Question : Problem: 8-core processing (2x quad-core)

Hi!

I have a client who needs a system with 8-core processing power.

I've looked into this and from what I understand, he would need 2x Xeon Quad-core processors with LGA771 sockets as well as an LGA771 motherboard.

The cheapest prices I got for these items are way over his budget - roughly about 350 EUR for 1x BX80574L5410P (CPU) and roughly about 390 EUR for 1x Intel Server Board S5000VSA (and RAM on top of that).

His budget is 700 (max 800) EUR.

What I'm wondering is where could I source these items cheaper. It doesn't need to be Intel. He would also be happy enough with an 2 AMD processors of equal power and I know that Tyan supposedly make decent LGA771 boards. I don't have much experience personally with AMD CPUs so I'm not really sure what to look for. Any help would be appreciated.

Answer : Problem: 8-core processing (2x quad-core)

The i7 would be an excellent choice IF your client is satisfied with 6GB (I would NOT install more than 3 memory modules since they're unbuffered);  and IF he's willing to just have a single physical CPU (an i7 is NOT an "8-core" processor -- hyperthreading lets you run 8 threads & "looks" like an 8-core system ... but it's still only got 4 processing cores => hypertheading does, however, make task switching much more efficient with the extra register sets; so it will give some performance gains over a non-hyperthreaded quad core CPU).

Do you know what his current CPU is?   It'd be useful to compare the PassMark rating of his current CPU with the Core i7 920's rating (5450).   That would give a much better indication of how much improvement would be likely for the CPU-intensive processing he does.