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I have a dedicated web server with a web hosting company and am looking to move to a cheaper (saving about 35%) offering, but am concerned about possible performance issues.

It's running FreeBSD/MySQL/PHP/Apache and as such graphical performance is of no concern. Both current server and proposed new one have 8Gb of RAM. Current server is very lightly loaded.

Existing CPU

Intel Xeon E5-2630L v2 processor, which has six cores and is rated as running at 2.40GHz.

Cheaper option

The new system has a 4 Core processor, Intel E-2124, which runs at 3.3GHz.

I did find a comparison Excel file on the Intel site, but to be honest I don't understand it at all. Will I notice any loss of performance if I swop?

Usama Abdulrehman
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KevInSol
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  • To assist with performance after your move, view profile, Network profile for contact info and free downloadable Utility Scripts to assist with performance tuning. – Wilson Hauck May 16 '20 at 20:05

3 Answers3

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Short answer: the newer CPU, while having less cores, is faster then the previous one.

Long answer: the Xeon E5-2630L v2 is an oldish Ivy Bridge CPU, running at 2.4 GHz base clock and 2.8 GHz turbo clock. The Xeon E-2124 is a Skylake class CPU, with ~30% IPC uplift and much faster clock of 3.3 / 4.3 base/turbo frequencies. These alone are sufficient to make a noticeable difference; add that most php code is single-threaded and you have a very good reason to switch to the newer, cheaper CPU.

shodanshok
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6*2.4=14.4

4*3.3=13.2

So normally you'd recommend the 2630 right, except it's ooooold and the 2124 will not only have IPC improvements but it's also not exposed to meltdown foreshadow exploits.

Chopper3
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    Actually, due do Amdahl law, this is a *good* reason to select the 4c 3.3 GHz CPU even if using the same old uarch of the 6x 2.4 GHz processor. In short, if the "total available GHz" are similar, is always better to select the lower-core, higher-frequency processor (putting aside power consumption for a moment). The key reason is that perfectly scalable workloads are hard to find in the general computer or server applications. – shodanshok May 16 '20 at 12:38
  • I agree completely – Chopper3 May 17 '20 at 14:52
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Adding to the other posts - depending on type of load the new CPU will be about 20℅ faster - IMHO its also a very modestly powered CPU. On non-parellelused workloads it will be significantly faster though.

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/Intel-Xeon-E5-2630L-v2-vs-Intel-Xeon-E-2124/2435vs3432 shows the relative speeds

davidgo
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