I’ve been looking over the offerings from AMD and Intel for energy efficient server processors. Specifically I want the latest generation of Quad-core processors suited for a dual-processor system. AMD offers the Opteron 2346 HE and the 2347 HE. Intel offers the Xeon L5410 and L5420. I decided to compare the offerings on clock speed and pricing.

I was considering recommending a cheap quad-core server for a client. Here’s what I came up with:

• AMD Phenom 9500 (Agena core, 2.2GHz, Socket AM2+, 95W) ~ $200
• ASUS M3A (Socket AM2+, AMD 770, ATI SB600) ~ $100
• 4GB DDR2 1066 (4x1GB) ~ $200
• 2x WD Caviar RE2 500GB ~ $250
• Total (not including Case. PSU, 2nd Nic, Video Card) ~ $750

I suspect once I pick the rest of the parts I can purchase a quad-core system for less than $1000. Pretty nice.