Why server processors score lower on benchmarks?

[Ronaldy Wijaya]

Hi,

I would like to ask why server processors score lower on benchmarks than some desktop processors? I've seen server with Xeon 5606 sells for tens of thousand of dollars yet the benchmark result is lower than say an i7. Is it a good processor for a database server for a medium sized enterprise?

 

[Kraszmyl]

Depends on what you're talking about when you say it benchmarks lower. A sandybridge ex i7 vs a xeon of the same core and clock rate should be basicly the same performance wise.

That being said the Xeons can do a lot of things the i7 cant. Most of it comes down to multisocket support, ecc ram, and virtualization options.

See the below link for a comparison of an i7 , Xeon single socket, and Xeon Multi socket. The raw performance on all three of these cpus should be basicly the same. But as youll note the features arnt. That's where the prices come from.

http://ark.intel.com/compare/47932,47917,41643