Dual core vs. Dual Cpu

[imported_nitrus]

Dual core does have it's merits, and so does dual proc. You can get the Opteron 270 for around 1000+ or two Opteron 246 for around 600+. The dual proc setup has its own dual channel mem interface, but dual core has four core potential on a dual socket MB. i dont think there will be a need for four cores for multi tasking, as software will not be optimized for multithread for at least a yr+. So which one would you chose Today?

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Definately dual core. The faster/cheaper ram will help with performance (no need for registered) and the motherboard will also be less expensive. You'll have to fork over thousands to get a simaler dual Opteron setup. True, you could end up with 4 cores if you upgrade to dual core Opterons, but it will cost you.

 

[imported_michaelpatrick33]

Why wouldn't you get a dualcore now and in a year get another dualcore for four cores? I am getting the 4400+ myself so I am a little biased toward dualcore LOL. I am going to use Autocad, Photoshop etc and some multimedia creation so I am hoping dualcore AMD's give me that extra push (Of course I will game as well)

Edit: I assume you are talking about getting a two socket 940 board or a single socked 939 dualcore? It depends on the application but I am going the 939 route myself.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Why not just go craaaazy!!!!!!!!:laugh:

Just for fun I priced out the following quad D/C combo from monarch

Tyan S4482UG2NR-D Quad socket dual core motheboard $1449
4 x Opteron 875 Dual-Core 2.2ghz and 1mbl2 per core $2599 ea
16 x 1gb DDR400 Patriot registered ECC 18 chip signature $229ea

This little beast would only set you back $15,509. Throw in a nice case, couple of power supplies, and a few SCSII hard drives etc.. and make it a cool $20k and I eased up on the ram, the board will support 16 x 2mb = 32gb, I only priced it out with 16gb.

8 CPUs :beer::beer::beer::beer::beer:

 

[Markfw]

Originally posted by: bunnyfubbles
Definately dual core. The faster/cheaper ram will help with performance (no need for registered) and the motherboard will also be less expensive. You'll have to fork over thousands to get a simaler dual Opteron setup. True, you could end up with 4 cores if you upgrade to dual core Opterons, but it will cost you.

Yup, its all about money... Dual-core if you can't afford it, or dual proc(soon to be dual-core-dual-proc in my case) . 2x is good, but I am sure 4x is way better...

 

[Zebo]

Dual core beats that twice the bandwidth found in Dual Porcessors everytime due to low latency between cores....well except in SiSuck Sandra... Go look at tech reports opteron 175 review beating up on 2 x 248's..

X2 is even more dominat due to using real RAM..not crippled ECC high latency ram server boards call for.

 

[imported_michaelpatrick33]

Originally posted by: Zebo
Dual core beats that twice the bandwidth found in Dual Porcessors everytime due to low latency between cores....well except in SiSuck Sandra... Go look at tech reports opteron 175 review beating up on 2 x 248's..

X2 is even more dominat due to using real RAM..not crippled ECC high latency ram server boards call for.

I think I will use you as my proxy voice of reason in these threads because you speak my mind. It is like we are on the same hypertransport highway. Groovy baby

 

[imported_nitrus]

i dunno, i feel like two dual core procs is like owning a ferrari in manhattan, you cant really open her up.i think imma run with dual proc for now, im selling my 250s for 252s. when software catches up i suppose better revisions and higher models will come out. id be happy with two dual core procs running 3.0-3.4 on the 65nm process.

 

[uOpt]

A dual core system would be slightly nicer but not worth $1000 over $600.

I don't agree that registered ECC is that big a disadvantage. Cheap 1 GB modules, max memory twice or four times as much. And obviously I want ECC, always, and I am fed up with boards and/or chipsets disabling it on a random basis.

High-end board also have seperate RAM for each Opteron CPU.

BTW, does anybody have a link to benchmarks of socket 940 (registered) versus 939 handy?

 

[Red and black]

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
Why not just go craaaazy!!!!!!!!:laugh:

Just for fun I priced out the following quad D/C combo from monarch

Tyan S4482UG2NR-D Quad socket dual core motheboard $1449
4 x Opteron 875 Dual-Core 2.2ghz and 1mbl2 per core $2599 ea
16 x 1gb DDR400 Patriot registered ECC 18 chip signature $229ea

This little beast would only set you back $15,509. Throw in a nice case, couple of power supplies, and a few SCSII hard drives etc.. and make it a cool $20k and I eased up on the ram, the board will support 16 x 2mb = 32gb, I only priced it out with 16gb.

8 CPUs :beer::beer::beer::beer::beer:

I think Sun has a similar system available for around $40 K:
http://store.sun.com/CMTemplate/CEServl...unStore&cmdViewProduct_CP&catid=116125

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
Why not just go craaaazy!!!!!!!!:laugh:

Just for fun I priced out the following quad D/C combo from monarch

Tyan S4482UG2NR-D Quad socket dual core motheboard $1449
4 x Opteron 875 Dual-Core 2.2ghz and 1mbl2 per core $2599 ea
16 x 1gb DDR400 Patriot registered ECC 18 chip signature $229ea

This little beast would only set you back $15,509. Throw in a nice case, couple of power supplies, and a few SCSII hard drives etc.. and make it a cool $20k and I eased up on the ram, the board will support 16 x 2mb = 32gb, I only priced it out with 16gb.

8 CPUs :beer::beer::beer::beer::beer:

That is crazy... id have to make bank doing whatever you'd do with such a beast... what would you do?

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Move to an offshore island and start "another" online gambling site

Some type of online server required to handle massive hits is the only use I can think of? Or a massive company server with hundreds of workstations attached. Maybe I could use it to calculate the meaning of life

 

[Duvie]

Originally posted by: Zebo
Dual core beats that twice the bandwidth found in Dual Porcessors everytime due to low latency between cores....well except in SiSuck Sandra... Go look at tech reports opteron 175 review beating up on 2 x 248's..

X2 is even more dominat due to using real RAM..not crippled ECC high latency ram server boards call for.

Plus the fact dual cores allow us to get into this without entering a more expensive dual cpu market....

ECC ram has a premium....

You pay large premiums for mobos with options you may not even use

Ofcourse my argument would be more for workstation PCs being built using X2's as opposed to having to go a dual opteron or dual core opteron route.....

Zebos comparison is much better on an architectural level to what is happening but I am just excited that X2s and dual cores in general in desktops will bring workstation class computing to the masses at likely half the cost minimum...

 

[MetroRider]

Hi guys,

How does a dual-core cpu compare against a true SMP dual-cpu system? Example would be a Pentium D 840 (or AMD X2 4200+) vs. 2x Pentium 4 - 2.8 GHz Xeon system? For the price, dual-core seems great. I am primarily interested in terms of the Windows lines of server operating systems. How does it handle running Windows 2000 Server or 2003 Server or running as an Exchange server or SQL server? Any mix-n-match of items used would be nice to know of

If anyone has any input or has tried this, I'd be interested in knowing.

Thanks in advance,

-Metrorider

 

[TGS]

Originally posted by: nitrus
i dont think there will be a need for four cores for multi tasking, as games will not be optimized for multithread for at least a yr+. So which one would you chose Today?

Fixed

Edit: Sorry but

Originally posted by: MetroRider
Hi guys,

How does a dual-core cpu compare against a true SMP dual-cpu system? Example would be a Pentium D 840 (or AMD X2 4200+) vs. 2x Pentium 4 - 2.8 GHz Xeon system? For the price, dual-core seems great. I am primarily interested in terms of the Windows lines of server operating systems. How does it handle running Windows 2000 Server or 2003 Server or running as an Exchange server or SQL server? Any mix-n-match of items used would be nice to know of

If anyone has any input or has tried this, I'd be interested in knowing.

Thanks in advance,

-Metrorider

Honestly, there are a ton of equations that go into the later. Chiefly the Exchange and SQL portion. Any modern processor can run W2K or W2K3 server without issue. The former require you to pay attention to the overall I/O limitations, storage issues, memory handling capabilites of the hardware, etc... I've have seen Exchange run on an 8-way 700Mhz box, and a 2-Way 2GHz HT enabled Xeon box. The former will exceed the laters performance based on the extra threads it can run. The clock speed makes almost no point if the box is being constrained at other points. This is with using SAN storage on the backend, so the storage is not the bottleneck. The 8-ways had 8GBs of slower ram, while the 2-ways had 2GBs of faster ram. So there again was another performance bottleneck on the "faster" spec'ed machine.

 

[redhatlinux]

Your question is actually quite complex. If your main consideration is b@lls to the wall performance, at the lowest cost, then the dual core solution is without doubt the best alternative. AMD processors were designed from the ground up to be Dual Core. The inter-cpu communications, are all performed without going 'OFF CHIP'. These are generally called 'Signal Processor' type instructions. Whenever cpu to cpu communications are required, Off Chip is always slower than 'On Chip'. Very simply the drivers and receivers and the clocking mechanism required to move the data slows down the process.

Just how well software applications catch up is entirely a different story. Writing single threaded applications is a whole different life experience to writing multi-threaded applications.

 

[HDTVdesignteam]

We happen to be looking at this very same question for next generation of Digital Media SAN's. Used for VOD HDVIP, etc. Broadband apps. Working with vendors to design rather large systems.
GT

 

[MetroRider]

I appreciate the input so far. I know that one of the best indicators to answering my question would be to get a dual-core machine and try it out myself and see how it goes.

One scenario I have is where a client is using an old Compaq dual P3-600 machine running Windows 2000 Server. Its primary function is a print server as well as a fax-server. I know that even a single core P4 cpu would be faster in single-threaded applications, but for general use, I can't see why a dual-core Pentium D wouldn't work wonders here.

One thing I wish were in all these reviews of dual-core cpu's would be to have a SMP dual-cpu machine thrown in there as well. Maybe some sites would be able to do updates and add it in for comparison.