Upgrading CPU to Improve Java Compile and Deployment Times

[Carz728]

I am a Java developer now working from home because of COVID-19 without either direct or RDP access to my development PC at the office. For the past two months I have been using my own, custom-built PC to do my development. This PC has a core i5 2400 processor, 16 GB of DDR3 RAM, and a 500GB SSD. For the most part this PC has been performing surprisingly well, considering it's age and obvious limitations. However, I work on a couple of large applications with significant compile and deployment times. On my work PC, which has a Xeon processor, building these applications and deploying them on a Tomcat server takes 1 to 2 minutes. On my PC at home, it takes about 15 minutes, and my CPU is continually spiking to 100%. Memory and disk usage levels are normal. My motherboard can support upgrading to an i7 2600 processor, which I can get on eBay for fairly cheap. Will upgrading to the i7 2600 processor make much of a difference in compile and build times?

[Eigenvektor]

Probably not all that much. You get a little higher clock rate, some more cache, and hyperthreading. For comparisons sake, do you know the specs of the Xeon CPU at work? That would give a better idea how much slower your current system is.

 

Depending on the compiler, it should be able to compile files in parallel, so additional cores can help with that, up to a certain point. HT isn't real cores, so the speed up is limited (I think at most 30%). More CPU cache might also provide a minor speed up. But the most advantage should come with higher clock speed, which will also help with anything that can't be parallelized.

[Carz728]

20 minutes ago, Eigenvektor said:

Probably not all that much. You get a little higher clock rate, some more cache, and hyperthreading. For comparisons sake, do you know the specs of the Xeon CPU at work? That would give a better idea how much slower your current system is.

 

Depending on the compiler, it should be able to compile files in parallel, so additional cores can help with that, up to a certain point. HT isn't real cores, so the speed up is limited (I think at most 30%). More CPU cache might also provide a minor speed up. But the most advantage should come with higher clock speed, which will also help with anything that can't be parallelized.

Unfortunately, we just received these new pcs at work before having to work from home so I don't know the exact model of the xeon processor. Just wondering, if I really wanted to speed up the process would the best option be just to buy or build a whole other computer?

[Eigenvektor]

23 hours ago, Carz728 said:

Unfortunately, we just received these new pcs at work before having to work from home so I don't know the exact model of the xeon processor. Just wondering, if I really wanted to speed up the process would the best option be just to buy or build a whole other computer?

A new system should definitely provide a more noticeable speedup. The i7 would certainly be faster than the i5, but I don't think it's that much faster that investing money in such an old CPU is still really worth it. Of course a new system is going to be more money to spend than the i7 but, at least for me, it would be a more worthwhile investment.