Intel Xeon 5300 Clovertown Benchmarks!

[Michael]

On November 2, 2006 the embargo for Intel's Core 2 Extreme Quad QX6700 was lifted which resulted in a slurry of reviews covering this flagship desktop processor. However, this morning happens to be an important date for Supercomputing 2006 and it serves as yet another milestone for Intel Corporation. This morning Intel will be introducing the Xeon 5300 series, or perhaps better known by its codename of Clovertown. At Phoronix we have had these processors in-house for over a week now and today are able to share our thoughts on these quad-core server/workstation processors as we test them under GNU/Linux...http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=7860

Interested in seeing other benchmarks or information? Just ask! There are additional Xeon 5300 focused articles in the works for the near future.

[MU_Engineer]

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=7860

Interested in seeing other benchmarks or information? Just ask! There are additional Xeon 5300 focused articles in the works for the near future.

Hmm, I was kind of expecting a little better showing from the 5330. Two 5330s usually got trounced by a pair of 5150s or even one 5150, so do you think that the lower clock speed or something else was the problem?

[Michael]

It is likely due to the difference in clock frequency. I'm working on getting more Xeon 5300 parts so I'll be able to confirm more then. Where have you see the E5330 numbers?

[MU_Engineer]

It is likely due to the difference in clock frequency. I'm working on getting more Xeon 5300 parts so I'll be able to confirm more then. Where have you see the E5330 numbers?

That was a mis-type, I meant 5320 :D

[Rob Williams]

Thanks for the in-depth look Michael, the 5300 really seems to have a lot to offer. The price scares me though, if it's anything like the Kentsfield when it finally hits the stores. The QX6700 retails for $1,499 at NewEgg, so I am interested to see if the Xeon will be any better.

[Michael]

Thanks for the in-depth look Michael, the 5300 really seems to have a lot to offer. The price scares me though, if it's anything like the Kentsfield when it finally hits the stores. The QX6700 retails for $1,499 at NewEgg, so I am interested to see if the Xeon will be any better.

Prices range from about $450 to $1200 per processor. The slowest Xeon processor at 1.6GHz will set you back only ~ $450 USD.

[Cronos]

What is your policy about overclocking of Xeon Server boards? :)

If anybody care about Clovertown OC, visit the
http://forums.2cpu.com/showthread.php?t=77937 thread at 2cpu.com

[Michael]

What is your policy about overclocking of Xeon Server boards? :)

If anybody care about Clovertown OC, visit the
http://forums.2cpu.com/showthread.php?t=77937 thread at 2cpu.com

Sounds like fun, may have to try it out :D

[jowa]

Thanks for the nice review, Michael!

I've noticed how the Phoronix reviews use the latest and greatest version of Fedora Core at a given point in time. For this review, FC6 is the latest. This is quite understandable given the time it takes for the Linux kernel to support new hardware.

Here's my dilemma - at work, I get to suggest hardware purchases, hardware that is later to be used with Linux. The machines are either servers or workstation and both require the use of more "stable" distributions/releases - in other words RHEL 4 U4 or CentOS 4.4 instead of Fedora Core, or Ubuntu 6.06 LTS instead of the newer 6.10, Debian stable instead of testing and so on.

You get the picture - many a time you buy a new piece of hardware and find out that distribution X doesn't support it, since this-or-that particular driver wasn't backported or supported at a particular point in time.

I'd love to see the Phoronix reviews have compatibility tests with these "older"/enterprise-oriented/mature distributions. It could be something as simple as sticking the install CD of distribution X into the machine and see if it could start and even complete an installation.

Me, I'm not too bothered with lack of support for whatever sound chip is on the motherboards, but I/O, including ethernet support, is crucial.

Case in point - I'm trying to figure out if a 5000P or 5000X chipset motherboard, perhaps even the particular Tyan motherboard in this review, would work with any of the "enterprise class" distributions of today.

Regards

[Michael]

jowa,

Thank you for your comments and we will definitely evaluate your suggestion.

In regards to the i5000X, if I recall correctly, I have used Dapper Drake without any problems. I don't think I had tried out an i5000P on Dapper Drake or any other enterprise distributions.

[jowa]

In regards to the i5000X, if I recall correctly, I have used Dapper Drake without any problems. I don't think I had tried out an i5000P on Dapper Drake or any other enterprise distributions.That's good to know. Thanks!

[buckyball]

For these multi-core processors, I'd be interested in benchmarks that exercise the system while doing more than one thing at a time.

Synthetic benchmarks are all well and good, but how does the system do when trying to *really* multitask? Consider a server (which is where the Xeon is really targeted IMHO), how does it look when getting concurrent loads (from a network, not the local machine) on Apache, MySQL, and PHP?

I know there are tools for artificially loading servers ('siege' is an http tool that comes to mind), but I do not know if there is a benchmark "suite" that makes the process of setting up and running the tests manageable.

Also of note is the fact that the 2.6 kernel has tuning parameters for a lot things that can really affect overall system performance. Perhaps running the tests with kernels configured for "desktop" and "server" tuning sets would be interesting. (Please note, I am not a kernel hacker.)

Kernel parameters that I think could be considered include:

- Processor Family (e.g. - *not* using a generic selection)
- Max number of CPU's
- SMT and Multi-core (CPU) schedulers
- I/O schedulers (Anticipatory, Deadline, CFQ)
- Preemption Model (No Forced (Server), Voluntary (Desktop), Preemptible (Low-Latency Desktop))
- Preempt the Big Kernel Lock (Desktop)
- High Memory Support (select "4GB" for between 1 & 4GB RAM!)
- Allocate 3rd-level pagetables from highmem
- MTRR support (not selecting this will cause graphics support to *really* suck.)
- Enable kernel IRQ balancing
- Use register arguments
- Timer frequency (lower for servers, higher for desktops)
- Choice of on-disk filesystems (ext2, ext3, reiserfs, xfs, etc.)

Oh, and don't forget all of the kernel "patchsets" out there that further tweak the kernel.

Thanks for listening.

[Cronos]

Sounds like fun, may have to try it out :D

Any success?

According to Intel,
E5320 Core Voltage is 1.5V http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SL9MV

If this is really true, it may indicate that Intel uses lowest-quality parts for E5310 and E5320. Definitely not recommended for overclocking.

Can you please verify this with your E5320? Either in BIOS,
or under Windows cpu-z 1.37, rmclock, CrystallCPUID. msr under Linux.

I cant find this information anywhere, please help me!

[Michael]

Any success?

According to Intel,
E5320 Core Voltage is 1.5V http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SL9MV

Haven't tried the overclocking yet.

Monitoring it from the BIOS, both E5320 parts are running between 1.136V and 1.208V.

[Cronos]

Haven't tried the overclocking yet.

Monitoring it from the BIOS, both E5320 parts are running between 1.136V and 1.208V.

Thanks for info. Great news!
I hope Intel's Speedstep C1 is not affecting this voltage?

By the way, if you are really interested in overclocking, i will gladly provide any help. You may consider me as the best expert in Woodcrest/Clovertown overclocking area :) (joke, but close).
I invested great deal of efforts in this, though only theoretically for now :(

I can provide you with SMBus read/write tool for Linux and instructions how to use it. One person at 2cpu.com (XeonTux) succesfully used it to overclock his Woodcrest Xeons. I cant find any more testers -they are all hardcore Windows Weenies:)

For 1066FSB CPU, regardless whether you have DDR2 667 or 533, the overclocking may be limited by memory. You will need to make 1333FSB mod first. Several ppl, inlcuding the author of this mod XeonTux, already made this mod -it is really easy and safe.

[Michael]

I'll check again next time I am tinkering with the that Clovertown setup, but EIST should have been disabled so it would be running at its maximum frequency.

The reason for not trying the overclocking yet has been due to only having so much time in a day :) However, if you want to post some additional information in this thread I or someone else working with me will give it a shot.

[Cronos]

I think, the easiest thing is to try software overclocking first.

Under Windows, please download systool utility
http://www.techpowerup.com/systool/
choose PLL ICS932S401 from the list. Try small FSB steps at a time.

Under Linux, please mail me at shaposh@isp.nsc.ru

and i'll send you the utility and instructions to use.


Low voltage and weak memory will most certailny prevent you from having good overclock. For good OC, you will have to
1, Make a Vcore mod and
2. Make a 1333FSB mod.

Both are done through isolating and re-connecting CPU legs, This is easy and does not require any permanent moduifications or soldering.

[smp-freak]

jowa,

Thank you for your comments and we will definitely evaluate your suggestion.

In regards to the i5000X, if I recall correctly, I have used Dapper Drake without any problems. I don't think I had tried out an i5000P on Dapper Drake or any other enterprise distributions.

hey Michael. I had a question on your Tyan Board and the Clovertown Processor support. Was there A BIOS update that needed to be done to support the clovertown processors, or did you just drop them in and there was no problems? If so. would this be the same story for other models of the tempest lineup with a Blackford chipset? Example the Tyan Tempest S5382?

Thanks in advance

Yes it has been a long time since my last visit. Life is Busy

[Michael]

For the Tyan Tempest i5000XT no BIOS update was needed, but the board was specifically intended for the Clovertown series. For the rest of the Tempest series, however, it is different.

[comp freak]

For the Tyan Tempest i5000XT no BIOS update was needed, but the board was specifically intended for the Clovertown series. For the rest of the Tempest series, however, it is different.

Hello all,
how can i overclock clovertown sample pair on tyan tempest 5370?Default mhz is 2.4ghz.Is there a bios which would give me the extra options or do i have do a bsel mod like the old 604 xeons or is there any easier way?
Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks all
comp freak

[Michael]

Natively by the BIOS it doesn't support overclocking. Hopefully smpfreak will be able to comment since I haven't gotten around to trying it out yet for the new Xeons.

[comp freak]

Natively by the BIOS it doesn't support overclocking. Hopefully smpfreak will be able to comment since I haven't gotten around to trying it out yet for the new Xeons.

Hello Michael,
thx for the quick reply.

Does the software overclocking methoad using systool really work or is it just a gimmic?

Thanks and Regards

comp freak

[Michael]

Hello Michael,
thx for the quick reply.

Does the software overclocking methoad using systool really work or is it just a gimmic?

Thanks and Regards

comp freak

Not sure off hand, hopefully smpfreak may know. you may want to PM or email him as well.