2 Dual Core 3Ghz Xeon or 2 Quad Core 2.33Ghz Xeon?

Any suggestions as to which would be faster in the following setup (assuming
the remainder of the hardware is the same) using Windows Server 2003
Standard R2 64 Bit running:

Exchange 2007 (25 users - not very heavy users)
Account software running Pervasive SQL (only 2 users)
File Server
Possibly install SharePoint Services on this server (light use)

Thanks for any advice.

Adrian

 

Frankly, I would feel like both are overkill. I'd suggest a single CPU,
single core, should be fine for that load MOST of the time. A dual
core, I would feel, would RARELY see an issue. I will say get a box
that is upgradable, but 25 "not very heavy users", file serving, 2 user
database, and sharepoint shouldn't require a lot of horsepower.

 

A lot would depend on the actual (measured) Processor Queue
Length -- if nothing is waiting on the Processor(s) most of the of
the time then adding CPUs/Cores will have little or no effect.

In such cases the faster but fewer CPUs would win. Most of
the time however when CPUs Usage is high there are things
waiting, but measuring is the only way to determine this.

As "leew" says however, this whole thing may be academic as
you likely have more power than you need for this load.

 

Given you're probably overkill here, I'd go for the 2x dual core. Frankly,
I'm not all that impressed with the current round of quad core procs - the
memory buss on the current generation just isn't up to them, IMHO.

 

My advice - I've got a Workstation with each 2x3Ghz Dual Core and 2x2.4 Quad
Core, and the applications I develope - well, I've not seen much of a
difference, except I can process more threads simultaneously on the Quad
Cores - YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary)!

 

* Adrian:

Both will be overkill. A single Core2Duo/XEON 3000 system (like a HP
Proliant ML110 G4) with enough memory will probably more than enough...

Besides that, while the current dual cores from intel are great the quad
cores suffer from the shared FSB which gets a heavy bottleneck with 4
cores and applications that use lots of I/O (like the ones you list,
usual number crunching apps run fine on quads)..

For a server you should also concentrate on reliable hardware from a
reputable vendor...

Benjamin