Post Procesing on Multi-Core CPU's

[dbaldock]

I've got a server case that will hold ~12 drives, and I'm working on assembling a Photo Post Processing / RAID-6 Image Server System in it.

The software I use for converting Nikon RAW NEF files to TIFF files is DxO Labs "DxO Optics Pro 6". The other parts of my processing workflow are done with Bash Shell Scripts running in the Cygwin environment. According to the DxO Labs web site - "During the processing step, DxO Optics Pro starts one process per image, and therefore can utilize more memory of a 64-bit system, if available. DxO OPtics Pro allows you to process as many images in parallel as can be support by the system configuration. That means that a 8-core system such as the i7 CPU can process 8 images at the same time. Note that it is highly recommended to have at least 1GB of system RAM installed for each core available on your computer in order to get maximum processing capability from your system."

I've been using AMD systems since the 90's, and now the new "Bulldozer" core AMD processors are available.

The consumer chip is called "Zambezi", which is available in 4, 6, & 8-cores, up to 3.6GHz, with 125W Max Power Dissipation. It fits the AM3+ Socket, has L2=8MB / L3=8MB cache, and supports dual-channel DDR3-1866 memory.

The server chip is called "Interlagos", which is available in 8, 12, & 16-cores, up to 3.0GHz, with 115W Max Power Dissipation. It fits the G34 Socket, has up to L2=16MB / L3=16MB cache, and supports four-channels of DDR3-1333 memory.

Currently, the FX-8150 (Zambezi) 8-core, 3.6GHz is $270, and the 6212 (Interlagos) 8-core, 2.6GHz is $280 - both prices from Newegg.com.

The Motherboards and the 32GB of Registered ECC Memory would cost about the same. The main difference in the Motherboards is that the Consumer (AM3+ Socket) model has USB-3 on it, but no Onboard Video - and the Server (G34 Socket) model has only USB-2, but does have basic Onboard Video (Matrox G200). It would be a bit cheaper to add a USB-3 card to the Server MB (as long as the Onboard Video is adequate), than to add a Video Card to the Consumer MB. The same RAID-6 card / Hard Drive configuration would be used on either system.

So if I'm not planning to run Web or Application Servers, I'm wondering which setup would work best for doing Photo Post Processing and managing a large RAID Array?

1) FX-8150, 3.6GHz, 8-Core, L2=8MB / L3=8MB Cache, Dual-Channel Memory interface

OR

2) 6212, 2.6GHz, 8-Core, L2=16MB / L3=16MB Cache, Four-Channel Memory interface


Take Care,
David Baldock

[Kalrog]

I believe you would get better performance out of the higher clock speed of the consumer core than you would out of the increased cache of the server chip. In addition, you will be much better off getting a separate video card so it isn't stealing your system memory.

But with all of that... RAID 6? Do you just have to be different? Why that over RAID 5 if you need the space or RAID 10 if you want the performance/redundancy?