GnuCash Hardware renewal: call for input

[Derek Atkins]

"Tom Browder" <tom.browder at gmail.com> writes:

> On Mon, Dec 22, 2008 at 8:04 PM, Derek Atkins <warlord at mit.edu> wrote:
> ...
>> I'm looking at two difference potential boxes and looking
> ...
>> Config 1 ($2974):
>> - 2x Quad-Core Intel(R) Xeon(R) L5420 2.50GHz 1333FSB 12MB Cache (50W)
>>  - Low Voltage
>> - 4x 4GB PC2-5400 667MHz FB-DIMM
>> - 4x 750GB SATA 7200RPM - 3.5" - Seagate Barracuda(R) ES.2
>> Config 2 ($3468):
>> - 2x Quad-Core AMD Opteron™ Model 2378 - 2.4GHz 6MB L3 Cache (75W)
>> - 8x 2GB PC2-5300 667MHz DDR2 ECC Registered
>> - 4x 750GB SATA 7200RPM - 3.5" - Seagate Barracuda(R) ES.2
>>
>> Any suggestions or comments on these configs?  I really don't
>> have a good feel for the differences between the various CPUs,
>> both within a line and between Intel and AMD.  In particular I
>> suspect I'll just be running vmware-server on the base box and
>
> I like the ECC memory for config 2--highly recommended feature.

For some reason this company <http://www.pcsforeveryone.com/> does
not provide ECC memory for the Intel system, and only provides ECC
for the AMD system.

I do like the fact that the AMD system has more expandability, more
RAM slots, etc.  It's certainly cheaper to get 8x2GB than 4x4GB.

One thing I don't really understand is the main difference between
the Intel® Xeon® L5420 2.50GHz and the Intel® Xeon® E5420 2.50GHz.
I.e., other than the "voltage", what's the difference between
the L series and the E series?  Is the performance the same,
just lower power consumption?

> -Tom

-derek

-- 
       Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
       Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board  (SIPB)
       URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/    PP-ASEL-IA     N1NWH
       warlord at MIT.EDU                        PGP key available