Just saw an opteron on Newegg for $214.00
AMD Opteron 2344HE Barcelona
1.7GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB
shared L3 Cache Socket F Quad Core Processor


What would be an equivalent Intel processor at the same performance? (real-life, not synthetic)

And would it be worth it to invest in this? Or should I look at an E6850?

I'm worried about:
1. Future potential.
2. using 4 cores in Server 2003 32-bit or 64-bit (which works best?)
3. Power consumption
4. What in the hell is socket F!? And can I actually buy a board for it without selling a leg?


Also, I just came across this when looking up Barcelona:



http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/compon...39289773,00.htm


What is up with the pricing?

Server 2003 will work just fine on four cores. For that matter, Windows XP will work just fine on four cores.

I have two Server 2003 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition boxes (at work) using 4 x Dual-Core XeonMPs with Hyper-Threading...8 cores with Hyper-Threading = 16 threads!

Whether or not you choose 32- or 64-bit really depends on what you're planning on running on the machine. My next server upgrade at home is certainly going to see me move from 32-bit to 64-bit.

Mostly 32-bit software. Since the move to 64-bit is very slow.

Yeah, but what type of software (image/video editing, programming, games, etc)? Since you inquired about Server 2003 I assumed this was for a server setup. Most good server software has either already been ported to 64-bit or the 32-bit versions run just fine. There are a few weird things with some applications though (don't get me started on SQL2005 x64).

No its just what I'm running now. I feel comfortable with it.

Maybe I'll switch to XP SP3 if it looks more stable.

Socket F is for dual sockets. More specifically the AMD 4x4 setups. I have the ASUS L1N64-SLI board running 2 Barcelona chips and I love it. While it's true that most software/games doesn't support dual core very well, let alone 4 or more, Windows can and does take advantage of 8 cores. Recent titles and those that are coming out will provide better support.

The price of the dual socket boards aren't any more expensive than other top of line boards.