Performance differences between Intel, AMD depend on usage

With the strong play AMD is making for the server space with its competitively-priced and strong performing processors, there is quite a bit of confusion in the market as to which one of these processor platforms to choose.

Says Greg Pothitos, product manager at Tarsus Technologies: "The mere fact that HP has shown support for both hardware platforms in its server range, is a good indication that the competition between these `two camps` is strong. But there is no overriding winner yet, since the correct buying decision still depends greatly on what the customer`s intended use will be."

Pothitos says generally both processor architectures are well suited to most environments.

"But stringent testing has shown the AMD platform to be a slightly better performer in the areas of memory latency, memory bandwidth and the number of instructions processed per clock cycle. The Intel platform, on the other hand, takes a small lead in terms of cache size and CPU core frequency, which comparing apples with apples, amounts to a close match in performance on both platforms."

So, what`s the bottom line then? "For the most part, customers will get excellent performance from both platforms, backed with the quality and support that has become synonymous with HP and its channel," Pothitos says.

"Should a customer be looking to squeeze every little drop of performance out of their servers, however, there are a couple of recommendations Tarsus is prepared to make," he continues.

"Since memory performance is the key differentiator on the AMD platform, AMD equipped servers are best suited to the Web-based applications, communications and database disciplines.

"On the other hand, when it comes to raw processing power, Intel is the best choice," Pothitos explains.

"My advice would be for customers to speak to their channel partner about the best choice for them.

"Their partner will have a clear view of the organisation`s current IT environment and be able to analyse exactly what purposes that server will perform in that environment. Not only can they recommend the best processor platform for their needs, but at the same time build the components that server requires into the overall configuration, giving customers the performance and reliability level they require," he concludes.