Optiplx 380 CPU Upgrade?

EdH · 2016-12-19, 04:06

I have the above computer doing ecm and nfs sieving, as well as some occasional LA runs clustered with two others.

The machine currently has an E7600 Core2 Duo CPU installed. It is populated with its maximum memory of 4GB. Both CPU (FSB) and RAM state they are running at 1066MHz.

Would swapping to a Core2 Quad with FSB 1333MHz gain me much, or are the memory limitations for size and frequency too restrictive to allow much improvement?

Additionally, I'm seeing something about Xeons being modified to take the place of Core2s. Is that something I should examine or stay away from?

Thanks...

henryzz · 2016-12-19, 10:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdH

I have the above computer doing ecm and nfs sieving, as well as some occasional LA runs clustered with two others.

The machine currently has an E7600 Core2 Duo CPU installed. It is populated with its maximum memory of 4GB. Both CPU (FSB) and RAM state they are running at 1066MHz.

Would swapping to a Core2 Quad with FSB 1333MHz gain me much, or are the memory limitations for size and frequency too restrictive to allow much improvement?

Additionally, I'm seeing something about Xeons being modified to take the place of Core2s. Is that something I should examine or stay away from?

Thanks...

I did gain performance with more than two cores on a Q6600 at 2.4GHz. I didn't get much after 3 though. I had the same speed memory although the memory controller was on the motherboard so the memory speed didn't make much difference. I left benchmarks in the benchmark thread which would be worth you looking at I imagine.

EdH · 2016-12-19, 14:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by henryzz

I did gain performance with more than two cores on a Q6600 at 2.4GHz. I didn't get much after 3 though. I had the same speed memory although the memory controller was on the motherboard so the memory speed didn't make much difference. I left benchmarks in the benchmark thread which would be worth you looking at I imagine.

"Benchmark!" That's where I should look for such things... Thanks!

VBCurtis · 2016-12-19, 17:50

Ed-
I'm pretty sure Henry's answer referred to Prime95 performance, while you're mostly looking for integer performance to run NFS and ECM.

Comparing Core2Duo to quad, you'll get full value out of the CPU's extra cores. Memory will go from 533 to 667 (half of FSB as you've listed it), and ECM/NFS scale with cores * ghz. I don't know how LA will scale; I've never experimented with LA on a core2duo.

Prime95 shows different scaling results because it's so efficiently coded it saturates the memory bus on most quad-core CPUs, often while using just 3 of the cores. None of our factoring tasks do so, though LA does benefit from faster memory.

EdH · 2016-12-19, 19:46

Thanks Curtis,

That's more encouraging. Even better, I think I just realized I have a quad core available to try without buying. But, I better check before I get too excited. I have a potentially good AMD CPU in a broken machine, but when I thought maybe I could use it elsewhere I discovered it to be a strange socket which I have nowhere else.

2016-12-19, 04:06	#1
EdH "Ed Hall" Dec 2009 Adirondack Mtns 2³·5·131 Posts	Optiplx 380 CPU Upgrade? I have the above computer doing ecm and nfs sieving, as well as some occasional LA runs clustered with two others. The machine currently has an E7600 Core2 Duo CPU installed. It is populated with its maximum memory of 4GB. Both CPU (FSB) and RAM state they are running at 1066MHz. Would swapping to a Core2 Quad with FSB 1333MHz gain me much, or are the memory limitations for size and frequency too restrictive to allow much improvement? Additionally, I'm seeing something about Xeons being modified to take the place of Core2s. Is that something I should examine or stay away from? Thanks...

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2016-12-19, 17:50	#4
VBCurtis "Curtis" Feb 2005 Riverside, CA 1605₁₆ Posts	Ed- I'm pretty sure Henry's answer referred to Prime95 performance, while you're mostly looking for integer performance to run NFS and ECM. Comparing Core2Duo to quad, you'll get full value out of the CPU's extra cores. Memory will go from 533 to 667 (half of FSB as you've listed it), and ECM/NFS scale with cores * ghz. I don't know how LA will scale; I've never experimented with LA on a core2duo. Prime95 shows different scaling results because it's so efficiently coded it saturates the memory bus on most quad-core CPUs, often while using just 3 of the cores. None of our factoring tasks do so, though LA does benefit from faster memory.

2016-12-19, 19:46	#5
EdH "Ed Hall" Dec 2009 Adirondack Mtns 5240₁₀ Posts	Thanks Curtis, That's more encouraging. Even better, I think I just realized I have a quad core available to try without buying. But, I better check before I get too excited. I have a potentially good AMD CPU in a broken machine, but when I thought maybe I could use it elsewhere I discovered it to be a strange socket which I have nowhere else.