CPU choices: 2 x E5160 (dual 3.0Ghz) or 2 x E5310 (quad 1.6Ghz) ?

X

xminer

Guest
Anyone out there have an opinion as to which proc set up is going to give better performance? I used a mix between OpenVZ and KVM and use a mix of VM's that get access to single core and up, 2, 4, etc... I'd say my usage is mixed. So generic virtualization with no specific kinds of loads. Everything from virtual webhosting to minecraft servers.

All 3 nodes have 16GB RAM and are identical. I have the option of using 2 X E5160 (dual core 3Ghz) or 2 x E5310 (quad 1.6Ghz) in them.

My opinion is that in virtualized environments more cores is almost always going to be more desirable as virtualization is a multi threaded endeavor. More cores available leads to less CPU contention and therefore (making some assumptions) a system with 8 cores will in general be more desirable than one with 4 cores even if at half the speed.

Most opinions I see in general point towards the 1.6 quad IF workload is multi threaded. I'd think a single VM would be better off with 2 x 1.6Ghz CPUs rather than just 1 3Ghz CPU assuming the work load is partially multi threaded. I would also assume the node is better off being able to balance the total demand over 8 cores in whatever combination they are being used by the VM's rather than only 4... But I am not aware how the CPU time scheduling happens at the lower levels. I am making an assumption that more availability and less contention is more valuable than sheer speed. Am I right?

Total Ghz speed is about the same... Any opinions, even if anecdotal?

Also, can anyone recommend a good CPU benchmark tool or method that works well in Proxmox/Debian. Interested in ease of use and not having to do too much more work to validate the results. Cheers!

-xminer
 

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