2x 2.8 dual core or 2x 3.8 single core for workstation?

[Mr. Tinker]

That's the question. These machines will be for 3d Studio Max work, mostly working, not rendering. I know what to choose for rendering. They will also be equipped with 1 Quadro FX 4500 per machine.

I guess the underlying question is: Do nvidia's drivers take advantage of multi cores in single graphics card openGL configurations?

[Mr. Tinker]

I know you folks know this one.

[ProphetX]

id get the 2 dualcores. But im not sure if that app will take advantage of all 4 cores.

[lutjens]

Intel's Paxville (dual core Xeon) is a chip to be avoided at all costs. It is insanely hot (90 nm process) and performs substantially worse than a dual core Opteron. The 2x3.8 GHz is an option with a 90nm 2MB L2 Xeon, but they will still run very warm. I'd go for the dual core Opteron. I love mine and enjoy the raw torque that 4 cores have to offer. It does this, while competing toe to toe with Intel's new 65nm process, on a power consumption basis.

Price-wise, the Opteron 280 would be on a par with a Xeon 3.8 GHz (2MB L2), but would beat it in performance (especially multithreaded tasks).

Another option, although I am unaware of any workstation motherboard for it, would be Intel's Sossaman. It is the server variant of Yonah (very fast) and runs nice and cool to boot. The downside is that there is no current 64-bit support. If you could find a nice motherboard with 16x PCI-E slots, it would be the best solution (IMHO).

As for drivers, NVidia's newer revisions do support dual core CPUs (can't remember the version that introduced it...I think it was around the time they intorduced SLI that didn't require a reboot).;)

[Mr. Tinker]

Unfortuantely, Opterons are not an option. Reason 1: We're buying Dells. Reason 2: you can't drop different architectures in the same render farm because procedural textures render slightly differently.

I'd love to use Sossamans, but we're buying one machine for testing in 4 weeks, and a few more after that.

I can't believe we're spending $5500 per machine. Imagine what you could DIY for that much. Lordy.

[freecableguy]

you can't drop different architectures in the same render farm because procedural textures render slightly differently.

WHAT?!?!?! Where did you get that from?

Opteron 285 all the way, baby....
Spending $5500 on a Dell system and going with Intel because they don't sell AMD chips is not a smart move....

-FCG

[onewingedangel]

if your getting a big enough order, dell may be able to supply you with some opterons with the usual dell support.

But if you have to go with xeons if its at all possible to wait for dempsey I would - they should be out anytime now - and clock up to 3.8ghz and have a 1066 bus, 2x2m cache, are 65nm with significantly reduced power consumption etc.

But if your company is doing a big upgrade and have to go with dell stuff, they really should consider cheaply upgrading your existing systems and waiting for woodcrest. Upgrade the graphics, hard disks etc. now, and get woodecrest in three months time - should last far longer.

[Mr. Tinker]

WHAT?!?!?! Where did you get that from?

Opteron 285 all the way, baby....
Spending $5500 on a Dell system and going with Intel because they don't sell AMD chips is not a smart move....

-FCG
Everywhere. You can find examples. Ask any 3D Guru on a 3D forum like CGTalk.

You've assumed all the wrong reasons as to why we're going with Dell, but I still agree However, you can't drop different architectures into the same farm, unless you completely replace the whole farm.

I love Opterons as much as anyone here. But it simply is not an option.

They're going with Dell because they think they are a safer bet somehow. That's why anyone goes with Dell. I also don't agree, but I have almost no influence except on this dual 2.8dc vs. dual 3.8sc issue.

EDIT: @onewingedangel we are ordering in 4 weeks.