5600 vs E7

[idata]

Hello,

For the sake of good design, I'd like to understand the performance difference between an Intel E72800/4800 GHz vs. an Intel Xeon 5600 GHz.

That is, if I have a 6 core Xeon 5600 CPU at 2 GHz, how much different is (performancewise) compared to an E7-2800 6 core CPU at also 2 GHz.

I'm NOT talking about RAS features, but ONLY about performance.

Thanks a lot,

[Adolfo_S_Intel2]

Currently Intel does not have a benchmark performance comparison chat between Intel processors.

For benchmark comparison, I would suggest contacting a benchmark website like:

http://www.tomshardware.com/ www.Tomshardware.com

NOTE: This link is being offered for your convenience and should not be viewed as an endorsement by Intel of the content, products, or services offered there.

Intel can only provide features comparison chart buy using the following link:

http://ark.intel.com/ http://ark.intel.com/

[idata]

Adolfo, at least tell me something:

When comparing SPECint_rate of Xeon 5600 6-core family and brand new Intel E7-2800 6-core family (http://www.spec.org/cpu2006/results/rint2006.html http://www.spec.org/cpu2006/results/rint2006.html) I've found out that benchmarks of the Xeon 5600 are better...and from my point of view that's a nonsense. High-end cpus (E7) should perform much better than mid-end cpu's (5600).

Take a look for instance to this example:

Cisco UCS B230 M2 (Intel Xeon E7-2803, 1.73 GHz) dual-socket hexa-core SPECint_rate BASE= 239

Cisco UCS C210 M2 (Intel Xeon E5649, 2.53 GHz) dual-socket hexa-core SPECint_rate BASE= 327

I know that clock is 30% less in E7, but number of cores is exactly the same, and benchmark results are also 30% less...that would mean there is absolutely NO difference in performance per core per GHz between a brand new E7-2800 and the old Xeon 5600. Again, it doesn't make any sense.

Any inputs to this?

Thanks,

[Adolfo_S_Intel2]

Keep in mind that we do not rely on information provided by third party websites, unfortunately Intel does not compare performance between processors.

What I can tell you is that the performance of a processor will vary depending on the hardware configuration, so in other words, the performance of the system itself, does not depend only on the processor itself but on all the hardware used.

Even the performance software tools used can affect the benchmark, for example, software that is designed for single core processors will have better performance on a single core processor than on a multi-core processor, since it is not designed to take full advantage of the multi-core technology.

I would suggest checking with the benchmark website that you are referring to, the hardware configuration that they used to perform the specific benchmark tests.

If you are still not sure about what processor you should purchase for your needs, I would suggest contacting an Authorized Intel® Distributor for suggestions.

You can find a list of Authorized Intel® Distributors at:

http://www.intel.com/cd/channel/reseller/asmo-na/eng/227304.htm http://www.intel.com/cd/channel/reseller/asmo-na/eng/227304.htm

If you are outside the United States, please access the following link and select a location, to find the closest authorized distributor:

http://premierlocator.intel.com/Default.aspx http://premierlocator.intel.com/Default.aspx

[idata]

Adolfo,

I have to agree with Dani. We need some additional guidance as to when the E7-2800 series would be a better fit as compared with the older 5600 series. It seems you sacrifice Ghz performance but gain more cores, in what deployment scenario would this be better?

Beyers

[Adolfo_S_Intel2]

Please check the following comparison chart:

http://ark.intel.com/compare/53578,52576 http://ark.intel.com/compare/53578,52576

As you can see on the above comparison chart, the E7-2870 has 10 cores (20 threads) while the X5690 has only 6 cores (12 threads).

Also the E7-2870 has 30 MB Cache while the X5690 has only 12 MB Cache.

One of the main reasons of the price difference is because of the Cache RAM.

Also the E7-2870 supports a lot more RAM then the X5690.

Those are the main differences, and the cache RAM can make a performance difference since the processor will not need to go to the hard drive or RAM to read data that it can temporarily have it on the Cache RAM.

[idata]

Adolfo, we do understand all of this, but is very difficult to compare such different things like cache or cores...is better to compare SPECs for instance. Can you elaborate on my example (GHz vs GHz) above these lines please?