CPU & XP x64 Questions

[rdw283]

I have a few question.

I am looking to upgrade to the Xeon 5100X chipset. I am looking at two options, the Xeon 5060 Dempsey 3.2GHz 2 x 2MB L2 Cache or the Xeon 5130 Woodcrest 2.0GHz 4M shared L2 Cache. I know that the front side is faster on the 5130 Woodcrest, but the idea of 8 logical processors is appealing on the 5060 Dempsey. What is better in reality 4 cores slower frequency but faster bus, or 4 cores with 4 hyper-threads (8 threads total) faster frequency but slower bus. I won't be using this computer as a server, just mostly file storage with usage of Photoshop CS2 and Video editing with Vegas or Adobe Premiere.

I am also wondering will XP x64 use all the processors. I know when I called Xandros they said the only OS they made that would support 8 logical threads would be their server edition version. I called Microsoft today and asked them the same question and they said didn't have that info. Does anyone here know if it will see and use all 8.

Last does anyone have anything to say about Vista 64bit, good or bad is it worth upgrading to that at the time of build on my system.


Thanks to all that respond in advance.

Ross

PS funny that Microsoft can't tell you what the limitations of their software are.

[rdw283]

I have a few question.

I am looking to upgrade to the Xeon 5100X chipset. I am looking at two options, the Xeon 5060 Dempsey 3.2GHz 2 x 2MB L2 Cache or the Xeon 5130 Woodcrest 2.0GHz 4M shared L2 Cache. I know that the front side is faster on the 5130 Woodcrest, but the idea of 8 logical processors is appealing on the 5060 Dempsey. What is better in reality 4 cores slower frequency but faster bus, or 4 cores with 4 hyper-threads (8 threads total) faster frequency but slower bus. I won't be using this computer as a server, just mostly file storage with usage of Photoshop CS2 and Video editing with Vegas or Adobe Premiere.

I am also wondering will XP x64 use all the processors. I know when I called Xandros they said the only OS they made that would support 8 logical threads would be their server edition version. I called Microsoft today and asked them the same question and they said didn't have that info. Does anyone here know if it will see and use all 8.

Last does anyone have anything to say about Vista 64bit, good or bad is it worth upgrading to that at the time of build on my system.


Thanks to all that respond in advance.

Ross

PS funny that Microsoft can't tell you what the limitations of their software are.

[PrntRhd]

Welcome to the PC Guide forums!
:)
I merged these threads for the exact same topic. We do read all the threads, so you need not post more than one thread for one topic.

[rdw283]

I saw once I posted it that I put it under the wrong subject heading.

Thanks,
Ross

[rond36]

What motherboard do you have in mind?

Shouldn't that be 5000X Chipset? As far as I know there are only three chipsets that support Dempsey, Woodcrest, and Clovertown processors;
Intel 5000P for cluster servers most are for a 1U chassis
Intel 5000V for standalone servers with onboard video
Intel 5000X for workstations
The Intel 5000 chipset family will support all 5000 family processors but make sure your BIOS supports the processor that you intend to install!

The Xeon 5130 Woodcrest 2.0GHz is much faster then the Xeon 5060 Dempsey 3.2GHz.

The Xeon 5000 series processors are based on the Netburst microarchitecture. The desktop equivalent would be a Pentium D.

The closest equivalent to the Xeon 5060 Dempsey 3.2GHz is the Pentium D 840 Extreme Edition

The Xeon 5100 series processors are based on the Core 2 microarchitecture and the desktop equivalent would be a Core 2 Duo.

The closest equivalent to the Xeon 5130 Woodcrest 2.0GHz is the Core 2 Duo E6400

If the idea of 8 logical processors is appealing, how about 8 physical processors in 2 sockets!

If I were you I would dump both of those and buy a Quad-Core Xeon E5320 (1.86GHz 2x4MB 1066FSB Socket 771) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819117115) or any other Xeon 5300 series processor.

The fastest processor that a 5000X motherboard will support is the Xeon X5355 Clovertown (2.66GHz 2x4MB 1066FSB Socket 771) With unlocked multiplier!

The Xeon 5300 series processors are also based on the Core 2 microarchitecture and the desktop equivalent would be a Core 2 Quad.

The closest equivalent to the Xeon X5355 Clovertown 2.66GHz is the Core 2 Quad QX6700

[rond36]

I forgot to answer your other question. Windows XP Professional SP2 and Windows XP Professional X64 will see all 4 cores on the Xeon 5130 and all 8 cores on the 5060 and E5320 .Win Vista Business and Ultimate also support up to 8 cores but I think 8 cores is the max limit for Vista. I have never used Xandros but if it will boot on a 5300 series CPU only using 4 cores it would still be faster then the Xeon 5060

Here is a list of the only Xeon processors that I would consider buying for use on a i5000X chipset mother board.
Intel Xeon 5110 Woodcrest 1.60GHz 4M shared L2 Cache Socket 771 Active or 1U Processor (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819117081)
Intel Xeon 5120 Woodcrest 1.86GHz 4M shared L2 Cache Socket 771 Active or 1U Processor (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819117083)
Intel Xeon 5130 Woodcrest 2.00GHz 4M shared L2 Cache Socket 771 Active or 1U Processor (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819117085)
Intel Xeon 5140 Woodcrest 2.33GHz 4M shared L2 Cache Socket 771 Active or 1U Processor (http://www.ajump.com/ajump/product.asp?dept%5Fid=2522&pf%5Fid=4540305&sku=99%2D99%2D99%2D99%2D99%2D4540305)
Intel Xeon 5150 Woodcrest 2.66GHz 4M shared L2 Cache Socket 771 Active or 1U Processor (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819117089)
Intel Xeon 5160 Woodcrest 3.00GHz 4M shared L2 Cache Socket 771 Active or 1U Processor (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819117091)<--Faster then a Core 2 Extreme X6800 at default settings
Intel Xeon E5310 Clovertown 1.60GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache Socket 771 Active or 1U Processor (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819117112)
Intel Xeon E5320 Clovertown 1.86GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache Socket 771 Active or 1U Processor (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819117115)
Intel Xeon E5345 Clovertown 2.33GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache Socket 771 Active or 1U Processor (http://www.ajump.com/ajump/product.asp?dept%5Fid=2526&pf%5Fid=0640307&sku=99%2D99%2D99%2D99%2D99%2D0640307)
Intel Xeon X5355 Clovertown 2.66GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache Socket 771 Active or 1U Processor (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819117110)<-- The undisputed king of the CPU world!

2CPU.com (http://forums.2cpu.com/) has a better forum for server/workstation systems.

[rdw283]

I don't know why I labeled it 5100 I guess I read what processors it would except. I have been looking at the 7000 series chipset also and it has 7000/7100, same with e the 5000X only it has 5000/5100/5300. What I am planing on as far as a motherboard is Supermicro's X7DA8 with the Intel® 5000X (Greencreek) Chipset. I may buy one of the Quad-Core 5300's then wait a month to get the second. They are expensive as hell, I don't think the price will come down anytime soon since it has replaced everything else.


How much RAM is overkill, this thing will go to 32GB, I would like 16GB but is that overkill and unrealistic for a home computer?

Thanks for the info and I will look into that link you gave me.

Ross

[rond36]

Are you going to be using U320 SCSI? If not, the Supermicro X7DAE would be a better choice . It has the same specs the only difference is it doesn't have the Adaptec AIC-7902 Controller for duel channel Ultra 320 SCSI RAID.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductCompare.asp?Category=20&N=2000200302+1072122098&Submit=ENE&Nty=1&Subcategory=302&CompareItemList=N82E16813182095%2CN82E16813182096

A word of caution Supermicro motherboards are best suited to Supermicro chassis and PSU because they don't conform to the E-ATX standard Size and they have proprietary front panel modular connections.

I would not buy a 7000 series chipset motherboard they only support duel socket mPGA604 processors (Nocona and Irwindale) and single socket LGA775 desktop processors.

[rdw283]

Well I thought I might do a RAID0 with some 15K SCSI for my Photoshop scratch disk. I don't know if I need that with all the RAM but I do work with file sizes that reach in the GB size on occasion. I have always used Supermicro for my system boards but I don't have any Xeon boards from them yet. I was planing on putting this rig together in a Thermaltake Armor Series VA8000BWS , http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811133154

So will this fit? I currently have their PDSG4 motherboard with the Pentium D 960 Presler 3.6GHz and 4GB ECC memory. I like my system but I heard it was a night and day difference when you switch to the Xeon systems. http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/PD/955/PDSG4.cfm

I have also thought about the TYAN S2696WA2NRF (SAS) Dual Socket 771 Intel 5000X
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813151049
Looks like you get more for your dollar as far as SAS and slots but I've been so loyal to Supermicro and I don't know anything about TYAN. I would choose the SAS over SCSI in a heartbeat if I knew that Tyan was really a good company to deal with. Also the built in Firewire is nice, I don't recall Supermicro ever having that on any of their motherboards.

I've used Supermicro products for more than 10yrs now, before that it was Intel but I got burned out on constant problems and having to update my BIOS just to make something else work for me without a crash. I really like stability and I get that with Supermicro.

Thanks again for all your advice, I believe I will have a nice system by the time I'm read to purchase on Tuesday the 27th.

Ross Waters