Server hardware sure aint cheap!

ck wrote:

i think one problem is, assuming these are mainly for 2k7, how many players will be able to play the game in the month/months after its releasel; i'm guessing a small percentage. players are as important as the server hardware.

I'm not sure it entirely matters, as we wont be removing 2k4 any time soon, if ever. We have too many contributors that enjoy it

Well you could consider waiting for the Intel Conroe's. They are turning out to be seriously powerful, my goodness gracious me, has anybody seen that preview where the 2.66 ghz Conroe completely thrashes a FX60 overclocked to 2.8ghz?
Also, on another forum, some guy managed to test the 2.4ghz conroe and got 21 secs on the 1M super PI test (my XP2200+ got 1min and 1sec lol).
Not only this, but it seems they will be very reasonably priced (around $320 for the 2.4 and around $530 for the 2.66). Compare this to that server-class Opteron...

This is what's on my radar along with a pair of dual core opteron 285s

64 bit processing? 4 CPUs? A Jedi craves not these things....

Mac_Knife wrote:

Well you could consider waiting for the Intel Conroe's.

<soapbox>

Sorry, Intel and me have been having a parting of ways going on about 8 years due to grossly overpriced hardware.

Via chipsets and I are also on the outs, however they seem to be coming around.

Lastly, ASUS burned me on a mobo & $400 video card (both made by ASUS) that wouldn't play together, and they wouldn't give me any support.

</soapbox>

lost a bumpity Master Druid has. Hmmm. How embarrasing.

Agree with Dru on Intel--haven't had an Intel machine at home for 10 years as it's too slow for gaming usage and got burned on 2 bad motherboard/processor combos-next door neighbor had a 2.0 P4 and matched it against my old AMD XP 1800+ and got bummed out since my XP machine just ran over his Intel in all catagories. He switched to an AMD 3200+ shortly afterward and is happy as a clam. I don't know much about heavy usage servers like we need for DC, but I'm running a family server using an AMD 64 939 pin 3500+ overclocked to 4200+ with a DFI Lanparty nf4 MB, 1GB ram, 300GB Seagate sata hd, Nvidia 6800 GT 256MB video, and Audigy 2 ZS 7:1 sound--all cased in a Li Lian full tower. Monitor is a Mitisubishi Diamond 21" crt.

BTW Dru, that picture sure is purty..................

While i own an AMD myself and have always supported AMD since the Athlons, i will kid you not by saying Intel has pretty much confirmed their spot on the performance throne when the Conroe comes. That comparison of the 2.6 vs the fx60, the conroe was installed on a motherboard that didnt really support it, using a bios that also didnt quite support it (they had to manually set the bios to the right settings for the conroe) as well as the fact that intel have not yet finished ironing out bugs withing the cpu and optimized it to full potential and yet it still whacked the overclocked fx60 in every performance test by atleast 10%, including gaming (which AMD have been known to kill intel in) even though the conroe itself was not overclocked and left at stock speeds.

Ok, ok, so i must sound like an intel sales rep or something, but i think you shouldnt just ignore intel (or anything else) absolutely because you have had past bad experiences with them.
It happened when ATI released their 9xxx serious of gpus. Many people only trusted nVidia because they all had geforce 2-4s, so they stuck with nvidia and got an fx series card which were inferior to ATIs 9xxx cards (my friend got a fx5700, and for the same price i got a 9600xt, and my card performs a good 20% faster atleast).

Ok, im done with my nerdy rant...

Mac_Knife wrote:

Ok, ok, so i must sound like an intel sales rep or something, but i think you shouldnt just ignore intel (or anything else) absolutely because you have had past bad experiences with them.

On the contrary, I have a current bad experience with them. I can't afford their hardware.

Unless I'm mistaken, the Conroe looks to be a single core desktop proc. I'm trying to build a 4 processor box using 2 multicore procs.

It's like comparing a dual core Xeon to a Dual core Opteron... I simply cant afford the additional $200-400 per proc... And then to pay more for 64 bit....

Mac_Knife wrote:

It happened when ATI released their 9xxx serious of gpus. Many people only trusted nVidia because they all had geforce 2-4s, so they stuck with nvidia and got an fx series card which were inferior to ATIs 9xxx cards (my friend got a fx5700, and for the same price i got a 9600xt, and my card performs a good 20% faster atleast).

<soapbox>

I'm a big fan of Nvidia, and not so much of ATI. As soon as ATI gets behind some serious linux drivers, I'll put them back on the consideration list. Until then....

</soapbox>

Yes i absolutely agree that intel's lineup of current Xeon CPUs are grossly overpriced for how well they perform, i will not argue. But like i said before, dont let this deter you from the Conroe since intel are being smarter with it since they have been having their butt handed to them by AMD lately. As for dual-core, im almost certain the conroes will be dual-core as well as single (afterall, dual-core is rapidly becoming the norm). Ive also heard that there will be a quad-core one as well.
Anyway, if you are not waiting around for future technology, then by all means go for dual-core Opterons. My networking teacher has said that Opterons simply flat-out kill Xeons as server CPUs on a performance-to-price ratio.
Whatever you do Dru, ill still play on DC

.

It seems only natural that the next project in the works would be better than the current stuff on the shelves. Intel is going to be releasing a better CPU. And soon after, AMD will be releasing a better CPU. If you play the waiting game just to see what is around the corner you will never buy anything because the next improvement is always on the radar.

If I were buying a CPU anytime soon I would go with whats already available and proven instead of delaying my plans to hopefully go with whatever is "due out soon" so to speak.

I like to go with the current leader until they are officially de-throned. No point getting all worked up about Conroe until it is available to the consumer and proven to be better.

Well Druid mentioned that their current hardware is handling fine, and he also mentioned UT2007, so i got the impression that he is getting a new server some time down the track, and since the conroe is, well, down the track, i thought i would bring it up. If he said he is getting a new server now or very soon, i must have missed it.

How far down the track is Conroe?

I think UT2007 is most likely this fall.

Intel said they are aiming to release Conroe sometime in the thrid quarter of this year. Ive heard UT2007 is, as you say somewhere around fall of this year.