Dual core CPUs

[loic2003]

So, at work here, I'm thinking of getting some dual core machines for the investment boys. These guys are running bloomberg, excel (loads of spreadsheets with streaming data), some old 16-bit trade application, amongst the usual junk like word, outlook and the like. Each machine has sophos with real-time scanning on the go.

They've had issues witht he 16bit app hogging resources, so I wasw thinking of instead of going to the 2.8GHz P4 with HT HP machines, that a dual core CPU might be worth it since they are running several apps simultaneously.

But are they using enough processing power for it to be justified?

I know this kind of isn't the right forum, but I believe there are dragons and other bizzare creatures of the night in the other ones.

Also, what's with these pentium 820 series? How do they compare to the AMDs?

ta.

 

[cdmccool]

"But are they using enough processing power for it to be justified?"

I think they are but I'm not an expert. I notice how much quicker and snappier my 820 feels even doing the simplest of multitasking like browsing the internet, running adaware, and listening to music. It is very nice and there is no "lag" when switching between programs.*Edit*Wanted to add, this is comparing it to my other computer with an Athlon 64 3200+.

Now I'm not sure why but I've heard the 820 isn't so good. People have said to stay away from it because Intel screwed up the early dual core releases. I didn't have much choice since this is the only dual core cpu offered in Dell's E510(what I'm using) and I am very happy with it.

 

[LittleNemoNES]

a 3800+ will do them nicely.

The 820 are nice and cheap but need heavy OCing to be any good.

 

[loic2003]

so, they're using P4 2.8GHz with HT CPUs now, would an 820 be a significant improvement?

 

[GrammatonJP]

I'm using dual xeon 3.2 ... stuff thats 3 years old now...

basically bloomberg is a memory hog, if you guys use launch pad, better get 2-4 gb memory..

excel is single threaded.. so dual core/proc will not help.. what helps the 2nd core running other apps when your excel is busy

I used to use sophos, its not bad.. but it has problem with larger files.. times out and stuff.. did you install sophos server yourself or someone else did ? i know the new sophos em engine conflicts with bloomberg ports.. so you need to change the range of that..

that kinda trade application do you use.. something like ez castle ?

 

[GrammatonJP]

Originally posted by: loic2003
so, they're using P4 2.8GHz with HT CPUs now, would an 820 be a significant improvement?

I had my back office using p4 2.8 ht, it runs okay but our custome java apps will kill it.. it'll run some of the larger excel sheets but slower..

btw are you using RTD or just the BB dde servers ? Upgrading to RTD is much faster, except those guys at bb doesn't support RTD ver well..

 

[LittleNemoNES]

an OCed 3800+ is prob the best bet.

 

[evilsaint]

Originally posted by: gersson
an OCed 3800+ is prob the best bet.

For a production enviro, I don't know how acceptable OC'ing would be, due to the possible stability issues. The guys might like the extra speed, but probably wouldn't like the "Machine Check Exception" BSODS...

 

[HardWarrior]

Originally posted by: loic2003
So, at work here, I'm thinking of getting some dual core machines for the investment boys. These guys are running bloomberg, excel (loads of spreadsheets with streaming data), some old 16-bit trade application, amongst the usual junk like word, outlook and the like. Each machine has sophos with real-time scanning on the go.

They've had issues witht he 16bit app hogging resources, so I wasw thinking of instead of going to the 2.8GHz P4 with HT HP machines, that a dual core CPU might be worth it since they are running several apps simultaneously.

But are they using enough processing power for it to be justified?

I know this kind of isn't the right forum, but I believe there are dragons and other bizzare creatures of the night in the other ones.

Also, what's with these pentium 820 series? How do they compare to the AMDs?

ta.

For workstation-class machines I would stay away from any sort of OCing. Machines like that are all about uptime and stability, you don't want to have to baby them. As far as dual-core, usless your users are running multiple real-time apps, I would only consider dual-core if you're migrating out old machines and\or can get DC boxes on the cheap.

 

[bluemax]

I agree, overclocking is not an option.

What *I* recommend is either the new Intel 920 or 930 processor if you're budget-concious (if you need to save the $100 difference) vs. the AMD X2 3800+. Said Intel processor is near equal in performance (in everything that matters, ie. NOT games!) to the 3800+ and is much cheaper. Downside is finding a motherboard that'll accept such a new processor.

If your old motherboards are using standard DDR memory (vs. newer DDR2) then the AMD 3800+ is starting to look like the better choice because you can reuse the old memory with no penalty, wheras the Intel 930 is hungry for fast DDR2.

The AMD 3800+ can also save costs with a much simpler, cheaper motherboard that will do just as good as an Intel board costing twice as much.

Why dual-core? If they're running several apps at once, they WILL see adifference. 2GB of RAM on each machine is a must, though... someone said one of your main apps is a hog - that's a big issue. $100 per gigabyte of RAM is cheap if it gets more work done for your employees (it'll pay for itself in a week or two!)



Wow... I pretty much solved my own dilemma solving yours! I'm leaning the AMD 3800+ route as well!

 

[GrammatonJP]

What trading apps are you using, obviously you're using more than one ? redi, bridge, arca, etc ? you may need a faster processor and gigabit ethernet to deliver the feeds. If you're strictly bloomberg, you may be fine. If most apps are also java based, you definitely need to do a base line test, memory is also important..

if you can afford bloomberg's rip off monthly charge, you can afford a better pc..