AMD Opteron vs. Intel Xeon: Database Performance Shootout
by Anand Lal Shimpi, Jason Clark & Ross Whitehead on March 2, 2004 2:11 AM EST- Posted in
- IT Computing
AnandTech Forums Database Test Results
The results are split up into two categories: 2-way and 4-way setups. Remember that the 3.2GHz Potomac based Xeon is only available in 2-way configurations and is thus absent from the 4-way graphs. The labels are as follows: CPU Name Clock Speed/FSB Speed/Cache Size (e.g. Xeon 3.0GHz/400/4MB = Xeon 3.0GHz, 400MHz FSB, 4MB L3 cache). Keep in mind that all Xeons have a 512KB on-die L2 cache, and all Opterons have a 1MB on-die L2 cache (but no L3 cache).
Despite the fact that we're dealing with a pretty hefty database, the Xeon does not benefit from a massive 4MB L3 cache here. For most transactional database applications, the search queries that will be running are small enough to fit inside caches much smaller than 4MB since they are very specific queries to well indexed databases. More general queries however would increase the need for a larger cache.
What we do see is that the Potomac's 533MHz FSB and higher clock speed come in handy and bring the Xeon to within striking distance of the Opteron, but at 2.2GHz the Opteron holds onto a 5% lead.
Once we look at 4-way configurations, the Opteron maintains an 11% performance lead over the fastest Xeon MP.
When looking at write performance, the Opteron once again maintains a small lead in the 2-way performance category.
...but add another 2 processors to all of the systems and the Opteron flexes its muscle once again. It's clear that AMD put together a very scalable design with Opteron and it's paying off.
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skiboysteve - Tuesday, March 2, 2004 - link
whats the deal with the slow ddr333 memoryJason Clark - Tuesday, March 2, 2004 - link
Cygni, if you have a peek at the 2 way web test we took shots of the monsters in that article..Cheers
SDA - Tuesday, March 2, 2004 - link
Ouch. At first it doesn't look like Intel is pwnd (sure, they lose in the four-way benchmarks, but as Opteron vs. Xeon benches go this one's still pretty close)... then the cost of the Xeon is factored in, especially relative to the Opteron 24x (which is even cheaper and equally suitable for 2-way systems).Things might change with the FSB800 Xeons, though. The Opteron will still offer a lot more bang for the buck, but the Xeon might offer more bang then. It all depends on how well the 90nm Opterons scale, I guess.
Cygni - Tuesday, March 2, 2004 - link
Very cool. So if your going 2 way for a DB, Xeon's look pretty good. I wouldnt have expected that.And can you guys snap some pics of the 4 way Xeon and Opteron boxes for us techno geeks that need a new wallpaper? ;)
Jason Clark - Tuesday, March 2, 2004 - link
Numa was turned on.... 64Bit is just waiting on software. Although 64bit is a reality hardware wise, software still has a loooong way to go yet. We may do some 64 Bit .NET stuff at some point in the future as well.SUOrangeman - Tuesday, March 2, 2004 - link
Looks like DDR400 ECC+Reg is readily available to me as well ...http://www.crucial.com/store/listmodule.asp?module...
-SUO
Boonesmi - Tuesday, March 2, 2004 - link
christophergorge - ddr400 reg/ecc (ie pc3200) is very much available, i just put 2gb in a cad/cam opteron workstation a couple weeks agodweigert - Tuesday, March 2, 2004 - link
I can't wait to see what happens when they do these again with NUMA turned on and a 64 bit OS. GamePC just released a set of astounding memory benchmarks,http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_content.asp?id=opt...
This ought to be some food for thought.
menads - Tuesday, March 2, 2004 - link
To the people that said there is no DDR400 w ECC -that is pure BS! ECC/Reg DDR400 IS available for more than an year and the latest official Opteron SPEC submission of AMD is done with such memory!ViRGE - Tuesday, March 2, 2004 - link
Just a quick question for whoever knows the answer: what's the die size on the 4MB Xeon?