Dual Xeons VS Single P4

Cyclone · Post by **Cyclone** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 11:40 pm

I'm just wondering which would be faster. A Dual 3.06ghz Xeon or a Single P4 3.6ghz. I want a system that is very good in both games and rendering(max/maya). I read somewhere saying that dual cpu systems are slower at games then just a single cpu is. The dual xeons also have a slower bus speed and use slower ram.

I was looking at this cpu and motherboard
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe ... =80924-533

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductLi ... ode=011423

So what are the pros and cons between the two?

thanks

Capm · Post by **Capm** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 12:22 am

dual xeons would be faster than the single p4. At those speeds you won't notice a difference on single-cpu apps, but in rendering the dual cpu is always going to be better than single.

If you want dual cpu on a budget - go with opterons. You'll spend alot less than on xeons, and it'll probably outperform them too. I believe it was the 1.4ghz Opterons (240) keep up with the 3.06 Xeon and even beat them in some apps.

Neo · Post by **Neo** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 7:29 am

Hey, guys, why is a single P4 better than dual Xeons? Don't Xeons have Hyper-Threading? So, wouldn't that be like having four CPUs in certain situations? What about dual Xeons with the 800 MHz FSB and the 90-nm manufacturing process? Would two of the fastest new Xeons be better than one 3.6-GHz P4 for games?

Cyclone · Post by **Cyclone** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 9:52 pm

Hmm so there are NO disadvantages getting a 3.6ghz xeon over a 3.6ghz p4 for gaming and the like?

Also if I do decide to get a dual cpu system can I just buy one cpu right now and install it into the motherboard and have a working computer or do I HAVE to buy both cpus and install them to work?

Capm money isn't that much of an issue for me. Do you have any benchmarks comparing both systems?

Capm · Post by **Capm** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 10:36 pm

THIS was the original article pitting Dual 1.8ghz Opterons vs Dual 3.06Ghz Xeons

Neo · Post by **Neo** » Fri Oct 15, 2004 6:16 am

Cyclone wrote:Hmm so there are NO disadvantages getting a 3.6ghz xeon over a 3.6ghz p4 for gaming and the like?

Well, there kinda is...a 3.6 GHz Xeon is very expensive.

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Fri Oct 15, 2004 7:02 am

Dual Opterons are not cheaper then Xeons, but they scale better. Quad Opterons improve on that even better. Because dual/quad Xeons all have to share the same 800 MHz FSB/memory, the Opterons all have their own local memory.

Cyclone · Post by **Cyclone** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 2:34 pm

Thanks for the link Capm.

I have a few simple questions.

1. Can I just have one processor in a dual cpu motherboard or do I need both cpu sockets
filled. Cuzz I was thinking I could just buy one cpu for now and get the second one when
I have more money.

2. Lets say I get a motherboard that only supports 533Mhz FSB. Could I still get for example
a 3.2Ghz cpu with 800Mhz FSB. The reason I'm asking is because Xeon motherboards with a
800Mhz bus are pretty expensive $300 USD and up and the motherboard I'm looking at only has
a 533mhz bus. I thought maybe the bus speed of the 3.2ghz cpu would just be clocked down to
533mhz to run with the speed on the motherboard.

3. Same as #2. Can this work with ram as well? The specs on the motherboard say it supports
"Dual-DDR333" ram but in the review they did some overclocking and used "DDR-400 (PC-3200)"
instead.

Vindicator · Post by **Vindicator** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 2:57 pm

1. Usually, yes. You'd have to put the single proc in socket 1.

2. Depends. Which board are you looking at? The Asus PC-DL for example has unofficial support for 800fsb chips. But if your dropping over $400 per processor, you might as well get a good 800fsb board to go with em.

3. DDR400 is required for the 800fsb chips, but will work fine with slower chips (and allow for some decent overclocking).