i7 versus xeon?

[bluesherpa]

Which would be better for an ESXi server in terms of cost and value? An i7 920 or xeon 3360? Does Intel Virtualization (VT) provide much of a performance boost with ESXi?

[RParker]

Both Xeon and i7 refer to families of CPUs, not individual CPU types, so it's a bit difficult to compare "Xeon" to "i7" in general. Also "efficient" can mean many things, like "cost-efficient" (EUR/performance) or "energy-efficient" (W/performance).

Does Intel Virtualization (VT) provide much of a performance boost with ESXi?

Doesn't offer ANY boost, it's required for 64-bit Guest VM's

[bluesherpa]

Good to know about 64bit Guest VMs.

I understand what you mean about the difficulty in comparing one family of CPUs with another, but did listing specific processors help? ie. i7 920 versus Xeon 3360 Given that those specific processors are similar in price, which one would be your preference for ESXi?

Side note, in case it helps anyone... I was originally under the impression that only Xeon had VT support, but I found a page that says the i7 920 also has VT support. The page lists all VT enabled processors: http://ark.intel.com/VTList.aspx

[mcowger]

I would almost always prefer the Xeon over the i7 for a virtualization load - the Xeons are server class CPUs, and generally have MUCH more L1/L2 cache.

That being said, the i7 is Nehalem based, which is a solid 10-15% performance bump.

The i7 DOES have VT.

I'd say your choice would depend on workload - if you plan on running a just a few (2 ish) multi-vCPU workloads, I'd go for the i7. If you plan to run more single vCPU workloads (5 ish), I'd go Xeon.

--Matt

VCP, vExpert, Unix Geek

[bluesherpa]

Cool - that helps a lot. I'll plan for Xeon as my upgrade path then. Thanks! =)