[MUD-Dev] processors

[diablo at best.com]

I hope this isn't the wrong forum to ask this question. If it is, I
apologize.

Achaea has recently run into processor-overload. We run a PII300 and now
we are going to have to upgrade at least to a PII450. The other option we
are considering is a Xeon-based machine. I am not a techie, but from what
I understand, the Xeon chip is likely to be faster for a mud, as it
doesn't fool around with all the MMX and other graphical bs on the Pentium
line. However, I cannot find any benchmarks comparing the two in terms of
pure processing powr. The Pentiums are always rated using graphical
applications and the Xeons are not. 

So, I'm wondering if any of you know how much faster a Xeon is in terms of
pure processing power than a PII450. I know it has a much larger cache,
etc, but other than that, i'm clueless. The Xeon is a lot more expensive,
and if it doesn't give a significant advantage, it's not worth it.

Thanks for any help you can provide.
--matt