[gentoo-user] {OT} AMD Barcelona vs. Intel Harpertown (also 10k vs 15k RPM)

[Grant]

I'm trying to decide between an AMD Barcelona or an Intel Harpertown
quad-core CPU for a web/database server.  The Intel would have a 5%
lower clock speed.  I've read that Harpertown outperforms Barcelona
(by 20%?), but that the quad-core implementation isn't as good on the
Harpertown.  It's surprisingly difficult to get comparative benchmarks
on these at similar clock speeds.  Does anyone know which of these
should perform better in a web/database server?  I support AMD on my
non-critical systems, but I need performance for this server.

I'm also trying to decide between a 2.5" 10k HD vs. a 3.5" 15k HD.
I've read that the 15k yields about a 20% I/O performance boost so I
think I'll go for it.  I won't be using RAID at all.

- Grant