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Which CPU for Virtual Machines and large multiprocessing

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  • Multitasking
  • Virtual Machine
  • CPUs
Last response: in CPUs
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August 29, 2013 4:35:04 AM

Hi,

I currently have a 4 year old i5-750 system that is starting to show its age and also the CPU regularly hits 80+C under light load and Windows refuses to use half my memory for some unknown reason. Anyway I am looking to upgrade.

I am not interested in games performance - I play one game for like 2 hours once a year. But What I am interested in is general multitasking performance as I will be using it for development and running several virtual machines + watching the usual youtube videos at the same time.

I was thinking that the AMD 8350 would be my best bet, coupled with a Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5 motherboard. But given that they're not 8 full cores (or so I've read - perhaps I misinterpreted), I'm wondering if the Intel route might be a better choice??

Do AMD or Intel offer better VM performance or features?

Thanks in advance for your sage input.

More about : cpu virtual machines large multiprocessing

a b à CPUs
August 29, 2013 6:08:46 AM

Hey fwgx, this depends on your budget.

Are you looking for a workstation CPU? Consumer grade CPU? What's your budget?

Regardless however, I'd recommend 16GB+ of RAM, for your VMs.
August 29, 2013 12:58:51 PM

PCDave said:
Hey fwgx, this depends on your budget.

Are you looking for a workstation CPU? Consumer grade CPU? What's your budget?

Regardless however, I'd recommend 16GB+ of RAM, for your VMs.

I want to keep using consumer parts because going Opteron / Xeon gets expensive quickly with needing ECC memory and worse support for things like Crossfire (which I do want to use as I do have two HD 5770s)

I want to get a CPU, mobo, case and perhaps cooling for around £450, give or take. I will take the memory etc from my old system and sell the old parts that are left.

I have 12gb of RAM which will do to start.
a b à CPUs
August 29, 2013 7:10:04 PM

Have you thought about going with the Intel enthusiast socket (LGA 2011)? Similiar to Xeon, but with similar consumer requirements.

Crossfire support should be fine. As for your budget however, I don't think LGA 2011 would fit into that. Your 12gb of RAM should be fine, but make sure its a dual socket configuration.

However, since you are running VM and multitasking, I'd say go with the FX-8350 and the Gigabyte mobo. As if they aren't 8 full cores, yes they are 8 "AMD" cores, but not intel cores. (slight difference, Intel preformance per core is a bit higher, however AMD is still better for multi threaded processes.)

As for which case, I'd recommend something like the Fractal Design Define R4 (Window Version looks Awesome), or the Define Midi R2.

If your on a budget, the Cooler Master N600 is really awesome as well.

!