"server" CPU...

[moisiss]

I've heard many times that the Intel Xeon is a "server" CPU... what exactly does that mean (besides the obvious "it's made to run servers")? Does a "server" CPU (like a Xeon) handle info differently than a "gaming" or "general use" CPU (like the core 2 duo)?... If so, how? If you are using a computer with a "server" CPU (like a mac pro) but not using it as a server, are there other types of programs that work better with this kind of CPU than with a "gaming" CPU?... Why?

 

[NosBoost300]

server cpu's may lack certain instruction sets, or have other instruction sets that regular processor don't... also, they tend to hvae a higher heat threshold, seeing as they're meant to be on all the time

 

[moisiss]

What is an Instruction set? What does it do?

 

[bum]

Xeon's really aren't good for general use from what I hear. Amd opterons however are a different story (i have one).So if you are thinking about using a server cpu amd is the way to go there hands down.

 

[NosBoost300]

instruction sets i guess is how the processor goes about processing things.. such as 3dnow! SSE 1, 2 and 3 and all that other stuff... what they actually do to affect performance, i can't really say, i havent looked into that

ya.. and i'll agree, opterons are very nice server processors, i also had a 146, and it took a daily beating of oc's up to 2.8 ghz... and it took it like a champ

 

[The General]

Xeon's really aren't good for general use from what I hear.

You must have heard wrong.

 

[UA_Iron]

You must have heard wrong.

Two 2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon "Woodcrest" processors

4MB shared L2 cache per processor

1.33GHz dual independent frontside buses

1GB memory (667MHz DDR2 fully-buffered DIMM ECC)

NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT graphics with 256MB memory

250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7200-rpm hard drive1

16x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

$2,499.00



wow, what a bargain!!

 

[moisiss]

Any further info (preferably as unbiased and as specific as possible) General about Xeons for general use? I have a tendency to take any marketing materials with a LARGE grain of salt (I mean they are, after all, trying to SELL you something so they are going to put it in the best light possible). You know, why would Apple choose to put Xeons in their top of the line desktops? Why not go with Core 2 Duo? Do you think it is just because you can get more total cores with Xeons (I am under the impression that you can't use multiple Core 2 Duo's on one motherboard... feel free to correct me if I'm wrong)? I don't think that the majority of people who would buy a Mac Pro would be looking for the ultimate gaming rig... so that probably wasn't an issue for them... but do Xeons work better for stuff like video editing, audio production, ect. (more professional uses)? If so, how?

 

[The General]

wow, what a bargain!!

Yep. Just the processors alone is like $1500 on newegg. The RAM would be another $200, motherboard like $550, plus $100 harddrive, $30 DVD, $80 video card and $350 case (yes, it's that nice) all that and you can use whatever operating system you want, add up to 16GB of RAM, 4 harddrives, 4 PCI-E 16x slots, etc.

Sounds like a bargain to me. Not to mention the price at the edu-store:

 

[The General]

but do Xeons work better for stuff like video editing, audio production, ect. (more professional uses)? If so, how?

Yes, that is what Mac Pros are for. Apple doesn't just "try to sell you" a Mac like this, these are meant for professional use. The things they DO "just try to sell you" is Macbooks and Mac Minis, maybe even the low end iMacs.

Look up some benchmarks, like these (for the impatient, page 11 starts here) and read them and you'll see how powerful they are. These Xeons are based on the Core 2 architecture, and I am pretty sure the reason they use Xeons is because of the dual-processor thing, but you aren't losing power ... Xeons are more powerful that Core 2 Duos...