A new rig.. AMD/ATI and MOBO

[zillion]

Hey, I wanted to upgrade my computer and have an Antec Case and a 300 Watt power supply. I'd like to go AMD and also go dual processor. I have been saving up my $$$ and would like to get a mobo and two of the fastest AMD's to drive it... then I need lots of memory. SO:

1. I hear some say I can use Athlon XP but some say for dual I need Athlon MP. MP's best isn't as fast as Xp's best, no? Can I use two XP on a dual mobo?

2. Which mobo can handle two 2ghz AMDs? Abit? Which should I get?

3. What kind/brand of memory should I get? Kingston? I know of Rambus for Pentium, so AMD uses Double DDR?

4. Is there a website where I can get the mobo and processors shipped all assembled for me?


I will probably get ATI's 9700 pro but want to first get the processor/mobo upgrade and enough memory to handle me.

[rangeral]

First off what do you intend to use your pc for, the only time you'll need the dualie is if your going to be doing some heavy rendering with 3d graphics apps or just handling heavy files in general, if your just going to do alot of gaming then you could take that extra money to buy the ram a couple of hard drives in a a raid array for fast blistering game play. You can get a mobo that has onboard raid to achieve this most boards can come with this option nowadays.

[deadkenny]

As for XP vs. MP, the MP's 'officially' handle SMP, the XP's do not. You might 'get away with' dual XP's, in the same sense that people OC their processor. It often works, but it's not 'officially' supported. For that reason you might have a problem finding someone to put together a system for you using dual XP's. There is no such thing as 'dual DDR'. Dual channel memory is a function of the mobo, not the memory. This is true of RDRAM as well.

[AllGamer]

Yup, Officially dual XP are not supported

But!!!.... :p about 99% of the people uses dual XP instead of dual MP

cuz is faster, cheaper and work just as well or maybe better since it's faster :D

If the PC store don't wanna do it for you

Make your own, like we all do :t
2 pretty good mobo for that Dual XP are the ASUS and MSI mobos

Have fun ;)

[Giblet Plus!]

There is no performance difference between the XP and MPs. MPs are unlocked XPs. I'd think that AMD uses their best XPs as MPs, and unlocks them. The only good dual XP/MP chipset (actually probably the only one at all) is the amd 762 chipset.

[ukulele]

I think rangeral's advice is much more practical. With dualies all you'll gain is more debt and more headaches, especially if you don't use the recommended processors in the first place. Awhile back a buddy of mine put together a dual 500 mhz pentuim system about the same time I was building a k62 500. Now which one do you think was faster for games and just about all the software he could afford? If you guessed the k62 you'd be right. I don't think it ever occured to him that his dual system only gained an advantage with software he never owned and didn't need.

[zillion]

Okay, I know how to put stuff together to make it work, however some of the jargon I am lost on..

>> The only good dual XP/MP chipset (actually probably the only one at all) is the amd 762 chipset.

I read Tom's Hardware guide all the time and I confess I am confused on the meaning and purpose of "chipset." What is that?
Front Speed Bus (FSB) also is a bit confusing. I hear about the new 400 FSB but don't quite get it. And a "raid" array? Sorry to sound like "unfrozen caveman lawyer" on Sat Nite live. :)

As for what I intend to do, yes, I'd like to do heavy gaming, but mainly for work and hobbies, I'd like to edit lots of video, and I want COOL EDIT PRO to crunch audio editing as fast as possible.
I'd like to create and watch DivX stuff w/o problems. Also, run emulators and games in the highest resolutions.

I guess next would be could someone send me a link(s) to which mobos (ASUS and MSI) support dual XP? Do I have to be careful in that some only support dual MP? Seems from your replies that as XP's and MP's are pretty much "officially" the same, then I'd be fine. I'd like the "best" (I know that's subjective) mobo for the job. If I put it together myself, is there anything different I have to do to installing the XP's to "unlock" them or do I just pop em in like I would MP? Reminds me of the days of carving plastic in a Sega Genesis to play Japanese games...

:x