hi,
at work we use dual core athlon64 machines for workstations (up to 4 gb of ram). opteron clusters (dual core or dual dual core) are used for scientific calculations - and contain much more memory (last ordered computers should have up to 64gb, iirc). in our experience, using one single/dualcore opteron with 'small amount' of memory (up to 4gb) for a desktop is a waste of money - opteron based machines tend to be more expensive. even with athlons / non-ecc memory we don't have problems - and we stress even our worsktations quite a bit. of course, opteron + tyan board + ecc memory + other high quality components can be better, but it isn't worth the money if you really don't need it.What has your experiences of either/both been?
regards, -- Lubos _@_" http://www.lubos.vrbka.net