Too many choices!

[Moe]

Hello Ladies and Gents (oh yeah nerds too http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif )

Well I am building a SMP box that will be running NT & Linux. Frankly, I get jitters thinking about what it could pull on RC5!

Anyway, I have come to you, the experts, for advice on how to deal with the sea of choices for parts!

So Far this is what i've considered so far:

Dual PIII 450 (maybe celeron though)
256MB RAM
Supermicro P6DGU or P6DBU (intel GX or BX)
(BTW this board has integrated Adaptec UW2 Controller)
Quantum Atlas 10k SCSI HD
SGI (Sony) GDM20D21 21" Monitor
A TNT2 Based Video Card
A CD-R

Other that that, I have not been able to decide on the remaining components.

This box is primarily going to be used as a workstation but I may use it as a server.

If anyone has deal with the Supermicro P6DGU or P6DBU i'd be especially interested in your opinions. Does the GX chipset make much of a difference from the tried and true BX?

With all of the choices out there today I am really at a loss!

Any thoughts/ideas/rantings will be happily appreciated!

Moe

[This message has been edited by Moe (edited 07-10-99).]

[smunzli]

if you're not into over clocking go for it.

both boards are the same except for the amount of memory they hold.

the p6dbu has four slots which can hold 1gb reg. and 512 unbuffer

the p6dgu has four slots that hold 2gb reg/unbuffer

i run the p6dbu with 256mb ecc and a p6sbu with 128mb and have never had a problem with either board.

just choose your brand of memory carefully supermicro boards are very picky about what brand you use especially ecc.

[KillerBug]

Um...let me make a sugjestion...

Get the new DUEL PPGA Celeron board from ABIT.

Get 2 UDMA/66 5gb hard drives (with 2, you can get realy fast setups.)

Get either 2 433 celerons and easly go to 500, or get 2 466 celerons, no extra voltage to go to 500, but a high performance server must have some high performance CPUs. 256mb is good, this board alows you to upgrade those DIMM(S) all the way to 768mb. As for the monitor, go for it, make sure the operating systems support that video card at higher resolutions, since that is the point of a big screen. CD-R is good, get a regualar CDROM drive too, no 56x or anything, just a 20x, you can be sure no viruses write to valuable CDs.

[Moe]

Hmmm... Overclocking is not something I usually mess with although I have with varying degrees of success.

The choice of CPUs is my toughest decision right now I know that Celerys are not bad chips at all, and the Price differential on intel chips of comparable performance is simply outrageous (i mean an extra $200 for the PIII500 vs a PIII450??!) not to mention celerons.

The only thing that makes me wonder about the new Abit dual, is will it support the new PIIIs that are probably gonna be PPGA370s which ~may~ release before the end of the year. (ha!)

The next biggest dilema is the case, I'm not really sure what a SMP box should have, 300W?

Thanks Guys.

Moe

[Joel Kleppinger]

I tend to agree with going for the Abit BP6 and a couple of Celerons. Although, from my experiences and from what I hear, I'd suggest either going with retail 366s or retail 466s. The reasoning behind this is that of the three retail 366s I have, all POST at 550 @ 2.2v, and one actually boots/runs Windows and even the rc5 cracking client/winamp simultaneously.. though it does tend to freeze occassionally, but only usually when on the last lap of a track on Need For Speed: High Stakes http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

Anyway, back on the subject: The 400s and 433s I've heard of don't usually get to 550, and even though the 366s don't too often either, with the BP6, you'll pretty much clock them equivalently. The 466s are another matter. Just about all of them make it to 525 MHz, and I hear about a bunch that hit 581. If you got a couple of good ones that could do more, with the BP6, you could finally put them to use.

Just a thought. I too like the BP6 idea: It'll save you several hundred dollars regardless of your choice of CPU. As far as supporting the Socketed P3 coming out sometime (I don't think we really know if it will actually be Socket370), who knows? http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[Moe]

Well, I have decided to go with the more experience folk around here. I'm gonna get the Abit BP6 and DUAL Celerys-466.

I'm gonna invest in some good cooling, and who knows, I might be able to squeeze 581 or more out of these puppies!

Thanks for all of the help, I'll let you know how well it performs in a few weeks.

[KillerBug]

Cool, the bast of luck to you, overclocking is just to easy nowadays not to, 50-75mhz extra for free? Why not? Look at www.pricewatch.com for some good prices on all this stuff.

[a Bill]

If you are truly planning on using the box in performance situations, I'd go with the PIII 450 and the 300w power supply. Celerons do overclock well, but in production work, you can't depend on an overclocked chip to do it's job 24/7. If you only use the box occasionally then the Celerons are fine. Stick with the higher output 300w power supply though.

I thought the GX chipset was for Xeon CPUs, but I may be wrong, it's been a while since I looked.

Good luck with your project, it sounds like fun.

[Moe]

Well, I'm not going to use this box in a professional setting (if I were I wouldn't use celerys or oc for that matter), strictly personal use (which still could mean use as a file or FTP server depending on my projects at the time)

About GX, after a bit of research, GX is not stirctly for Xeons (see above Supermicro on first post). Although, Intel markets it as such on their site.

Again, thanks for all the help, I think we have a winner.