Equipment Upgrade Needed. Details plus auction inside

[Rob]

To go with what Paul has suggested in regards to auctioning off another unit, if we do the CF-19 auction to bring the funds up for the better server then MY contribution will be 2 extra hard drives on TOP of the 8 we are already getting (10 total) getting us to 5.4TB of RAW storage ($360 worth) giving us 1.2TB worth of extra storage off the get go with 6 extra expansion bays.

The thing that's hard is this: Once we have the config all set, it's hard to just add hard drives into the array for more storage. I'm shooting for the sky here

[Gear6]

that's a different beast (x3650 M3 version) - it should have twice the memory bandwidth (DDR3, 1333Mhz, QPI - new architecture), six-core CPUs,
and more importantly, should lower you power bill (32nm, Integrated power gates: Allows reduction to idling cores at near-zero power)

it will cost more, initially, but on the long run, it will scale very easily (12 core/ 24 threads, 288GB max RAM, 16TB in 16x 2.5" bays, etc), and it's a current CPU/chipset generation.

Okay. Bringing this back up.

I need some serious thoughts here guys:

I can get the following for $2395 shipped

M3 server version
up to 16 HDD's. (Comes with 8 so we can definitely expand in the future) - Appears to be biggest advantage!

IBM SYSTEM X3650 M3 SELLER REFURBISHED SERVER
2 X INTEL XEON QUAD CORE L5520 2.26GHZ 8MB L3 CACHE PROCESSORS (HOW DOES THIS COMPARE TO THE 3 GHZ E5450 CPU's on the $1750 server??? The cache appears to be WAY less... Also the E5450 CPU was a MUCH higher priced CPU on the initial release according to Intel ARK) (Also, for an extra $100 I can get the 2.8GHz CPU's too (X5560) ($2495))

Okay, here's a cold comparison between the 3 CPU's (M2/ Core2 Quad, M3/ Nehalem 1 & 2):
http://ark.intel.com/compare/37109,40201,33083

I always recommend getting the most recent hardware generation you can afford, especially for long-term use and future expandability and performance.

1st) The old x3650 is a DDR2 system and memory prices will only go up, as opposed to DDR3 which has been dropping steadily over the years (that is, until DDR4 becomes mainstream). Also, the new one is triple-channel.

2nd) the M3 has the new Nehalem-EP architecture, which integrates the memory controller into the CPU die, that being one of the reasons the CPU cache is smaller.
I think that drop in L3 size should more than compensated for by the faster access to memory (Quickpath), and ~double the bandwidth.

3rd) the new CPU's have 4 cores and HT, giving a total of 8 threads per socket, compared to just 4 on the E5450.
Even more, both have Turbo Boost, L5520 from 2.25Ghz to 2.53Ghz, and X5560 from 2.8Ghz to 3.2Ghz, and when idle would consume very little power. (I don't know what's the KWh/$ ratio there, but it won't hurt to pay less - it's a 24/7 server, after all.

I need some input here as this is going WAY above ($645 or $745 MORE) what we originally were seeking and I don't play the bait and switch game!!! You can thank gear6 for putting this in my head LOL!!! I'm fine EITHER WAY and would be content with the original plan on the $1750 server. I've just learned that more hard drives in the future are a good thing .

you're welcome
bottom line, the M2 is probably the most you can get from a Core2 Quad (Harpertown) architecture, and a good choice, but if you/we can upgrade to the M3, go for it, as it's the best choice on the long run.

PS. Oh, that $100 premium for the X5560 sounds very tempting, as you can see from the comparison, the X5560 was more than double the initial price than the L5520.

Oh, last but not least, thanks to all that have donated $/parts for this upgrade, hat's off to you all, especially Ador !
My early donation when this thread started seems rather puny now. If we decide to go for the M3, I'll make another

[toughasnails]

My early donation when this thread started seems rather puny now. If we decide to go for the M3, I'll make another

Hey Gear6, there is no such thing as "puny"...every bit counts at the end of the day. We give what we can and we thank every one who has donated cash and parts.

Something I was thinking about was maybe start a new topic here viewforum.php?f=15 "For Sale Donated Toughbook Parts" . We all have Toughbook or GoBooks stuff that we have laying around that we don't use or need or just can't be bothered putting on ebay. So why not donate them to TBT, we list the items here and when we sell them we just donate the funds towards the upgrade.

[Rob]

Why do you keep saying core2duo?? We're talking about Xeon server CPUs here dude... Lol

[Gear6]

It's simple Rob, Xeon 5450, having the code name Harpertown, it's the server dual-socket version, based on Yorkfield architecture for Core 2 Quad and corresponding Xeons.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpertown ... Harpertown

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yorkfield_(microprocessor)

my bad for writing Core2Duo, instead of Core2Quad (I'll fix my post).
I chose that for the comparison w/ Nehalem (instead of Harpertown) because it's more widely known.

P.S. The first quad core Xeons (3000 series), were relabeled identical Core 2 Quad, and could be swapped between each other.

[Rob]

I understand. I didn't realize that it was built on core2quaf architecture... Seems rather odd considering that those c2d/c2q CPUs were $300 - $400 when those xeons are $1000...... Something has to be missing in the c2q CPUs.....

[ADOR]

P.S. The first quad core Xeons (3000 series), were relabeled identical Core 2 Quad, and could be swapped between each other.

That real interesting to know for a low budget gaming machine, lol.

[ADOR]

I understand. I didn't realize that it was built on core2quaf architecture... Seems rather odd considering that those c2d/c2q CPUs were $300 - $400 when those xeons are $1000...... Something has to be missing in the c2q CPUs.....

That doesn't really surprise me though. On nivida cards there is a software mod to make a gaming card a quadro card. It's all software.

[Rob]

Okay guys.

Serious matter here.

I have all the money needed cleared in the account to put this on the debit card. Am I proceeding with the order for this new $1750 server or are we waiting it out for a better one?

Thanks!

[SHEEPMAN!]

I'm writing up an auction for a CF-74 MK4 if the consensus is to keep this going. Let me know.

Probably have it done by noon Pacific.

Jeff