>>You're not getting much of a bump with this server. The CPU is
>>incrementally faster -- in the absolutely best case scenario where your
>>queries are 100% cpu-bound, that's about ~25%-30% faster.
>
>
> What about using Dual Athlon MP instead of a Xeon? Would be much less expensive,
> but have higher performance (I think).
You're not going to be able to get a Dual Athlon MP for the same price
as a single Xeon. A few years back, this was the case because Xeon CPUs
& MBs had a huge premium over Athlon. This is no longer true mainly
because the number of people carrying Athlon MP motherboards has dropped
down drastically. Go to pricewatch.com and do a search for 760MPX -- you
get a mere 8 entries. Not surprisingly because who would not want to
spend a few pennies more for a much superior Dual Opteron? The few
sellers you see now just keep stuff in inventory for people who need
replacement parts for emergencies and are willing to pay up the nose
because it is an emergency.