Re: Processor Upgrade - Some Questions

Tom Baldwin wrote:

I've processed a modest 8750 work units in 6+ years. Now it's time to
upgrade my processor for BOINC. For reasons that are not relevant
here, it's to be a Dell Dimensions; either a 9100 or an XPS Gen 5, the
latter billed as the "ultimate gaming machine" (the only game I play
is SETI). The price difference is �500 (not far off $1000), but if I
compare the two side by side I see little difference:

- Same processor; up to Pentium D 840, 3.2GHz, 2x1MB L2 cache, 800MHz
FSB. The 9100 also boasts "with dual core technology", whatever that
is...
- Same memory; dual channel DDR2-533MHz SDRAM.

Questions:

- Since it's raw power I'm after, am I going to get �500-worth of
difference out of the Gen 5?
- What happened to HT, which I read earlier in this list lets me run
two instances of SETI simultaneously? Will I be able to do this with
either of these?
- What happened to the Pentiums that I have seen approaching 5GHz?
These two have only a modest 3.2GHz??

Thanks for any insights you can offer.


Where have you ever seen a Pentium at 5GHz? 3.8GHz is the highest ever
released to the market.
Dual core means 2 complete processors in one package each with its own
caches, execution unit, decoder etc,etc. A HT cpu is partially 2 cores but
they share some of the internals with each other. So if you get a Pentium-D
you have a real live dual cpu machine. A HT cpu is one cpu that in certain
cases will perform better than 1 cpu but never as good as 2 completely
separate cpu's. If the Pentium-D's are also hyperthreaded then you get 4
logical cpu's and you can run either 2 or 4 copies of seti depending on how
you think they do on a HT processor. (Personally i would run 4 copies on a
HT Pentium-D system. Try it and then run only 2 and see what your overall
throughput is.)

The Pentium-D 840 is the better performer by quite a bit.

Here's another thought: My impression from running both linux and windows
versions is that linux will process more wu's in less time in the long run.
Consider installing Mandrake Linux.
Eric