tyan tiger i7501

[bvds at bvds.geneva.edu]

>we are considering to get an 8node dual cluster.
>obvious option is AthlonMP/760MPX.
>alternative is Xeon/7500 or now 7501.

I am considering the exact same systems.  (8 nodes).

A third possibility is to wait for 2-3 months and go
with the AMD Opteron.  In any case, I believe the Xeon's are 
over-priced and I expect a fairer price in another
month or two, as they will have to compete with the 
Opteron.

The biggest difference between the 760MPX and the 
S2723GNN is the memory bandwidth:  It is roughly twice
as large for the Xeon system (see http://qcdhome.fnal.gov/qcdstream/).  
IMHO, SSE2 vs. Athlon is a lesser issue.

I am also going to try channel bonding (with two channels)
for the Gbit Ethernet.  The second channel will be done
with a D-Link DGE 550-T card.

Brett van de Sande

Geneva College
3200 College Ave.
Beaver Falls, PA 15010