We need to acquire a server to support a single timekeeping application with up to 25 users. Debating whether to get the
Dell PowerEdge T410 with Intel Xeon E5504, 2.0 Ghz, 4M Cache, 800MHz Max Mem,
or the
Dell PowerEdge T300 with Quad Core Intel Xeon X3323, 2.5GHz, 2x3M Cache, 1333MHz FSB.

Any ideas on how you would compare the two?

the 2nd one for sure.

Well yeah the second CPU is better. Depends on the price difference though.

The second is actually >$100 cheaper - it is in a lower/earlier series of Intel processors. That's why I was wondering...

do you really need so powerful machines for a timekeeping app?
if it is as simple as it sounds then both of these options are over powered.

We are going with Stromberg, which runs on SQL Server and has an IIS piece that makes it incompatible with our existing (and only) server, since that server also runs Exchange and our ERP (MS Dynamics GP) system. The Stromberg techs have strongly recommended one or two stand-alone servers that are used solely for the Stromberg app.

I find the last question interesting and would be interested in any recommendations. We've had an IT company come in and quote a $25,000 server for this app! Because we felt this was way overstated, I've been researching cheaper alternatives. The first server I spec'd, well above Stromberg's stated minimum requirements, was $800. However, the Stromberg tech came back and said we should get at minimum a Xeon processer, which is why I'm looking at the above two options ($1,200 for the first, $1,100 for the second, both running RAID 1)

Minimum specs: Dual Core CPU, 40 Gb disk space, 1 Gb Memory, Windows Server 2003, SQL Server 2000, IIS 5.0

i would go with the Dell PowerEdge T410.
i would take that one because it's based on the i7. if thats a dual socket as well then you will see a good performance margin over the other on.
even thou the the T300 with the X3323 has a higher frequency and more cache, the T410 with the E5504 (i7) has QPI and supports DDR3.
the T300, although with a FSB of 1333 runs on DDR2 with 667 MHz. the T410 runs DDR3 with up to 1333 MHZ. The T410 also supports up to 64Gb of RAM compared to the 24Gb of the T300.