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  1. #1

    Dual Opteron vs. Dual Xeon (Now)

    Since the 64-bit operating systems are still not ready to be used with a cPanel production server, I'm curious which (Opteron 246 vs. Dual Xeon 2.8) would be better using 32-bit software.

  2. #2
    We find the Dual Opteron 246's perform a fair bit faster than Dual Xeon 2.8ghz in 32bit.
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  3. #3
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    Dual Opteron will definately be better

  4. #4
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    Everyone Is going to opt for the Dual Opteron.... I myself also will choose the Opteron's over a Xeon for Personal Preference.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
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    QLD, Australia
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    Yeah,

    I opt for Opteron's however I'm wary of purchasing them for sale in Australia. That's primarily driven by price and heat factors. In Australia we have a major problem with cooling requirements that hot servers can endanger an entire rack.

    Guess that's what happens when you setup a DC where it's 30+ degrees celcius normally (spike to 40-45) while being the driest country on the planet.

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  6. #6
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    we never tried the Dual Xeon but we have all Dual Opteron. It work so well with. we will never go back intel or evil inside
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  7. #7
    I'd take the opteron.
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  8. #8
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    Opterons, hands down.
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  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by BostonLegalFan
    Since the 64-bit operating systems are still not ready to be used with a cPanel production server, I'm curious which (Opteron 246 vs. Dual Xeon 2.8) would be better using 32-bit software.
    I am just about to order a Dual Opteron 246 with cpanel, could someone please explain the problem with 64-bit operating system and cpanel?

    Thanks

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
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    Coxsackie, NY
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    I'm more curious on the actual facts or reasons why people choose opteron.

    I know a lot of ppl just dont like intel, but there has to be other reasons I do not see an intel side argued here


    I go with Intel just because of my deals with Dell and Gateway, but if AMD is a better suit I may switch
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  11. #11
    Join Date
    May 2004
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    Because a dual Operton 246 is much more powerful than dual 2.8 Xeon. You can use this bench mark here.

    http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_cont...x36o252&page=6

    It doesn't have Operton 246 or Xeon 2.8 but you can scale it down to compare the performance.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
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    Quote Originally Posted by stein
    I am just about to order a Dual Opteron 246 with cpanel, could someone please explain the problem with 64-bit operating system and cpanel?

    Thanks
    That's a very good question. Sometimes I think you have to have a phD in computer science to make cPanel work on 32 bit systems, so I don't see why 64 bit would be any different.
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  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
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    I think I read a thread here saying that there were problems with CPanel and -some- 64bit OSes, but it worked fine with CentOS 4.2... don't take my word for it though, I don't use cPanel myself so I don't have first hand experience.

  14. #14
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by Perlboy
    Yeah,

    I opt for Opteron's however I'm wary of purchasing them for sale in Australia. That's primarily driven by price and heat factors. In Australia we have a major problem with cooling requirements that hot servers can endanger an entire rack.

    Guess that's what happens when you setup a DC where it's 30+ degrees celcius normally (spike to 40-45) while being the driest country on the planet.

    Stuart
    Benchmarks show that the Opteron uses less power, and so they run cooler.

    http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1852524,00.asp

  15. #15
    I'm running dual opteron 246 using cpanel and centOS 4.2 x86_64. No problems here.

  16. #16
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    Running a single Opteron with centOS 4.2 x86_64 have gave us problems. DC performed heavy hardware tests with no problems but the box got frozen several times a week with no reason nor kernel messages

  17. #17
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    Never compare the processors directly. The Xeon chipset from Intel is solid. Since AMD doesn't make chipset, the chipset for Opteron from third parties varies greatly. I have heard good things about NVidia, but not the others.

    Also, you have to consider the vendors....are you ordering Dell or HP only, or do you build your own box?

    Third, it probably doesn't matter anyway because most of the time, you hit the IO and memory bottleneck way before the CPU. Sure, maybe you hit the IO bottleneck when Xeon's load is 20% and Opteron's load is only 10%, but that still doesn't matter. The server's performance is determined by the slowest component, not the fastest.

    Take a look at tpc.org and their benchmark results. Look at the server configurations. Note every vendors have 200 to 300 HD's in RAID-0 for a dual Xeon or Opteron server. That will give you a pretty good idea on the HD performance needed to match the processor.

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by riverpast
    Never compare the processors directly. The Xeon chipset from Intel is solid. Since AMD doesn't make chipset, the chipset for Opteron from third parties varies greatly. I have heard good things about NVidia, but not the others.
    AMD doesn't make a chipset? Then who makes the AMD 8000 series chipsets, which are what we use in all of our Dual Opteron systems.

    In most benchmarks I have seen, they use similar specs otherwise, in drives, memory, etc. I must say, I have never seen any usuing any unusual drive setups. You'll definitely need RAID to best utilize the processing power of any dual CPU setup.
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  19. #19
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    You are right. I stand corrected. I am terribly outdated on AMD info.

    Regarding RAID, everyone should take a look at TPC results. To make a fair comparison, you can look at HP 38X results. They configured it with 170 HD's for both dual Xeon and dual Opteron server. The HD's are configured as RAID-0 and RAID-10's and the database files are saved to seperate RAID's. Of course, the dual Opteron comes out ahead (reasonable margin).

    For the dual Opteron (dual core), the HD count increased to 296!

    It makes me drool.

    Yes, Opteron, as a processor, will outperform Xeon. However, do you have 170 HD's to configure your box to utilize that processor power?

    I am in the middle of configuring a DB server with Quad P-3/700 with 28 HD's (very outdated CPU techology). I still have the feeling that the HD will be the bottleneck instead of CPU. I would have prefered 52 HD's if it is not for the space and power constraint.

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