9900k vs TR2990WX

[Mishotaki]

Hi,

 

we need to build a computer as a server to host a program that its database doesn't use multiple cores, another company that uses the same program has reported that using a 8700k machine made it very fast.

we are looking into building a computer to do the same thing, but we are looking to upgrade the database in the future to something that can be multi-threaded.

Therefore the small hit in single core performance of the 9900K wouldn't be that bad.... but now that ZombieLoad has been discovered and that the performance of all intel processors will have to take a hit, would the single thread performance of the Threadripper 2990WX be equivalent, while having the many core could be beneficial to run other programs at the same time?

 

off course, we would run them both with server boards with the max ECC memory they support 128GB and raid 10 enterprise SSDs in 4U rackmount chassis, with a cheapo video card.

 

the price difference doesn't really matter to us, the licenses required to run the final setup will cost more than the hardware anyway... if it can make work life of 50 users that uses it better, it's worth going TR instead of Intel.

 

thanks for your opinions.

[LukeSavenije]

zombieload saga wasn't that big of a hit on coffee lake (r)

 

and 9900k doesn't have ecc support...

[Mishotaki]

so Threadripper would be the best choice for single thread speed with ECC?

[Princess Luna]

As stated above, the Zombieland issues are more for Kaby Lake and previous generations, so a Coffee Lake processor is more on the secure side, also on the regards of Intel only their XEON line up has ECC Memory support.

 

From what I understand you have great use for single thread performance and low per core latency, so the TR 2990WX is not what you're looking for.

 

If an i7 8700K is sufficient to make the workload feel snappy and all the i9 9900K will be better at it in every way but considering we're SO close to Zen 2 release and that might actually bring an even better CPU solution to the table for your need I really believe that waiting a month is worth it.

[LukeSavenije]

2 minutes ago, Mishotaki said:

so Threadripper would be the best choice for single thread speed with ECC?

on single... no

 

but with 50 users i can't imagine it being single threaded

[Princess Luna]

2 minutes ago, Mishotaki said:

so Threadripper would be the best choice for single thread speed with ECC?

Somewhat if ECC is a must and you don't want to pay the overprice for a XEON, but then you should be aiming at the TR 2950X instead of the TR 2990WX as it has much superior single thread performance and can run even ECC memory on a higher frequency to reduce latency.

[Electronics Wizardy]

10 minutes ago, Mishotaki said:

so Threadripper would be the best choice for single thread speed with ECC?

or xeon e or xeon scaleable

 

Id get a premade server from dell or others, easier to setup and manager than diy. 

[Mishotaki]

6 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

or xeon e or xeon scaleable

 

Id get a premade server from dell or others, easier to setup and manager than diy. 

we've been quoted a Lenovo system with dual Xeon 4214, but as our program's perceived speed is mostly coming from the database seeking the data, our current system is being perceived as very slow because of it...

 

we're also considering getting it to upgrade our server and spruce it up (it's a budget transfer that give us what we would need)

[Mishotaki]

40 minutes ago, Princess Luna said:

Somewhat if ECC is a must and you don't want to pay the overprice for a XEON, but then you should be aiming at the TR 2950X instead of the TR 2990WX as it has much superior single thread performance and can run even ECC memory on a higher frequency to reduce latency.

it seems i wasn't looking properly when i was looking up my components, thanks for the tip on the TR2950X, i'll be updating my build for that

 

also, the motherboard i choose on the Intel system was for a Xeon E(why do they have the same socket, but can't use those features?) because i searched for the socket and ECC memory support...

 

building a computer at work is so much harder than at home, the multitasking that i do doesn't allow me to focus enough on compatibility.

 

thanks a bunch guys!

[Electronics Wizardy]

42 minutes ago, Mishotaki said:

we've been quoted a Lenovo system with dual Xeon 4214, but as our program's perceived speed is mostly coming from the database seeking the data, our current system is being perceived as very slow because of it...

 

we're also considering getting it to upgrade our server and spruce it up (it's a budget transfer that give us what we would need)

what server do you have now?

 

why the 4214? Id get something higher clocked like a 4215 or a 5217.

 

how much ram do you need? Id go single socket if you can, or run the vm on a single socket so you don't have the numa latency.

 

19 minutes ago, Mishotaki said:

it seems i wasn't looking properly when i was looking up my components, thanks for the tip on the TR2950X, i'll be updating my build for that

 

also, the motherboard i choose on the Intel system was for a Xeon E(why do they have the same socket, but can't use those features?) because i searched for the socket and ECC memory support...

 

building a computer at work is so much harder than at home, the multitasking that i do doesn't allow me to focus enough on compatibility.

 

thanks a bunch guys!

You need different boards for xeon e and desktop parts. And its unbuffered ecc only aswell.

 

For a server, id stay away from diy, get a premade server, and a high clocked xeon or epyc chip. The desktop boards are missing a lot of nice server features and support.

[Mishotaki]

32 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

what server do you have now?

 

why the 4214? Id get something higher clocked like a 4215 or a 5217.

 

how much ram do you need? Id go single socket if you can, or run the vm on a single socket so you don't have the numa latency.

 

You need different boards for xeon e and desktop parts. And its unbuffered ecc only aswell.

 

For a server, id stay away from diy, get a premade server, and a high clocked xeon or epyc chip. The desktop boards are missing a lot of nice server features and support.

we're rocking a HPE ProLiant DL360e Gen8 with xeon E5-2440

 

the uses for the single core system and the server are different, also if there is any problem with the built system, we can get parts and repair it fairly quickly and we have a solid backup solution, it would be a part of our infrastructure, far from a vital component for our network, while a real server would take that task.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, Mishotaki said:

we're rocking a HPE ProLiant DL360e Gen8 with xeon E5-2440

 

the uses for the single core system and the server are different, also if there is any problem with the built system, we can get parts and repair it fairly quickly and we have a solid backup solution, it would be a part of our infrastructure, far from a vital component for our network, while a real server would take that task.

Normally those servers have very good warranties, so they will get the parts swapped before you could swap it your self.

 

Do you have a vm cluster already? What hypervisor are you running? 

 

Any modern cpu will probalby be 2x as fast as the current cpu, so your gonna see a big upgrade no matter what path you go.

[Mishotaki]

1 minute ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Normally those servers have very good warranties, so they will get the parts swapped before you could swap it your self.

 

Do you have a vm cluster already? What hypervisor are you running? 

 

Any modern cpu will probalby be 2x as fast as the current cpu, so your gonna see a big upgrade no matter what path you go.

we are still rocking a warranty on our HP system, we had a power supply and fan failure last year... thank god for redundant power supplies.

we already have a VM cluster on that server, we're still discussing on how and what we would transfer.

we currently use Hypervisor-V 

 

the "gaming" system option is what's being "recommended" as a system that is being used by another client of our software supplier that has a similar number of users, that's why we're looking at that option.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, Mishotaki said:

we are still rocking a warranty on our HP system, we had a power supply and fan failure last year... thank god for redundant power supplies.

we already have a VM cluster on that server, we're still discussing on how and what we would transfer.

we currently use Hypervisor-V 

 

the "gaming" system option is what's being "recommended" as a system that is being used by another client of our software supplier that has a similar number of users, that's why we're looking at that option.

Id personally get something like a dell r340 instead of the i9 system. Its the same chip, just with ecc, and the other server features, but the i9 will be a bit faster due to the higher clock

 

You get a better value with gaming systems, the server systems have better support for windows server and management.

 

 

[Mishotaki]

10 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Id personally get something like a dell r340 instead of the i9 system. Its the same chip, just with ecc, and the other server features, but the i9 will be a bit faster due to the higher clock

 

You get a better value with gaming systems, the server systems have better support for windows server and management.

 

 

at the point of getting that Dell system, we might as well just upgrade our quoted system with the quickest processor for the SR550 that we've been quoted...

we're meeting our consultants tomorrow, i've sent them a build sheet of the 9900k and TR2950X systems, they were very interested in the options that it would bring to us. we'll see what comes from that.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, Mishotaki said:

at the point of getting that Dell system, we might as well just upgrade our quoted system with the quickest processor for the SR550 that we've been quoted...

we're meeting our consultants tomorrow, i've sent them a build sheet of the 9900k and TR2950X systems, they were very interested in the options that it would bring to us. we'll see what comes from that.

the r340 or lenovo equ has a high clock speed and single threaded performance that the dual socket systems, so it will probalby be faster here, and cheaper.

[Stefan Payne]

3 hours ago, Mishotaki said:

 Threadripper 2990WX

only on Linux

But it has ECC Support and other stuff.

 

The sad thing is that it might get replaced or extended by the upcoming Threadripper based on 7nm CPU Dies.

Might want to wait until Computex next Week.

 

As said, i9-9900K doesn't support ECC but Ryzen CPUs do, with certain Motherboards (proven good on some ASUS Boards, IIRC also Asrock).

 

But again, there will be a better replacement available soon (tm).

[Mishotaki]

1 hour ago, Stefan Payne said:

only on Linux

But it has ECC Support and other stuff.

 

The sad thing is that it might get replaced or extended by the upcoming Threadripper based on 7nm CPU Dies.

Might want to wait until Computex next Week.

 

As said, i9-9900K doesn't support ECC but Ryzen CPUs do, with certain Motherboards (proven good on some ASUS Boards, IIRC also Asrock).

 

But again, there will be a better replacement available soon (tm).

as i'm located in Canada and it's a business purchase with a budget, I don't think we would be able to get one of the 3rd generation before we lose the allotment.