Intel Xeon 3.6 2MB vs AMD Opteron 252 Database Test
by Jason Clark & Ross Whitehead on February 14, 2005 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- IT Computing
"Order Entry" Stress Test results
Our Vendor test has received quite a bit of interest from certain processor vendors, rightfully so as the workload is quite difficult to recreate. As you can see from the results below, we have a completely different outcome from the SQL Stress results. The extra 1MB of L2 cache on the Xeon part made a significant difference. In a test formally dominated by the Opteron, the Xeon now takes a 12% lead. This test obviously benefits from the added cache, and the 800MHz front side bus does a much better job of moving the data than the slower bus architectures of the Xeon platform. In a previous article, we tested a 4MB Xeon part, and it barely managed a 3% gain over the Opteron - times have changed.
To give you an idea of the scale of this benchmark, we have graphs of stored procedures calls per second. We decided to focus on Stored Procedures / Second rather than Transactions / Second, as the definition of a Transaction can have a business context or a technical context.
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Carfax - Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - link
Sheesh, the workstation benches still aren't up? :(More people are interested in the workstation benchmarks than database I'd wager because it's a better showcase for the new enhancements.
How long will we have to wait?
Jason Clark - Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - link
snorre, proper? It is proper in terms of the Windows world since 64 bit DOES NOT EXIST :). If you want to see 64bit linux coverage as said in these comments and in the article view the linux section or Johans work in the IT section.snorre - Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - link
I'd like to see a proper Xeon DP 2M vs Opteron 252 review, since MS SQL 32-bit benchmarks are only of limited interest. When will we see this?Are there any proper Opteron 252 reviews out there?
semo - Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - link
#70, you said it. it's the cost. cost is my killer.sure ddr2 costs more than ddr but i hate upgrading my whole setup just to get new momory. right now i'm running a pc133 setup and cannot upgrade even if i wanted to (and believe me... i want to). i know that low latency is what the hammer architecture wants but doesn't regitered memory increase latencies... and what is registered memory anyway?
Jason Clark - Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - link
There was a few questions about single or dual in here, I had answered that but to clarify all testing was DUAL processor.Jason Clark - Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - link
One thing to remember with the Tyan bios is it is pre-production. We'll post info as soon as we have it.Jason Clark - Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - link
We're working with Tyan on the 1GHz HT issue, if we get a new bios that supports it we will re-test and post our results..Cheers.
Viditor - Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - link
"i'm interested in number cruncing and games and rendering, i.e. a workstation not a server"Why would you not want registered memory then? Contrary to popular opinion, it does not affect the speed...only the cost.
For gaming, dual systems are no help at all (unless you're running a game server) with todays software. For professional rendering, you absolutely WANT registered memory!
DDR2 would actually be no speed increase at all for AMD64 systems, and none yet for Intel systems. Not until the memory speeds get much higher will we see any benefit from DDR2...
XDR is also not a good match for the AMD chips because of the high latency. AMD chips are NOT bandwidth constrained but ARE latency sensitive (meaning that increasing memory speeds does very little, while increasing latency makes them much worse).
The only real issue of registered memory is the cost, and if that is the problem I would suggest a high end A64 939 SLI board (e.g. Asus A8N-SLI), and upgrade to dual core in September or so...
semo - Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - link
i'm interested in number cruncing and games and rendering, i.e. a workstation not a server. unforutnately the integrated memory controller of the amd hammers are both their strengths and weaknesses.it's only upto amd whether we can have unregistered, ddr2 or maybe even xdr memory i guess
Viditor - Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - link
"is it possible to have a dual proc setup without using registered memory?"Technically yes...but registered memory is what's preferred for servers because it is more securely accurate. All Opterons use registered memory...
Platforms for the Athlon MP use non-registered memory, and a very few of the Xeon platforms do as well...