High-End x86: The Nehalem EX Xeon 7500 and Dell R810

Benchmark Methods and Systems

Our methods and configurations were identical to our previous review. The only system added was the Dell R810:

Dell R810 Configuration:
Dual Xeon X7560 2.26GHz
Dell 05W7DG Motherboard with Intel ICH10R Southbridge (BIOS version: 0.3.2)
128GB (32 x 4GB) of DDR3-1066 (HMT151R7BFR8C Hynix)
NIC: quad Broadcom BCM5709C NetXtreme II GigE (1GB)

Xeon Server 1: ASUS RS700-E6/RS4 barebone
Dual Intel Xeon "Gainestown" X5570 2.93GHz, Dual Intel Xeon “Westmere” X5670 2.93 GHz
ASUS Z8PS-D12-1U
6x4GB (24GB) ECC Registered DDR3-1333
NIC: Intel 82574L PCI-EGBit LAN
PSU: Delta Electronics DPS-770 AB 770W

Opteron Server 1 (Dual CPU): AMD Magny-Cours Reference system (desktop case)

Dual AMD Opteron 6174 2.2 GHz
AMD Dinar motherboard with AMD SR5690 Chipset & SB750 Southbridge
8x 4 GB (32 GB) ECC Registered DDR3-1333
NIC: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme II BCM5709 Gigabit
PSU: 1200W PSU

Opteron Server 2 (Dual CPU): Supermicro A+ Server 1021M-UR+V
Dual Opteron 2435 "Istanbul" 2.6GHz
Dual Opteron 2389 2.9GHz
Supermicro H8DMU+
32GB (8x4GB) DDR2-800
PSU: 650W Cold Watt HE Power Solutions CWA2-0650-10-SM01-1

vApus/Oracle Calling Circle Client Configuration

First client (Tile one)
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.83 GHz
Foxconn P35AX-S
GB (2x2GB) Kingston DDR2-667
NIC: Intel PRO/1000

Second client (Tile two)
Single Xeon X3470 2.93GHz
S3420GPLC
Intel 3420 chipset
8GB (4 x 2GB) 1066MHz DDR3

Our benchmarking is relatively limited. We have gone from typically 12 to 16 threads per server system to 48 and 64 thread systems in less than a year! The sharp increase in available threads is making an in-depth analysis of our benchmarks necessary. Our current choices of Oracle Calling Circle and vApus Mark I are being improved to measure the full potential of these high-thread servers. So the number of benchmarks performed by our own lab is rather limited. This situation should improve soon.