Q6600 vs. Q6700

[philjayj]

Hi everyone. Hopefully you can give me some advice. I want to build a server which runs a number of virtual machines using VMware server. I have just noticed a very good deal overclockers are doing on an Intel Q6600. Could this do the job alongside 8GB of DDR2 RAM or would you recommend spending the extra cash on a Q6700?

Many thanks

Phil

 

[Bengaboy]

Its not worth the extra cash mate. Save it and buy some ice cream

 

[easyrider]

not worth the extra cash

 

[philjayj]

Thanks for the advice guys. Much appreciated.

 

[blackninja]

I use virtual server and routinely have 3 VPC servers in action at once whilst developing ... the biggest difference I noticed in overall performance was when I installed the 3 disk raid array .. If I had 8GB I could certainly use more ... so I would say to favour memory and increased disk I/O speed before faster cores.

 

[Corasik]

If your not overclocking, the 6700 is 10% faster than the 6600, but its 40% more expensive. So the 6600 is better bang for the buck. But then again its only £40 difference, thats 1 night at the pub. So its really up to you if its worth it.

Lots of ram, and a good disk system is certainly a good idea, Raptors are ideal as their low access time makes them very good at dealing with multiple access from the different virtual servers. Alternativly giving each virtual server its own drive can be a way to go as well. If you want data redundancy a hardware raid 5 controller with an XOR processor will make everything run very nicely.

 

[philjayj]

Corasik, thanks for your reply. I've ordered the Q6600 after reading the last couple of replies. Although I've never oc'd, I'd definitely consider it.

I have 8GB of DDR2 RAM for this machine - I was maybe thinking of allocating 1GB to each of the four VMs. What do you think?

Also, I am going to allocate each VM its own 36GB Raptor.