Itanium Processors

[ToiletDuck]

Are they any good for hosting game servers? I know they are 64bit but can they host games as a dedicated server? I see two 700mhz Itanium 4mb processors on ebay and that would make a badass file sharing computer for when at home if they can handle the appliactions. I don't know what you can and can't run or do on those chips. I want to build a server that I can use as a file server at home for me and my roomates and then take to lans to host games. Can Itaniums do that?
Duck

[Neo Neko]

Itanium theoretically would be more than adequate for what you want to do. Theoretically. The problem is getting the software for it. Unless the sources are avalible for it or the makers of the software oddly enough support it you are SOL. You could get Linux on there rather easy. I even believe there is a version of Windows for it. Linux would probably be the best choice since most application sources are avalible for it you could make your own versions even if the software's creators do not support Itanium. Not so with Windows. There is a reason they nicked it the "Itanic" after all.

Perhaps as 64bit cpu become common place in home application PC you will see more support for it. It will make a better toy, curiosity, or web server than a game server right now. That is unless you wanna run Quake, Quake World, or Quake 2.

[chemmajik]

The problem is a measly 1.4Ghz Opteron 64bit processor can run all your past software, just think how fast it runs it at 2Ghz soon... $300 for a single, x 2 at 2Ghz sweet... once Nforce3 gets to rev2... or a dual ddr radeon ati chipset I hear is brewing(maybe intel thou) comes out... Rememeber a single Opteron is almost equive to 2 cpu's, and imagine owning a dual Opteron with scsi...

[Mewsic]

Originally posted by chemmajik
Rememeber a single Opteron is almost equive to 2 cpu's, and imagine owning a dual Opteron with scsi...

How is a single Opteron almost equivalent to two 32-bit cpu's? You would have to compare them both using 32-bit software, and then the Opteron wouldn't be able to utilize it's 64-bit technology... but I could be wrong, eh. Oh, and I'm running a 15,000 rpm SCSI IBM, and truthfully it isn't that much faster at all than a regular 7,200 rpm HDD. SCSI only flies with such things as video editing, which most people don't do. SCSI is expensive (disk and the adapter), loud and runs hot, so don't get it unless you know what you're doing, I already made that mistake.