CPU Speed Question Regarding Server Applications

[cwestmac]

Hi guys,

I am currently looking to purchase a server machine for my business from Dell, however I first had a question about CPU speed and its' affect on performance.

We are utilizing our server machines to host game servers such as Counter-Strike: Source, Call of Duty 4, and more for our clients. Our goal in regards to this server hardware purchase is to purchase a server machine that will be able to run as many servers as possible, smoothly of course, and we want to get the most bang-for-our-buck.

We currently have a choice between getting two Quad Core Intel® Xeon® E5450, 2x6MB Cache, 3.0GHz, 1333MHz FSB, or getting two Quad Core Intel® Xeon® E5430, 2x6MB Cache, 2.66GHz, 1333MHz FSB.

The price difference is about $1120 between the two choices. We also are going to be getting 8GB of ram, so we want to make sure that CPU and memory will both cap out at *roughly* the same time.

My main question is, what is the difference between the 2.66GHz CPU and the 3.0GHz CPU that I listed above in relation to how many extra servers I'd be able to run if I would have gone with the 3.0GHz? I'm almost convinced that the 2.66GHz will give us more bang-for-your-buck, but I would like to know roughly how the 3.0GHz and a 2.66GHz processor speeds differ in regards to the sheer amount of applications that can be open at any given time. Please be as detailed as possible -- this is a very important decision for me.

Thank you very much for your help.

[gshv]

The number of servers will depend on the game as well as on the number of players that your server will support. Take for example Counter-strike. This page says that you need from 1.5GB to 2 GB if you want to run one server for up to 32 players:

http://www.cstrike-planet.com/tutorial/1

So, your system will be able to run 4 servers - one server per two cores. If you want to run servers for up to 18 players per server then each server will take up to 1 GB. In this case you will have one server per core, but even in this case you'll be limited by RAM size, and not by CPU. So, in my opinion, if you're not going to add more RAM then you can get slower processor.

Gennadiy