Recommended CPU for 64-bit build

Hi All,

I’m looking to build a 64-bit Linux workstation and I am investigating hardware, particularly motherboards and CPUs. However, I have been a lil out of touch with the current processor market as the last machine I built was an Athlon64 4000+ (Socket 939) on an MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum with 2GB of PC3200. Clearly a lot has changed since then.

Besides a Toshiba Tecra A8 (1.7 GHz Core Duo I think) which I use strictly for school, I have no newer technology and have no way of comparing performance of newer chips other than reading peoples’ reviews on NewEgg.

I want to be able to do a lot of virtualization with various Linux distros, FreeBSD, and Windows (Server) with several (3+) VMs running simultaneously in addition to gaming and some multimedia (audio editing, music production) stuff. I plan on expanding on this system as my needs grow.

I have this complete lust for raw power, so a higher end Intel quad core or dual Xeon setup looks attractive but this is a want not a need and I could blow my $$ on something I don’t need or isn’t compatible with SUSE, or Linux in general. So, are there any recommendations or suggestions as to what type of CPU I should be investigating?

TIA.

Petrus

AnandTech: your source for hardware analysis and news
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i7 has top performance, but expensive.

The new quad Phenom II have good numbers, with increased cache, though exact price/performance and availability comparisons are variable, as Intel/AMD make moves against each others’ product lines.

Core 2 is still using the FSB, and running lots of VM’s simultaneously is likely to be memory intensive, if your VM’s are busy the FSB bandwidth might be a bottleneck.

You shouldn’t have too many issues on compatability, even on i7, Intel Electronic Design ppl use Linux heavily so necesary info finds it’s way into the kernel.

Looking up reviews on sites like anandtech would indeed probably be the best way to find out.
Top nodge performance is found at intel atm, but if you got a little less to spend both companies make fine CPU’s.

As money was an issue, I probably would go for a quality AM2+ board and Phenom II right now for doing lots of virtualisation.
Next year, the i7 is going to get a new socket, that’s aimed at mainstream market and should bring costs down considerably.

x86-64 - AMD & Intel 64 Differences Wikipedia

Has some info, you might be interested in.

Excellent. Thank you for your feedback, it is most appreciated.

It looks like I have some fun research ahead of me! :slight_smile:

However, I must ask…just how powerful are these multicore CPUs today - both the i7 and Phenom II series? In other words, have these desktop CPUs progessed enough that going for a mid-to low end Opteron/Xeon chip(s) isn’t worth it?

Mine:

OpenSUSE 11.1

It just works! Samba needed an ‘inotify’ tweak though, because of bizarre freezing. Thought the problem was KDE so, I went back to Gnome. All in all, I’m much happier with OpenSUSE than I ever was with Ubuntu and intend to use it as my primary distro for my faster machines.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ - ADO5000IAA5DO (65watt)

Biostar A780G-M2+ SE AMD 780G Socket AM2+

  • gigabit on board lan (RTL 8111C)
  • Max Memory Capacity 8GB
  • ATI Radeon HD 3200 (Max Shared Vid Mem 512MB)
  • DVI + VGA
  • 6 Serial ATA
  • RAID 0 / 1 / 1+0 support
  • ALC662 5.1 audio
  • PCI Express x16 slot x1
  • PCI Express x1 slot x1
  • PCI slot x2

Mobo + CPU came in under $100. Already had a full tower case, PSU, RAM and hard drives to complete the initial build.

Though I haven’t really looked into it closely, the mobo’s bios has a setting for virtualization support. Biostar’s documentation pretty much sucks in regard to this. X2 5000+ processors support ‘AMD Vitualization’ technology in-chip.

AMD Athlon64 X2 5000+ Socket AM2 AMD Virtulization Technology
AMD Athlon64 FX-62 / X2 5000+ PCSTATS Review - AMD Virtulization Technology

5 SATA drives - 4 (2x2) are configured RAID 1 (800GB total). 1 stand alone 1TB SATA. Awaiting another 1TB drive to create third RAID 1 set. Setting up Linux RAID in Yast was a breeze.

Set up initially as a workstation to easily get all of my hardware working, drives configured, and files moved/reorganized. Using it primarily as my personal file server (running init 3) but, I also want to use it for some virtualization and LTSP. Slowly adding network services as time allows. NoMachine NX setup was a breeze. Though I may use it as a LAMP dev box on my lan, it really won’t be accessed publically for now as I have another box for that.

Runs like a scalded dog.>:) Looking forward to adding more/faster RAM and bigger PSU soon.