Recommended High-Performance Workstation CPU (AMD - Intel) Present-2006

Greetings,

Long time no see!

What are some of the most powerful, high-performance (speed and multitasking) workstation CPUs (32bit, 64bit) present to end-2006?

Most of my time is compiling software source code on windows and UNIX/linux platforms. I would really appreciate CPU(s) coupled with various necessities that will allow for maximum performance when developing and compiling multiple software projects simultaneously. For instance, nice to have CPUs that will produce maximum performance when compiling windows, linux, and watch DVD all simultaneously. The key is maximum performance especially multitasking.

Is the 64bit Opteron from AMD the answer? From my experience, the 64bit Opteron Dual Core is very impressive especially multitasking multithreaded applications. My only concern is CPU speed/price.

My workstation is running on 750 Athlon from AMD.

64bit Opteron Dual Core from AMD multitasking is impressive. Intel P4 EM64T Dual Core speed is impressive. (Is EM64T true 64bit architecture?)

What is most important: more bits (64bit, 128bit) or maximum CPU speed (present and future)?

How much does this CPU cost? What is its longevity in terms of not needing to upgrade?

What are some high-performance workstation CPUs (32bit, 64bit) for multitasking multithreaded applications on windows and UNIX/linux platforms present to end-2006?

Kuphryn

 

The 32-bit/64-bit isn't what makes the Opteron (and Athlon64 family) a beast. These CPU's have the memory controller on-die instead of the northbridge of traditional motherboard designs. Up until just recently, Opterons were besting the Xeons. However, the brand-new Woodcrest ones come back and spank the Opterons.

The speed of CPU is also not what matters. Intel got away with this for awhile, but eventually, they couldn't win going toe to toe with AMD, despite being 25-50% faster. The NetBurst design was not effcient. It did what it was made to do: scale to high clock speeds. Core 2 changes all of that, along with the Woodcrest Xeons.

A64 and EM64T are both valid 64-bit architecture, however, the NetBurst architecture the past Xeons and Pentium 4's/D's were pretty much crap, and the EM64T was more about marketing. The new stuff has been a good chunk of time in the making, but it's nice to see some competitive performance. Intel's new stuff is definitely what you want if you're building a new box.

The flip side is that the Woodcrest Xeons are brand new, so finding them can be a bit tougher to find.

The 2xx Opterons (you need the 2xx series for SMP, the 1xx are not SMP capable) are what you want. Single-core Opterons start between $150-200, but the dual-cores start at over $300.

You can get an X2 Athlon64, which are dual core, but if you want more than that, then you'll need to get a Xeon DP/MP or Opteron 2xx (or 8xx) CPU and motherboard.

One excellent resource I'd recommend searching is 2CPU. There's a lot of good information regarding workstations and multiprocessing in there that you might be interested in.

 

Very cool!

Intel Core 2 Duo Conroe

I'm looking at the 2.x ghz CPUs. Price difference is over $200 when going from 2.1 -> 2.4 -> 2.6, but from my limited experience the higher the clock speed the better (lasts longer without needing to upgrade). How important is clock speed of Intel Conroe?

Kuphryn

 

Clock speed ain't that important, infact with the core 2 duo cpu's intel has gone away from really high clock speeds, and even there lowest core 2 duo cpu is a match for most AMD cpu's, core 2 duo cpu's are also very good overclockers from what i heard, can overclock from like 2.2ghz to 4ghz, i dunno if its true, could be, the pentium d's were good overclockers too.

My 2.2ghz AMD 64, was quicker in games than my 3ghz pentium 4, thats because AMD has more clocks per cycle (i think its clocks per cycle, not sure on that)

 

Hmm, the Core 2 is a good processor but neither it or the Athlon 64 processors are workstations processors. I would recommend a Xenon Woodcrest for what you are doing. This is exactly the thing they are made to do, so put it to good use. Also, could we get a mod in here to delete post 4 and maybe inform them that this isn't a travel forum.

 

ummm Xenon Woodcrest, there mainly for servers, AMD Opterons were for servers too, it dont mean you cant use them, infact, opterons are preety popular in gaming now, they overclock so good too!.

I think even the best Core 2 DUO would woop an Xenon Woodcrest, its best to go for Core 2 DUo.

 

Xeon and Opterons aren't just for servers. They're also aimed at the workstation market.

If you're running multiple CPU's, then you'll need a Xeon or Opteron setup. If not, then just go for a Core 2 or Athlon64. The main advantage with the Xeon's and Opterons is more cache and SMP capabilities. The cores of the Core2 and the Woodcrest Xeons, like past Xeon/Pentium counterparts, are the same core technology. Same for AMD with the Opteron/Athlon64's.

[ot]I just saw that now. I banned the user as I've seen that crap on other forums, so I know it's spam. In the future, you can use that little red flag at the bottom of the users post to report the post.[/ot]

 

Oh yea, forgot about the report button, maybe it's because I've never had to use it. Thats probably a good thing.

Hmm, I didn't know that the cores of Xenon/Opteron and their mainstream counterparts were fundamentally the same. You learn something new every day. I did know that they had more cache, however. The cache increase alone might be worth it, it depends on how much the price difference is between say a Core 2 and it's Xenon counterpart. I do also know that you can get Xenon/Opterons without SMP support so that would bring down the price.

EDIT: I don't know about Xenons not having SMP support but I think the 100 and 1000 series processors don't and the 200, 2000, 800, and 8000 do.

 

appreciate all posts and inputs about both CPUs

looking forward to sharing this journey with a new high-performance workstation powered by Intel Core 2 Duo Conroe

Kuphryn

 

A wise choice for a workstation on a budget.

I'm not sure if the new Woodcrest Xeons have DP and MP variations, but the previous generation did. The DP's were limited to 2-way SMP, while the MP were limited to 8, if I remember correctly.

 

Yea, the Opteron 100 and 1000 series doesn't have SMP support, the 200 and 2000 have 2 way support, and the 800 and 8000 series has 8 way support.

 

i heard that op's 4 core ones, socket 940 are beasts for multi core gaming

 

Intel Core 2 Duo Conroe E6600 (2.4ghz) CPU is fast

New system compiles multiple software projects while processing media (DVD, divx, and audio, etc.) at the speed of light. (500% improvement) Multiple cores CPU significantly improves performance of multithreaded software architectures.

Kuphryn