Multicore technology pays off for IBM with its 326m server. Cramming as many dual-core Advanced Micro Devices Opteron processors into the smallest space possible, the eServer 326m provides enormous amounts of CPU muscle.

With its two AMD 285 64-bit CPUs, it has captured the flag for the fastest server we've tested in a 1U form factor. In addition, the server is quite serviceable, and the fastest twin (nonmulticore) system of any height or displacement we've come across.

One quick caveat: This eServer model requires quite a bit of tweaking if used for a graphics application. It took some time to find the right combination of drivers to make the 326m server do reasonable graphics for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10, Red Hat Enterprise 4.0 and Windows 2003 Enterprise Server, run individually or as members of a VMware installation.

The 32MB of dynamic RAM (DRAM) is a weakness - we had to use the proprietary (non-GPL and non-open source) ATI drivers for X.org on Linux or suffer graphics problems. This was the only thing we could find anemic on an otherwise stellar system.

MULTICORE SERVER ESERVER E326M IBM

4.63

Price: Starts at $1,829; $3,222 as tested. Pros: Blazes in performance for a 1U; cluster ready PCIe 8x bus. Cons: Weird video glitches, pedestrian enclosure. The breakdown Performance 40% 5 Scoring Key: 5: Exceptional 4: Very good 3: Average 2: Below average 1: Subpar or not available Features 25% 4.5 Manageability 20% 4.5 Serviceability 15% 4 TOTAL SCORE 4.63

Click to see: NetResults: eSever e326m