Intel Xeon 2.0GHz or 2.5Ghz

[jonathan.lees]

Please help, for a new VM server I have to choose between 2 Xeon E5-2683V3 2.0Ghz 14 core or 2 Xeon E5-2680 2.5Ghz 12 core. The E5-2688V3 has 35Mb L3 cache whereas the E5-2680 has 30Mb L3 cache. The E5-2680 is also £150 more expensive in the quote I've been given...

 

thanks!

[Chuckster]

I'd probably opt for the Xeon E5-2680 2.5Ghz 12 core. A difference of 2 cores and 5MB isn't going to be noticeable unless you're doing something very intensive with it, then the L3 cache may help.

 

I have one server with E5-2620 v3 that has 6 cores (12 threads) and 15MB L3 cache. I have 7 VMs running on and it's been doing a sterling job the last 2.5 years.

[3s-gtech]

Those two cores will be four cores total, eight threads when HT is taken into account. So, 48 threads or 56? Depends on how many VMs you plan to host, how much shove you need behind them (be it single core speed or multi-threaded workload). If it's £300 total difference I'd probably stick to the cheaper option, but if you're planning to run the server with every resource used to its limit I'd spec the 2683 v3.

[ollyyllo]

Also remember, you'll need an additional 4 core licenses for the Xeon E5-2683V3 over the Xeon E5-2680 if you intend to run Windows Server 2016. Edited March 16, 2017 by ollyyllo

[jonathan.lees]

Thanks Chuckster, I wasn't sure about the L3 cache, also on the Intel website the rrp of the E5-2680 is less than the E5-2683. Definately going for the E5-2680 2.5Ghz.

[PotNoodleTech]

Less cores, but faster cores are better nowadays due to changes in licencing for both Win Server and SQL.

 

Whilst it's tempting to go for lots and lots of slow cores - your VMs will perform better with less, faster cores too so it's a win-win, you retain good performance, and you spend less on licencing.

 

I would go E5-2680