Two or Four CPU cores?

Yesterday I said that the future of desktop computing lies in dual-core systems. On the workstation front, it’s essentially a given that a dual processor system makes the most sense. 3D content creation, CAD/CAE, digital photography, and scientific computing applications are almost all engineered for multiprocessor support. The question of course is whether it’s better to go with two or four cores.

The answer ends up being far easier than you’d think. The right answer for the vast majority of people, even those who have won the lottery, will be the Opteron 252’s. Although dual-core CPUs will be the right choice in the long-run, the clockspeed of today’s single core CPUs are almost 20% faster than the fastest dual core CPU. This means that unless you are using an in-house developed application that is trivially parallel, or are working with large amounts of digital photography RAW processing, the Opteron 252 is not only a better value than the 275 in terms of the price/performance ratio, but also provides better absolute real-world performance. So instead of buying a pair of 275’s at $1350 each, get a pair of 252’s at $870 each, leaving almost $1k for your other components… you’ll need that $1k later. As a side note, this recommendation to go with single core CPUs over dual core CPUs does not hold in the desktop arena since the pricing pattern is different.

2x AMD Opteron 252
2x $870
http://www.amd.com
Running Total: $1740

CPU Cooling

Socket 940 and Socket 939 coolers are virtually identical and so we’ll still use the Zalman CNPS7000B as our CPU cooler. There really isn’t a better cooler when it comes to balancing weight, cooling performance, noise, looks, and price. While an OEM builder may opt to go with a more traditional cooler from ThermalTake, AVC, or the like to save a few dollars here and there, for an enthusiast system builder, the CNPS7000B is a virtual no-brainer. The upcoming 9000 series from Zalman should be interesting, but we’re not confident that we would actually change our recommendation. Unless you’re going with radiator-based water-cooling, or are dealing with a 1U rackmount platform, we have no reason to recommend anything other than the Zalman CNPS-7000B. I have 5 of them running my systems, all purchased at retail.

Zalman CNPS7000B-AlCu
2x $40
http://www.zalmanusa.com/
Running Total: $1820

Arctic Silver 5

If there’s one item from these system builds that we recommend to each and every system builder, it’s the Arctic Silver 5 thermal grease. It’s easy to work with, it’s cheap in the long-run, and today’s large heatspreaders makes the concern about the possible conductivity and capacitance a non-issue.

Arctic Silver 5 – 3.5 g (enough for ~15 large CPU cores)
$10
http://www.arcticsilver.com/

Running Total: $1830