Intel Xeon E5 Version 3: Up to 18 Haswell EP Cores
by Johan De Gelas on September 8, 2014 12:30 PM ESTLimitations
Where are the virtualization benchmarks? We only got ESXi running a few days before the launch, after performing a necessary BIOS update. A little bit later, disaster struck: our iSCSI target was gone as some of the disks in the RAID-array failed. Unfortunately that means we will have to post our virtualization findings in a later article.
The other main limitation of this review is that we did not have sufficient time to experiment with different servers to measure power consumption. We have started asking around to get different kinds of servers in the lab, and we will be updating our tools to measure power draw of the different components inside the servers soon.
Conclusions so Far...
This has been a massive review and there's a lot of information to digest. However, if there is one thing you should remember it's that there is not one SKU that is the best in every situation. The results vary enormously depending on the workload. Some workloads like our kernel compilation test prefer the higher clocked SKUs, and those who thought the 14-core and 18-core processors at 2.3GHz would only excel in easy scaling software are wrong. Turbo Boost has improved vastly, and the massive core monsters can deftly wield this weapon when few threads are running.
The Xeon E5-2695 v3 is an interesting SKU for those searching for high performance in integer workloads. It is also relatively power efficient, never asking for too many amps, and it performs very well in alomst every (integer!) application. Of course the price tag is heavy, and it only makes sense if you can use all that processing power.
It is clear that server buyers could really benefit from some serious competition in the market, but you can hardly blame Intel at this stage. We hope that AMD can make a comeback in 2015. If not, it does not look like Intel will have any real competition in the midrange server market.
The Xeon E5-2650L v3 however is the true star of this review. It is power efficient (obviously) and contrary to previous low power offerings it still offers a good response time. Perhaps more surprising is that it even performs well in our FP intensive applications.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Xeon E5-2699 v3 is much more power hungry than we are used to from a high end part. It shines in SAP where hardware costs are dwarfed by the consulting invoices and delivers maximum performance in HPC. However, the peak power draw of this CPU is nothing to laugh about. Of course, the HPC crowd are used to powerhogs (e.g. GPGPU), but there's a reason Intel doesn't usually offer >130W TDP processors.
Considering the new Haswell EP processors will require a completely new platform – motherboards, memory, and processors all need to be upgraded – at least initially the parts will mostly be of interest to new server buyers. There are also businesses that demand the absolute fastest servers available and they'll be willing to upgrade, but for many the improvements with Haswell EP may not be sufficient to entice them into upgrading. The 14 nm Broadwell EP will likely be a better time to update servers, but that's still a year or so away.
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MorinMoss - Friday, August 9, 2019 - link
Hello from 2019.AMD has a LOT of ground to make up but it's a new world and a new race
https://www.anandtech.com/show/14605/the-and-ryzen...
Kevin G - Monday, September 8, 2014 - link
As an owner of a dual Opteron 6376 system, I shudder at how far behind that platform is. Then I look down and see that I have both of my kidneys as I didn't need to sell one for a pair of Xeons so I don't feel so bad. For the price of one E5-2660v3 I was able to pick up two Opteron 6376's.wallysb01 - Monday, September 8, 2014 - link
But the rest of the system cost is about the same. So you get 1/2 the performance for a 10% discount. YEPPY!Kevin G - Monday, September 8, 2014 - link
Nope. Build price after all the upgrades over the course of two years is some where around $3600 USD. The two Opterons accounted for a bit more than a third of that price. Not bad for 32 cores and 128 GB of memory. Even with Haswell-E being twice as fast, I'd have to spend nearly twice as much (CPU's cost twice as much as does DDR4 compared to when I bought my DDR3 memory). To put it into prespective, a single Xeon E5 2999v3 might be faster than my build but I was able to build an entire system for less than the price Intel's flagship server CPU.I will say something odd - component prices have increased since I purchased parts. RAM prices have gone up by 50% and the motherboard I use has seemingly increased in price by $100 due to scarcity. Enthusiast video card prices have also gotten crazy over the past couple of years so a high end video card is $100 more for top of the line in the consumer space.
wallysb01 - Tuesday, September 9, 2014 - link
Going to the E5 2699 isn’t needed. A pair of 2660 v3s is probably going to be nearly 2x as fast the 6376, especially for floating point where your 32 cores are more like 16 cores or for jobs that can’t use very many threads. True a pair of 2660s will be twice as expensive. On a total system it would add about $1.5K. We’ll have to wait for the workstation slanted view, but for an extra $1.5K, you’d probably have a workstation that’s much better at most tasks.Kevin G - Friday, September 12, 2014 - link
Actually if you're aiming to double the performance of a dual Opteron 6376, two E5-2695v3's look to be a good pick for that target according to this review. A pair of those will set you pack $4848 which is more than what my complete system build cost.Processors are only one component. So while a dual Xeon E5-2695v3 system would be twice as fast, total system cost is also approaching double due to memory and motherboard pricing differences.
Kahenraz - Monday, September 8, 2014 - link
I'm running a 6376 server as well and, although I too yearn for improved single-threaded performance, I could actually afford to own this one. As delicious as these Intel processors are, they are not priced for us mere mortals.From a price/performance standpoint, I would still build another Opteron server unless I knew that single-threaded performance was critical.
JDG1980 - Tuesday, September 9, 2014 - link
The E5-2630 v3 is cheaper than the Opteron 6376 and I would be very surprised if it didn't offer better performance.Kahenraz - Tuesday, September 9, 2014 - link
6376s can be had very cheaply on the second-hand market, especially bundled with a motherboard. Additionally, the E5-2630 v3 requires both a premium on the board and DDR4 memory.I'd wager you could still build an Opteron 6376 system for half or less.
Kevin G - Tuesday, September 9, 2014 - link
It'd only be fair to go with the second hand market for the E5-2630v3's but being new means they don't exist. :)Still going by new prices, an Opteron 6376 will be cheaper but roughly 33% from what I can tell. You're correct that the new Xeon's have a premium pricing on motherboards and DDR4 memory.