Is my laptops CPU worth upgrading for the virtualization features?

[sornywrx]

I have an Acer laptop running a Pentium T4200 now (2.0GHz, 1MB, 800FSB) and I'm running Vmware so I can run a few Win2K3 servers and a couple of XP clients for a small test lab for MCSE training. I upgraded the memory to 3GB and have a stick coming in the next few days so it'll be 4GB (which is max) and I've also upgraded the HD to a 500GB 7200RPM with 16MB cache. It runs pretty decent but sometimes when I'm running both 2K3 servers plus both XP clients at the same time it really starts to bog down but I'm not surprised.

I researched it a little and I believe that the Intel C2D T8300 will work and I've seen some for $70-90 used. It is a 2.4GHz CPU with 3MB cache an 800FSB AND it supports the virtualization technology. I'm sure it'll bench quicker than the 400MHz slower unit with 2MB less cache but will it really be a noticeable difference for someone trying to save a buck? I don't expect the 400MHz to matter much but will the extra L2 help a lot? And will the virtualization feature matter much for a laptop only running 4 VMs?

I'd love to try the T9600 (2.8GHz, 6MB, 1066FSB) but I'm not 100% it'll work (only about 80% on the T8300 anyways, even less about the T9600) and it's over $200 for the CPU alone...

 

[busmaster11]

If you're not running 64 bit windows then replacing a 1gb module with a 2gb module is a complete waste of time as you're probably only going to be able to address a smidge over 3gb anyway.

I think 4 VMs simultaneously on that platform is a ton... You really want 1-2 gb ram allocated a piece... without thin provisioning that would be impossible obviously... It would be a relatively slow CPU but my experience has been that virtualization is much more limited by ram then by cpu. Have you tried Xenserver BTW? I think it does thin provisioning.

 

[sornywrx]

I AM running 64 bit Windows 7 because of the limitation. And I was just about to ask about an alternative to Vmware Server so I'll check out this Xenserver, thanks

 

[sornywrx]

Also I started watching task manager while loading all four VM's and noticed that the CPU utilization never really went very high or at least not constantly but with the 3GB of memory it was definitely tapped and going to VM. An SSD would be a decent help I think along with the 4GB max memory (although I now understand 4GB total isn't going to be ideal for 4 VM's) but I don't want to do an SSD because of cost and I need quite a bit of space.