Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Dedicated Server : Core i5, i7 - worth on a server or only desktop processor ?

[kkreddy]

Hi, I am planning to buy a dedicated server from a reputed host who is offering with Intel Core i5 750 (2.66GHZ 8MB - Dual Channel) for reasonbly good price.

However, I would like to know if this technically feasible to a server configuration. From intel site i found out that Core i5, i7 are "Very highend desktop" processors. Never, they mentioned it as a web server processors.

Clarify me if its ok to go with this dedicated server processor. I have moderate website with nominally good amount of traffic in around 80,000 range of alexa ranking.

Appreciate, people who answers this. Thanks in advance.

[Robert vd Boorn]

It will work just fine (maybe the motherboard could be of less quality than the average server board, but most of the motherboards of this socket are of high quality) and the processor will be fast, that's for sure .

[net]

Yes, it is a good cpu.

We are using it without any problem.

[darkstalker]

It works just as well as my Xeon E3110 in my Desktop PC.



(note that the E3110 = E8400)

[TMS - JoseQ]

Just go for the specs you want with a reputable provider and ignore the name of the CPU. Ask around about the specific provider and you will get an idea about hardware quality. The type of CPU itself (or the label on the CPU itself since sometimes there are completely identical "Xeon" labeled CPUs) will have no bearing on your system reliability.

JoseQ

[swiftnoc]

The core i5/i7 does not support ECC memory. Their enterprise counterpart the XEON 34xx series does support ECC memory. ECC memory does improve server reliability.

But like Jose mentions: the reputation and service of the provider is definately more important then the exact hardware they use.
One much more important thing to check - If you have a hardware raid controller, do make sure that they insert HDD with RAID support. This is more important then ECC and has a significant impact on your raid array reliability.

[JustinAY]

It will work fine.

[swiftnoc]

Ask the provider you select about the other hardware components as well. For example, what mainboard do they use? what memory?
These are probably more important then the CPU type. Goodluck!

[Lee@GenesisAdaptive]

The only concern here would be regarding the ECC memory (as swiftnoc mentioned) - That is pretty much the primary difference between the desktop (core) series vs the server (xeon) series - Also, the Xeon series provides dual-processor support (but this doesn't apply to your situation).

While ECC memory does significantly increase the reliability of memory reads and writes, it really all comes down to what the machine/server is being used for. If you're running a huge forum or a database intensive website/application, you'll probably want to stick with Xeon(s) to gain it's ECC support.

[Krazy]

there is no reason that i5/i7 may not make up on par servers along with xeon, why xeon, for dual/quad cpu configs, ecc ram, however i felt that xeon if specified it screams as server to some clients who are not much into this even though the end result is a low performing machine of xeon vs a desktop class cpu

[farisar]

I will choose allways i5 because of thier cache, i7 have hypertrading, real is quad coret too like the older P4 HT.

[Jona102190]

Originally Posted by farisar

I will choose allways i5 because of thier cache, i7 have hypertrading, real is quad coret too like the older P4 HT.

An i5 is essentially an i7 860 without hyper threading. If the application you're using doesn't benefit much from HT, an i5 is nearly just as good, and around $100 cheaper, along with less heat generated.

[bhavicp]

In my opinion i5's are great, Like Jona102190 said, basically an i7 without HT.

[rkmfl]

IMHO - i5 is definitely a good selection on the server.

Keep in mind this is the new built-in memory bus (right on the CPU) and when using with 6x DIMM's, I believe nothing else compares with the speed (if I remember the benchmarks correctly).

I don't know that I agree with the logic that you should stick with ECC on a DB server; since parity is essentially built into the processing. In my opinion, for the money, the i5 is the way to go (and depending on the model, it runs very cool, which is always good for longevity or in the event you run a full rack).

[FastServ]

Just because it's an I5 doesn't mean the server isn't using a server-class main board and every bit as capable. SuperMicro makes server class mainboards that work with i5/i7 and any other 'non' server class CPU. There is no difference in reliability in the CPU's except the marketing... like X3220 vs Q6600 -- ZERO difference, they are exactly the same chip and 100% interchangeable.