Barnet Wagman wrote:
I'm moving towards setting up a small cluster (my first), and am
thinking about using Intel quad core processors. However, I'm a little
concerned about memory contention. I'm (tentatively) going to have one
processor per node (this appears to be the cheapest way to go), but I
still wonder whether four cores will choke Intel's memory architecture.
(AMD's Barcelona may be better in this regard, but it doesn't seem to be
available yet, at least not through retail channels).
I'd like to hear any opinions on this issue. And if you've used quad
core processors, I'd certainly like to hear about your experiences
(including which processor you've used).
Most of the benchmarks consider speed, some consider speed/Watt, but
none I have seen consider speed/monetary cost. The reason is partly that
the component cost is a highly variable parameter and not always easy to
obtain.
But while configuring a cluster remember that you can get a better
deal (=speed/cost for your application) by choosing cheaper CPUs in
larger quantities.
Dan
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