As we explained in our introduction to this series, workstations are considerably more than just powerful PCs. Brute performance may be the basis of a system you intend to use for high-end desktop computing tasks like 3D animation, CAD/CAM, engineering and product design. But there is much more to a workstation than a high-end rig aimed at general work usage or gaming. There are many more variations within the Intel Xeon processor range than Core i7, and whilst the professional graphics cards have a family relationship with their consumer counterparts, the specification of these and driver accreditation make them very different beasts, too.