Question for IT Folks / Server Admins

[dbaldock]

The new "Bulldozer" core AMD processors are available now.

The consumer chip is called "Zambezi", which is available in 4, 6, & 8-cores, up to 3.6GHz, with 125W Max Power Dissipation. It fits the AM3+ Socket, has L2=8MB / L3=8MB cache, and supports dual-channel DDR3-1866 memory.

The server chip is called "Interlagos", which is available in 8, 12, & 16-cores, up to 3.0GHz, with 115W Max Power Dissipation. It fits the G34 Socket, has up to L2=16MB / L3=16MB cache, and supports four-channels of DDR3-1333 memory.

The Zambezi 8-core, 3.6GHz (FX-8150) is $270, and the Interlagos 8-core, 2.6GHz (6212) is $280.

The Motherboards and the 32GB of Registered ECC Memory would cost about the same. The same RAID-6 card / Hard Drive configuration would be used on either system.

So if I'm not planning to run Web or Application Servers, I'm wondering which setup would work best for doing Photo Post Processing and managing a large RAID Array - the 1 GHz faster cores or double the memory channels/bandwidth (but same Total amount of memory)?


Thanks,
David Baldock

[Merlin the Elder]

What kind of photo post-processing are you doing to worry about that much horsepower, if I may ask?

[dbaldock]

What kind of photo post-processing are you doing to worry about that much horsepower, if I may ask?

I'm trying to make Wizards look handsome...    



Actually, my current Workflow is like this:
1) I run some Bash Shell Scripts in Cygwin to Rename & Renumber the Nikon RAW NEF image files.
2) I run either DxO Labs "DxO Optics Pro" or Nikon "ViewNX 2" to convert the NEF files to TIFF format.
3) I run a Bash Shell Script in Cygwin to Watermark the TIFF files.
4) I run a Bash Shell Script in Cygwin to convert the 70-95MB TIFF files to JPG files that are small enough to upload to my Flickr and Facebook accounts.  This script also copies the EXIF Data from the NEF file to the corresponding JPG files.


I bought an Asus Eee PC 1215B-PU17 Netbook with an AMD Fusion APU E350 1.6GHz Dual-Core CPU for portable support of my Digital Photography.  It works well at being portable, but it isn't real fast.  Running DxO Optics Pro, it took ~40 hours to process the 919 images I shot at TRF on AHE weekend.

My current Desktop PC has an older AMD Opteron 185 2.6GHz Dual-Core CPU in it.  It normally runs OpenSuSE 64-Bit Linux and can be dual-booted into WinXP Pro 32-Bit, but I've never tried running DxO Optics Pro on it.  I'd like to upgrade it to a Zambezi system, but building up the Server is a higher priority right now.

Thanks,
David Baldock

EDIT-1: The Nikon SW I've got is "ViewNX 2", rather than "Capture NX2"
EDIT-2: Desktop PC normally runs OpenSuSE 64-Bit Linux

[Merlin the Elder]

I'm trying to make Wizards look handsome...   

For that, you might want to look at getting a Cray...

[PollyPoPo]

Hee, Hee, Hee, old enough to remember the Cray reference - my first magic box in '95 cost about $3000 and was the baddest thing at the time, youngsters compared it to a Cray back then.  Ah, memories of having top of the line, once upon a time.  Actually built my next one myself.

[dbaldock]

I was afraid I'd start this Thread Off Topic with my quip to Merlin TE --- But I am serious about finding out which combination would work best for a Photo Post Processing and RAID Image Server System?

1)  FX-8150, 3.6GHz, 8-Core, L2=8MB / L3=8MB Cache, Dual-Channel Memory

OR

2) 6212, 2.6GHz, 8-Core, L2=16MB / L3=16MB Cache, Four-Channel Memory


Thanks,
David Baldock

[dbaldock]

Well, after doing some more research, and checking Review & Benchmarking web sites, I've changed my priorities.  I thought the first thing I'd do is assemble a Server in the Chenbro SR10769-BK-H Case I've got, and then later-on upgrade the Motherboard / Processor / Memory in my Silverstone TJ05 Workstation Case.


Instead of going with AMD "Zambezi" or "Interlagos" and building a Server System now, I think I'm going to wait until the Spring and first upgrade my Workstation to an Intel Sandy Bridge system (maybe a 2600K or 2700K, but I'd really prefer the 3930K  ).


While reading the DxO Optics Pro Forums, I noticed that my NEF RAW image file processing software can take advantage of the multi-parallel Stream Processors in the nVidia GTX, Quadro, and Tesla cards.  So I'm looking at getting a GTX 580 video card to speed up the image processing in the upgraded system.