In the past, processors where easily compared by their frequency (2.4Ghz being faster than 2.2Ghz). But today, the frequency cannot be used alone to compare the speed and power of a CPU. You now have to consider the technology behind the processor. Intel and AMD are the most popular CPU manufacturers. Some people will say that AMD processors are more powerful, while others will praise Intel. Who is right? The answer is: Both. In some cases AMD processors are more powerful than their Intel equivalent while Intel will win the power war in other cases. The following power level comparison should help you choose.
Budget Servers Processors
Power Level
• Intel Celeron 3.0
Lowest price budget servers are packaged with Intel Celeron processors. The Celeron, a Single Core processor, offers good performance as a first dedicated server for serving static web sites or low CPU scripts and applications.
Power Level
• Intel P4 3.0Ghz HT Deluxe
• Intel P4 3.2Ghz HT Deluxe
• AMD Athlon64 XP 3500+
• AMD Athlon64 XP 3800+
If you are looking for more power but you want to keep a low server price, the Intel P4 and AMD Athlon are good alternatives. Both CPUs use different technologies but both get similar performance results. Intel’s technology is called Hyperthreading; AMD’s technology is called Hyper transport. AMD’s Athlon64 usually has an advantage over the P4 when it comes to CPU speed benchmarks.
Power Servers Processors
Power Level
• Intel Pentium D 3.0Ghz
• Intel Pentium D 3.4Ghz
• AMD Athlon64 X2 4200+
• AMD Athlon64 X2 4600+
The first generation Dual Core processors of both AMD and Intel are offered at an attractive price while providing more CPU power for game servers, database operations and dynamic content web sites. Offered at the same price as the Pentium D, the Athlon X2 is, most of the time, ahead of the Pentium D when it comes to speed benchmarks.
Power Level
• Intel Core 2 E6300
• Intel Core 2 E6400
Power Level
• Intel Core 2 E6600
• Intel Core 2 E6700
Intel’s latest Core 2 Duo technology is an enhanced version of the Dual Core and the most powerful processor of our Power Servers category. The Core 2 Duo can provide a lot more CPU power for your applications and fit your needs if you are not ready for Dual Processors solutions. If it fits your budget, we highly recommend you to choose this new Core 2 processor generation. For the moment, we do not offer the AMD equivalent because of limited availability, highest prices and no significant performance gain.
Dual Power Servers
Power Level
• Intel Dual Xeon HT 2,8Ghz
• Intel Dual Xeon HT 3,4Ghz
• AMD Dual Opteron 248
• AMD Dual Opteron 250
Power Level
• Intel Dual Xeon Dual Core 2,67Ghz
• Intel Dual Xeon Dual Core 3,0Ghz
• AMD Dual Opteron 265
• AMD Dual Opteron 270
Power Level
• Intel Dual Xeon Core 2 (WOODCREST) 1,6Ghz
• Intel Dual Xeon Core 2 (WOODCREST) 2,0Ghz
Dual processors servers offer two physical CPUs powered by one of the different processor technologies the Hyper thread technology for the Dual Xeon HT, the Hyper transport technology for the Dual Opteron 248 or 250, the Dual Core technology for the Dual Xeon Dual Core or Dual Opteron 265/270 and the Core 2 technology for the Intel Woodcrest processors.
For a very similar price, we recommend choosing the Dual Core version of the Dual Xeons processors over the HT versions. They will provide a significant performance gain. Furthermore, the AMD Dual Opteron 248/250/265 and 270 have a significant performance advantage over their Intel equivalent.
Finally, if you do not want to make any compromise and are looking for the highest CPU performance, the Dual Xeon Core 2 (Woodcrest) processors will beat any of your expectations! According to Intel, the Woodcrest processors offer a 80% performance increase over the Xeon Dual Core processors.
