Another CPU specific question

[rcmpayne]

Hello All,

I have a Dell Poweredge R415 that currently have two Opteron 4386 at TDP 95w each. I think I have overkill cpus and would like to know what I can drop to lower the TDP but still can handle Snort, VPN client and VPN Server.

I was thinking about taking one CPU out, however, from looking at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_Opteron_microprocessors, they have some energy-efficient options.

The Dell can support 4300, 4200, 4100 CPU's (Socket C32) and was curious about your opinions on what I should do here. Keep one 4386 with 95w TDP or lower the CPU to a 35w TDP. From other threads they are saying a higher clock single core would be better but the 4310 Quad core, energy-efficient at 35w TDP is 2.2ghz... Thoughts

ENV:
1G/up 1G/down connection WAN Fiber (Bell Fiber)
32GB RAM
2x AMD Opteron(tm) Processor 4386
CPU ~0-5%
Snort IDS/IPS
pfblockNG with GeoIP
PIA Open VPN Client for a few ips in my network
VPN Server (OpenVPN) for my brothers to vpn my network

[stephenw10]

The TDP value only determines how much power the cooling system must be capable of handling. Have you actually measured the power consumption under typical load?
Generally speaking you will see some improvements using lower TDP devices as they are selected to be capable of running at lower voltage. I won't be less by the TDP ratio though, no where near.
I would probably start by just removing one CPU and seeing what that does for you, it's a zero cost option. I doubt you need 16 cores for that.

Steve

[messerchmidt]

Ryzen 3200g does what you need. Using same. New and cheaper

[VAMike]

In a current CPU the TDP is only vaguely related to power consumption, and mostly in that low TDP parts have their max performance throttled to hit a specific max TDP number--at idle they're going to be close to the same. In an old opteron the power management features are much less advanced, and the idle power consumption in a typical "mostly idle" fw configuration is going to be much, much higher than a relatively cheap processor with a more modern core. And not just the CPU--the older chipset, especially for a rackmount server, is going to be much more power hungry than something new. If you're paying california power rates I'd probably just buy a newer box rather than fiddle with the current one. At lower power rates pulling one 4386 and leaving the system alone is the most practical approach, because the break even time for buying anything else will be long.