[Beowulf] Intel quad core nodes?

[Barnet Wagman]

I'm moving towards setting up a small cluster (my first), and am 
thinking about using Intel quad core processors.  However, I'm a little 
concerned about memory contention.  I'm (tentatively) going to have one 
processor per node (this appears to be the cheapest way to go), but I 
still wonder whether four cores will choke Intel's memory architecture.  
(AMD's Barcelona may be better in this regard, but it doesn't seem to be 
available yet, at least not through retail channels).

I'd like to hear any opinions on this issue.  And if you've used quad 
core processors, I'd certainly like to hear about your experiences 
(including which processor you've used).

thanks


PS I couldn't find any discussion of Intel's quad core processors in the 
archive, but if I missed one, please point me to it.