I cant find much info around at the moment on the advantages of going for a core 2 quad over a quad core xeon...

I am currently looking at putting togeather a quad core PC but can not decide between the xeon and the core 2 quad. They both appear to run 2 x 4mb L2 cache, but apart from clock speeds is there any advantages getting a core2 over a zeon?

Quote from: BrodiemanI cant find much info around at the moment on the advantages of going for a core 2 quad over a quad core xeon...

I am currently looking at putting togeather a quad core PC but can not decide between the xeon and the core 2 quad. They both appear to run 2 x 4mb L2 cache, but apart from clock speeds is there any advantages getting a core2 over a zeon?

Motherboards that support core2 are far cheaper than the Xeons. The cpus side by side I do not know.

Cheers
Tongy

After having a discussio about this the other day with a mate, he says the Quads arent worth the extra cost.  The only reason to get one is for the Geek Kudos, and he owns one!

Thanks for the info guys.

Thought it might be down to the mobo...

I know the quads are quite expensive... but with system out now like the Solar Quattro (from Evesham) the Core 2 Quad is starting to look like a reasonable option.

The main reason I want a quad core is for virtualisation, I will be running VMWare (oh and Virtual PC 2007 for the microsoft technet Longhorn server demos) so is would be nice to be able to still have some performance than the normal slowness with my current AMD 64.

Right time to do some searching for better deals

There is the Xeon 3210 or 3220.
These are cheaper than the core duo quad  chips  due the lower clock speeds.
You also do not need a massively expensive mobo to run them as they are just the same as a core duo quad but manufactured to higher standards for server applications(better silicon).

We got a totr dual core and a totr quad core in at work from a company who dont list prices (used for 3d cad work). No noticable difference even though the quad had 4gb of ram. Nice to play with but theyve decided to stick with the duals for now.

I heard somewhere that the quad prices are gonna bomb after summer, dont quote me on that tho.

Yep prices will drop significantly.
Mainly due to the competition of the new AMD offerings.If the reports i have heard are true then the AMD v Intel wars will be back on.
The new AMD chips (server versions first) will be released in the next month or so & the work station chips later in the year.The whisper is that the new AMD chips(Barcelona ) is significantly faster than the Intel offerings @ the same speed.
We will see.

Quote from: sdpI heard somewhere that the quad prices are gonna bomb after summer, dont quote me on that tho.

well it appears from leaks that the 2.5 Barcelona(server) Quad core spanks the x6800 alive, and the Agena 1.9 someone showed could be clocked over 3.2Ghz on air.  These are very similar CPUs using the same technology.  Im making an assumption that the next gen AMD cores are both very fast, and they are going to be very cheap for the performance they give.  If the indicators are correct then im glad i got a 690 Series chipset, itll be a BIOS update at most to support the new CPUs.

I just bought my 1st intel system since my 486dx2... :/

Quote from: bigsteveYep prices will drop significantly.
Mainly due to the competition of the new AMD offerings.If the reports i have heard are true then the AMD v Intel wars will be back on.
The new AMD chips (server versions first) will be released in the next month or so & the work station chips later in the year.The whisper is that the new AMD chips(Barcelona ) is significantly faster than the Intel offerings @ the same speed.
We will see.

For your attention steve.

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2007/05/10/amd_shows_off_barcelona_and_r600/1
http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/31977/118/

Yes the rumour is that intel will drop the price by about 3/4 in Q3 of the year becuase of barcelona.  To quote something I said a while back.  Do intel know something we dont?

Quote from: CypherYes the rumour is that intel will drop the price by about 3/4 in Q3 of the year becuase of barcelona.  To quote something I said a while back.  Do intel know something we dont?

im guessing they have been fed enough info to make them worry a little.  the K10 series are late, but it appears they may be worth it.  AMD should be delivering the 32nm chips not far behind Intel, surprisingly quick considering the tech and development involved.  

Itll be nice to have an even performance level again, at least itll stop the some of the Fanboys from gloating.  Im happy with my AMD 6000+, itll do me for now.  Ive liked AMD for years, and used them in most of my own rigs since the K2-600 era.  The reason i didnt opt for Intel this time round was the AMD price cuts gave me the price/performance level i was looking for.  

Well as you say, AMD has been a good performer for the money for a good while now.  You shouldnt compare 2 models to pick the best brand, you should be look at the same price then compare the processors.

Its pretty much how AMD has stayed somewhat competitve with the equivelant core 2s pretty much doing every task better.

hope the k10 does turn out nicely as ive put off my computer upgrade for ages just to see what amd can bring to the table  

http://www.hkepc.com/bbs/news.php?tid=789466&starttime=0&endtime=0

Q6600 droppin to $266 apparently.