Need processor opinions

[editor]

I'm considering an upgrade to the HAIF server, but I don't know what the difference is between these two processors:

Current HAIF processor: Pentium 4 @ 3.40 GHz - 800 MHz FSB

Potential HAIF processor: Core 2 Duo E6420 @ 2.13GHz - 1066 MHz FSB

I know that two cores are better than one, but are two at 2.13 better than one at 3.40 when you factor in overhead and things.

[memebag]

See http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php...ntium+4+3.40GHz and http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php...420+%40+2.13GHz. They say the core 2 duo is better (1216 vs 524 somethings), but you might find a site with more specific benchmarks.

[editor]

Funny -- that was the site I ended up on and I couldn't really figure it out.

I saw that the P4 rated 524 and the C2D was 1216, but then it said the P4 was ranked 41 and the C2D was ranked 74. So it didn't really make a lot of sense to me.

There are a lot of CPU benchmark sites out there, but not many that carry P4 reviews still and even fewer that benchmarked the 3.4 GHz model.

[memebag]

1,216 somethings just has to be better than 524 somethings. Always get the most somethings you can afford.

[Mr. Chenevert]

First you need to find out if your applications and OS support multi-threading. Don't assume they do, find out.

If they dont support multi-threading, then multi cores is NOT better than 1.

If they do support multi-threading, then yes, I would go with the Dual Core processor in this case.

[editor]

First you need to find out if your applications and OS support multi-threading. Don't assume they do, find out.

If they dont support multi-threading, then multi cores is NOT better than 1.

If they do support multi-threading, then yes, I would go with the Dual Core processor in this case.

The OS multithreads (Unix). The web serving software multithreads. The database multithreads.

FWIW, the price difference between the processor I have now and the processor I'm looking at is $1.

And really, the upgrade is more for disk space and bandwidth than anything. The processor is not an essential component, but I don't want it to slow things down, either.

[MidtownCoog]

Just make sure you have enough memory no matter what you get.

[Mr. Chenevert]

Go with Dual Core

[jm1fd]

Go with the multicore chip since it is just a dollar more. You'll definetly be able to leverage the extra core seeing as how you've got a two applications competing for clock cycles (database and web server)....multithreaded or not, each can be shoveled off onto its own core. Just make sure the OS is smart enough to spread the load around efficiently. Now, I doubt we're just terribly compute intensive here at HAIF, so you're probably not going to notice much of an improvement from upgrading the CPU. With more memory, and faster hard drives, then you'd probably see a dramatic improvement.

[editor]

Just make sure you have enough memory no matter what you get.

We're running 2 gigs right now and use almost no swap space (less than .01%). If we switch to the new processor we have the option of going up to 4 gigs if needed.

Go with the multicore chip since it is just a dollar more. You'll definetly be able to leverage the extra core seeing as how you've got a two applications competing for clock cycles (database and web server)....multithreaded or not, each can be shoveled off onto its own core. Just make sure the OS is smart enough to spread the load around efficiently. Now, I doubt we're just terribly compute intensive here at HAIF, so you're probably not going to notice much of an improvement from upgrading the CPU. With more memory, and faster hard drives, then you'd probably see a dramatic improvement.

HAIF's not compute-intensive on average, but it has its moments, like when someone uses the advanced search, or uploads images to the Gallery. But there are more things coming that will require more clock cycles. (Hint! Hint!)

For the extra $1 I also get faster memory, 4x as much disk space and 4x as much bandwidth, which is my primary concern -- because of a hacker attack last month we almost went over our bandwidth allotment.

In case you didn't notice, HAIF stood up quite well to the attack. Didn't even burp.

[jm1fd]

HAIF's not compute-intensive on average, but it has its moments, like when someone uses the advanced search, or uploads images to the Gallery.

You sure? Those operations sound like they would put more strain on the disk subsystem than the processor. On the other hand, I don't know all the intimate details of how the phpBB advanced search works.

[editor]

You sure? Those operations sound like they would put more strain on the disk subsystem than the processor. On the other hand, I don't know all the intimate details of how the phpBB advanced search works.

It's not phpBB, it's Invision. Different animal, though I believe they are both descended from the same lineage.

Normal search isn't very hard on the database because a couple of months ago it was farmed out to Google. But the advanced search is pretty intensive for the processor and not the disk since the entire contents of HAIF are kept in RAM.

Image uploading is hard on the processor because of resizing and making image thumbnails. As a server, HAIF doesn't have a GPU to offload that sort of thing to. Fortunately, that's only done once -- at the time of upload -- and not on the fly.

[MidtownCoog]

4 Gigs and Dual Core. That's what I run at home and love it.

[jm1fd]

It's not phpBB, it's Invision. Different animal, though I believe they are both descended from the same lineage.

Normal search isn't very hard on the database because a couple of months ago it was farmed out to Google. But the advanced search is pretty intensive for the processor and not the disk since the entire contents of HAIF are kept in RAM.

Image uploading is hard on the processor because of resizing and making image thumbnails. As a server, HAIF doesn't have a GPU to offload that sort of thing to. Fortunately, that's only done once -- at the time of upload -- and not on the fly.

Resizing...ah....of course! I was thinking just uploading...as in writing a file to disk from what's coming in off the wire....

[webdude]

Was there any reason you chose Invision instead of vBulletin?

[editor]

Was there any reason you chose Invision instead of vBulletin?

At the time I was shopping for forum software Invision was more powerful, more scalable, and most importantly: more professional. I know that over time Invision has fallen behind, but the customer service is very good and we have a pre-paid lifetime license.

It's also my understanding that a properly licensed Invision is far more secure than the other options. Or at least there are far fewer attacks and exploits for it.

[ssullivan]

There's a lot of things I liked about Invision over vBulletin. For one, every online community I've been a part of that uses vBulletin seems to require a lot more bandwidth. It's not an issue on good, fast Internet connections. But get on a wi-fi connection that has 50 people on it, and it's connected to the Internet by a mediocre DSL line, and vBulletin seems to take forever to load anything. Yet HAIF and other Invision sites speed right along like nothing's wrong. I also hate the fact that vBulletin seems to mark everything as "read" when you visit a forum and then leave it. I appreciate on HAIF that it only marks a topic as read if I've actually looked at it. vBulletin seems to only mark topics as "unread" if it's had a post since my last visit, regardless of whether I've ever looked at the thread or not.