here. This is bad style. It was your decision to share your life and money with her.