SQL Server Performance Forum – Threads Archive

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I am about to buy a new box and I am trying to decide between two base configurations that are essentially the same price: 1)
HP ProLiant DL380 G5 – 3.00GHz Rack Server – 1P
HP ProLiant DL380 G5 3.00GHz Server
Dual Core IntelÂ® XeonÂ® 5160 (3.00GHz, 1333 FSB) Processor 2)
HP ProLiant DL380 G5 – 2.00GHz Rack Server – 1P
HP ProLiant DL380 G5 2.00GHz Server
Quad-Core IntelÂ® XeonÂ® E5335 (2.00GHz, 1333 FSB) Processor 4 cores might be really nice considering I would still only have to license SQL 2005 for one processor. This is doubly true since this box will be mixed use and will have a small degree of SSRS load. However, I’m still skeptical about 4 cores on one chip and that 3GHz clock speed is calling my name. Anyone have any thoughts or real word compares?

My personal preference is to go with the Quad-Core. But hopefully Joe Chang will respond to this, as he is the expert in this area on this website. —————————–
Brad M. McGehee, SQL Server MVP

it depends on the application
most are not properly tuned for >2 cores,
that is, many apps show decent gain from 1 to 2 (1.7X), moderate gain from 2 to 4 (1.5X), then negligle thereafter so it depends on whether your app was properly designed for a high number of cores
if not, giving up too much frequency is not desired

So, since we are talking about SQL Server here – which is pretty darn good at using SMP, I would think the 4 core might be desirable. Again, this is going to be a mixed use box… I would say 80% straight SQL load via ODBC/OLEDB, 15% SSRS, 5% SSIS. Despite what I’ve said above, I am still leaning toward the 3ghz dual core…

Hmmm…maybe I should consider the Quad Core (E5355) over the Dual Core (5160) Some compares…(although the E5355 in this comparison is the 2.33Ghz and not the 2.0 I am considering)
http://www.intel.com/performance/server/xeon/ppw.htm Good info on the 5300 series…and how it compares to the previous generation Xeon, the 5100 series. ftp://download.intel.com/products/processor/xeon/dc53kprodbrief.pdf …just sharing… RH

the SQL Server engine is capable of getting good SMP scaling
but the SQL code in your app may not
writing SQL blind to the characteristics of how the engine handle each operation does not give any certainty, in fact, for some reason, people usually chose the SQL constructs that results in poor SMP scaling otherwise i would not have mentioned this
be carefully about applying benchmark scaling results and your application
the benchmark was tuned by the best experts in the world,
for that matter, the SQL engine itself was also built to run the benchmark
the same does not apply to your app per what i said in my post on this matter,
i do not think i would drop from dual core 3.0GHz to quad 2.00GHz even though benchmarks show better performance for the quad at the same price
if you want to go quad, spend the extra money for the 2.66

Great. Thanks Joe. This server is not going to have an I/O subsystem commensurate with the quad core 2.66Ghz chip…so no need to spend money on processors I won’t be able to max out. I am going to stick with the dual core 3.0 Ghz. Thanks again. RH

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