The gang at Anandtech has published their tests looking at the new Opteron Socket-F processors and the new Xeon processors from Intel as well.
Some might wonder if a different – read Intel – motherboard for the Woodcrest system could have significantly altered the outcome of these tests. We do not think so. Although the Intel motherboards do tend to show slightly lower power consumption, it is not a significant difference. All things considered, the Opterons are holding their own and doing very well for an architecture which is 3.5 years old. Only companies that are routinely running their servers near capacity are likely to truly benefit from an upgrade at this point in time.