Intel vs AMD servers. Which processor is best for a web hosting server?If you go to any dedicated server provider, you will see server offers for both AMD and Intel processor based servers. So which one is better for your website or web hosting company? This question is hard to answer because it is dependent on a lot of variables; but I will try my best to give a decisive answer.AMD and Intel have always been in close competition over the last decade. Whenever Intel was winning, AMD would catch up and overtake Intel. After awhile Intel would catch back up with AMD and overtake them. A competitive market at it’s finest! Anyway, back in 2002-2006 if you would have asked me which I thought was better, I would have said AMD. However, since Intel released its Core2 based processors, I will have to go with Intel for the time being. That is for now…it’s only a matter of time before AMD releases its next generation processor to take back its claim.Over the years I have purchased dozens of servers in all kinds of configurations – dual core AMD, single core AMD, dual core dual proc AMD, single core Intel, dual core Intel, etc. Even though I give raw server processing ability and power to Intel, AMD still has some advantages.AMD: better Low – Medium end servers – Best bang for the buckIf you have outgrown your shared web hosting plan or your VPS plan, it is time to upgrade to a dedicated server. The only problem is that there is a big price jump between VPS and a dedicated server. For that reason, I suggest that you start out on a Single Processor AMD server. The price for AMD based equipment tends to be lower which in turn lowers the monthly cost of the server. A comparable low end Intel machine usually costs $30-50/m more than your low end AMD server. AMD also has advantages on certain process types. For instance, AMD can run Java based applications better than the comparable Intel server.
Intel – High End Servers – Raw Power houseOut of all the high end web hosting servers that I have purchased, my dual proc dual core Xeon servers have always outperformed my high end AMD Opteron servers. When it comes to raw power and data/number crunching, Intel takes the cake. Compared to Opteron processors, Xeon processors have a much larger processor cache. This higher CPU bandwidth allows the machine to process more at a quicker rate than the comparable AMD. For this reason, Intel can run MySQL, Email, PHP, and other services faster than the AMD. Since these services are usually the center of most hosting businesses, I think Intel makes the better web hosting server. I also think that Intel servers are slightly more reliable than AMD because the other hardware in the server is usually perfected for Intel based processors. AMD is a smaller company so other hardware vendors spend more work and effort perfecting their hardware for Intel based machines.
