AMD vs. intel for Linux KVM machine

[duby229]

Anandtech has done some comparison between AMD and Intel Server CPUs, including virtualization. The results should be roughly transferable to a desktop CPU of the same architecture/clock speed/number of cores.

I definitely have to disagree with you there...

The types of software that is run on a desktop is a lot different then software for servers. I dont run apache on my desktop, but I do run Nexuiz... They arent exactly comparable loads now are they?

[chithanh]

Anandtech has done some comparison between AMD and Intel Server CPUs, including virtualization. The results should be roughly transferable to a desktop CPU of the same architecture/clock speed/number of cores.

[Pepazdepa]

Hi guys.

I'm building a machine to play with Linux KVM. Actually I have 4 options to go:

Intel Core2 - support for: VT-x, VT-d / IOMMU (on Q35/45 chipsets)
Intel Core i7 - support for VT-x, VT-d (chipset), EPT (nested pages)
K8 AMD Athlon64 - support for AMD-V
K10 AMD Phenom II / Athlon II - suport for AMD-V and Nested pages


Second Option Intel Nehalem I expect to be most powerful, but it is too expensive for me. K8 Architecture I think is outdated. So I'm deciding mainly between Core2 and AMD K10.5 architecture, which is VT-d vs. Nested pages decision too.

What is the best option to go? AMD 10.5? Intel Core2? Or Core i7 bcause the advantage si too big? I appreciate every idea. Thanks a lot.

PS: I saw almost every benchmark here on Phoronix, but it usually does not compare main competitors AMD vs. Intel or ATI vs. nVidia. This time, comparison AMD vs. Intel would be useful.