Question : Problem: Single Quad Xeon vs. two Dual Core Xeons

I'm looking to purchase a new server. I can get it with 667Mhz RAM.
My question is which CPU set would be best to go with:
A single Quad Core Intel® Xeon® E5335, 2x4MB Cache, 2.0GHz, 1333MHz FSB
or two Dual Core Intel® Xeon® 5120, 4MB Cache, 1.86GHz, 1066MHz FSB
The price would be about the same. The main difference of course being the FSB speed, but I'm unsure if this makes a difference or not with 667Mhz RAM.
For another $250.00 I could go with two Dual Core Intel® Xeon® 5130, 4MB Cache, 2.00GHz, 1333MHz FSB, which does have the same FSB speed.
Thanks.

Answer : Problem: Single Quad Xeon vs. two Dual Core Xeons

I'd go with the E5335 for these reasons:

->  The higher FSB is still beneficial in moving data on the bus.

->  The 53xx Xeon's are effectively two 51xx Xeon's on the same die ... so there's no real difference in performance;  but there IS, in many cases, lower licensing fees, since it's a single physical chip.

->  The inter-processor communications is less complex on a multi-core CPU than it is between physically distinct CPU's.   This was one of the reasons for the migration to multi-core CPU's in the first place ... and continues to be true for quad-core (& higher) versions.   Essentially, the MESI/MOESI SMP protocols are built into the chip.

Bottom line:  I'd go with the quad-core chip ... even if you compare it to a pair of dual-cores at the same FSB.