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Linux Shootout: Opteron 150 vs. Xeon 3.6 Nocona
Linux Shootout: Opteron 150 vs. Xeon 3.6 Nocona
Date: August 12th, 2004
Topic: Linux
Manufacturer: Various
Author: Kristopher Kubicki
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Our preliminary look at Intel's 64-bit Xeon 3.6GHz Nocona (which happens to be identical to the Intel 3.6F Pentium 4) stirred up a bit of controversy. The largest two concerns were:

  • We tested Intel's Xeon server processor against an Athlon desktop CPU.
  • We chose poor benchmarks to illustrate the capabilities of those processors.

Fortunately, with the help of the other editors at AnandTech, we managed to reproduce an entire retest of the Nocona platform and an Opteron 150 CPU. We also managed to find an internet connection stable enough for this editor to redraft en entire performance analysis on his vacation.

Performance Test Configuration
Processor(s): AMD Opteron 150 (130nm, 2.4GHz, 1MB L2 Cache)
Intel Xeon 3.6GHz (90nm, 1MB L2 Cache)
RAM: 2 x 512MB PC-3200 CL2 (400MHz) Registered
2 x 512MB PC2-3200 CL3 (400MHz) Registered
Memory Timings: Default
Operating System(s): SuSE 9.1 Professional (64 bit)
Linux 2.6.4-52-default
Linux 2.6.4-52-smp
Compiler: linux:~ # gcc -v Reading specs from /usr/lib64/gcc-lib/x86_64-suse-linux/3.3.3/specs Configured with: ../configure --enable-threads=posix --prefix=/usr --with-local-prefix=/usr/local --infodir=/usr/share/info --mandir=/usr/share/man --enable-languages=c,c++,f77,objc,java,ada --disable-checking --libdir=/usr/lib64 --enable-libgcj --with-gxx-include-dir=/usr/include/g++ --with-slibdir=/lib64 --with-system-zlib --enable-shared --enable-__cxa_atexit x86_64-suse-linux Thread model: posix gcc version 3.3.3 (SuSE Linux)
Libraries: linux:~ # /lib/libc.so.6 GNU C Library stable release version 2.3.3 (20040405), by Roland McGrath et al. Copyright (C) 2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc. This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Configured for i686-suse-linux. Compiled by GNU CC version 3.3.3 (SuSE Linux). Compiled on a Linux 2.6.4 system on 2004-04-05. Available extensions: GNU libio by Per Bothner crypt add-on version 2.1 by Michael Glad and others linuxthreads-0.10 by Xavier Leroy GNU Libidn by Simon Josefsson NoVersion patch for broken glibc 2.0 binaries BIND-8.2.3-T5B libthread_db work sponsored by Alpha Processor Inc NIS(YP)/NIS+ NSS modules 0.19 by Thorsten Kukuk Thread-local storage support included. Report bugs using the `glibcbug' script to .


The Intel Xeon 3.6GHz has HyperThreading enabled by default, so we use that with the SMP kernel during the review. The entire review uses 64-bit binaries either compiled from scratch or as installed from RPM. We only used a 32-bit benchmark during the synthetic analysis, but still on SuSE 9.1 Pro (x86-64).

As one reader has pointed out, the GCC 3.3.3 used in this review has a few back ported optimizations from GCC 3.4.1 care of the SuSE development team. Thus, architecture specific optimizations for nocona are included.

Special thanks to Super Micro for getting us additional Intel components for testing on such short notice!

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93 Comments - Last by jacklang0005, 20 days ago
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No Subject by thatsright, 1926 days ago
Now will all of you A-Holes get off KrizK's & AT editorial staff's back!!

Reply
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Reply
No Subject by JGunther, 1926 days ago
Yeah... this reivew (to me) proves that Kris is a good, well-intentioned guy, as he put aside his own personal time to re-do these benchmarks. But the results within also prove how utterly inaccurate the first review was, thus justifying (some of) the criticism he recieved.

I can see that you did learn at least one lesson, Kris; there are no claims in the conclusion of the Opteron "trouncing" the Xeon this time (even though such a remark may be justified now). :)

Reply
No Subject by sprockkets, 1926 days ago
At the end of page 5, the last paragraph is worded weird. Page 6 graph at the top, "Opteron 250"?

I realize that you probably were sleeping when you did this :).

The only thing else I don't like and I know it's out of your control is those stupid "get the facts" propaganda from Micro losers.

Reply
No Subject by TotalImmortal, 1926 days ago
thanks to all you guys at anandtech, never let it be said that you don't listen to your readership!


Reply
No Subject by Carfax, 1926 days ago
This review is MUCH better.. But still, WHY aren't there reference 32 bit scores for the Noconca, so we can see how much of a difference between 32 and 64 bit performance there is?

Reply
No Subject by KristopherKubicki, 1926 days ago
Carfax:

I will address that in a future review. I just didnt have the time to do it all over again :'(

Kristopher

Reply
No Subject by datacipher, 1926 days ago
Sorry for the empty posts, I just signed up to say this....

I think I can speak from a different perspective as I am not a techhead. I do keep a casual eye on hardware and have done extensive programming so I would not classify myself as computer illiterate.

Still I WOULD not have noticeed the rediculous choice of cpu's used in the 1st article. I would have just skimmed the article and assumed that a reasonable choice of benchmark material was used. I would not have known about any of the flaws in the benchmarks. I WOULD have accepted and given weight to the conclusion...which was clearly unwarranted given this second review.

I would like to thank all the posters who criticized that review because without you watchdogs, I would have blindly accepted the article as I used to do with Anandtech which I always though was a reliable source.

Kristopher, it's good you posted a new article, but honestly, your first article was extremely misleading...almost fraudulent...it really changes the nature of Anandtech in my mind...I thought I could rely on you fellows...

If you had initially even written of your reasoning as to why you were using such an uncomparable processor and then properly framed your conclusions it would have been fine....but in the article itself you seemed to be saying that it was a reasonable comparision and the conclusions were not given proper reference.

I'm really disappointed.

Reply
No Subject by KristopherKubicki, 1926 days ago
datacipher: The 3.6F will still be marketed against the 3500+/3800+ dual channel AMD CPUs. The benchmarks were messed up in that article, not our processor choice. This was addressed at the beginning of both articles/

Kristopher

Reply
No Subject by Carfax, 1926 days ago
Kris, that's fine man.. Good work on this review, and I look forward to seeing the 32 and 64 bit Nocona benches in a future review!

Reply
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