Dual CPU Mobo

[JacinTexas]

I'm puting a system together for a friend, He wants a dual CPU system. It will be used mainly for video & graphics, burning DVDs, and related work. He wants to use 1 gig of ram (DDR if possible) and a good dual head video card.

I have a couple of questions that I hope someone can answer...

1) AMD XP vs Intel PIII/V... does it really make a difference which is used?
2) Utilize RAID.. yes or no?
3) What mobo does anyone recomend?

Thanks in advance.

[BipolarBill]

1. Only if cost is an issue (it always is!). AMD will cost much less overall. BTW - the dual-CPU Athlon boards use the MP processor.

2. RAID 0 is fine as long as the data on it is not important. Many people boot from a single drive and use RAID for storage.
If every increment of speed is important, fine, but RAID 0 is only about 10% faster for a 100% cost increase over single drive. SCSI drives are a better idea.

3. http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=&submit=Go&description=N82E16813130374

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=&submit=Go&description=N82E16813151112

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=&submit=Go&description=N82E16813128152

...in that order.

[BipolarBill]

Oh - tell your friend that unless he has applications that can use 2 CPUs, he's wasting his money. Besides that, it will be noisy and hot.

[Bigjakkstaffa]

Yup, unless hes runnign soem sort of 24/7 server or doign soem seriously mind bogglign computing i would tell him to save his money and spread it on real high quality components than a dual CPU rig

--Jakk:t

[Disk11]

1. P4s can't be run in dual FYI. Intel does not believe in "budget SMP" (look at p3 prices, the lack of SMP support in celerons above 533 Mhz due to the BP6 popularity, and the cheapest DP Xeon board is almost $300).

2. No, get SCSI unless budget elimnates that.

3. Bill covered that pretty well. Unless you want to find an Iwill MPX (The ultimate tweakable MPX board) through ebay

[Sterling_Aug]

Hey BPB, I resemble that crack about the dual systems running hot.

My dual AMD 2400+ systems do run hot but it will be nice and toasty in the bedroom come this winter.

Cheap SCSI can be had for about $500-$600. I run RAID 5 for under $350 for 17 GB of usuable drive space.

My Tyan Tiger MP S2460 mobo's were under $100 each. Add the two AMD 2400+ MP processors at $158 each and you have an impressive non-server system.

[JacinTexas]

Thanks Ya'll....

I was kinda hoping your comments would support what I had told my friend, that a dual cpu system wasn't all it was pumped up to be, at least for the money you spend... but as I understand it and correct me if I'm wrong but I think most of the high end Adobe products, specifically the latest versions of Photoshop, Premier and After Effects all can utilize the 2nd processor. I know the office type software completely ignores the 2nd processor.

Anyone had any experience or knowledge of Abit's IC7 or IC7-G dual boards? From what I've read it looks pretty nice for a dual processor board especially with on board Serial ATA, AGP PRO 8X/4X, firewaire & USB 2.0.

[Disk11]

Anyone had any experience or knowledge of Abit's IC7 or IC7-G dual boards?

Those are P4C boards, the next best thing to SMP (Hyperthreading, basically 2 imaginary CPUs in one). They are good, but go with the IS7s since Abit and many other companies found a way to enable PAT (one of the few reasons to buy a 875 board over an 865) on the 865PE boards. Save some money for SCSI or more RAM.

If your friend does video encoding, CAD, or runs multiple intensive programs at the same time, a SMP system will help out a lot.

Sterling, I thought the 760 MP chipset only took up to MP/XP 1900's?

[Sterling_Aug]

Hey Disk11:

http://www.tyan.com/products/html/a_tigermp_spec.html


The Tyan Tiger MP S2460 supports all 266 MHz AMD Socket A processors. After going into the BIOS, it shows up to 2400+ as supported.

[Disk11]

Wow, thats cool. I may have to get one now.

[Bluehail]

Whats the purpose of the NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS environment variable in win2k/xp?
The way it sounds from previous posts Windows cannot make use of dual processors

[BipolarBill]

Windpws XP Pro certainly can use two CPUs.

[sm8000]

Here is a (partial, I'm sure) list of applications that can use duals:

http://www.denniskarlsson.com/smp/

Yes, P4s don't dual, Xeons only. Athlon XPs can be modded for dual use, but I think there is an MP 2800+....

Many people regard AMD's dual chipset as 'aging' as for example it can 'only' use DDR266....

As far as I know www.hypermicro.com still has its SCSI deal on - buy any IBM UltraStar "Pirahna" Z15 drive, and use code SR-Z15 to get a free LSI U160 controller card. You'll also need a cable and termination.

[lptech]

JacinTexas-

The question that you should ask your friend is what type of processor base is recommended by the software that he intends to use. Some would recommend AMD or Intel based dual-processor systems! The key to the question is what the software requires to run! Have him look at the system requirements, there you would see which is most recommended to run their software!

As far as running a dual-processor system is concerned, the Operating System is what would take advantage of the two processors. Windows XP both Home and Professional versions, Windows 2000 Professional and Windows NT 4.0 (which is no longer supported by Microsoft) all would utilize both CPU(s) when needed!

Windows Millenium Edition, Windows 98 and Windows 95 does not support dual-processor systems! In the end, the choice between an Intel based Dual CPU system and an AMD based Dual CPU system is up to your friend's liking!

If you go Intel based, then I would recommend getting two of the Tualatin P3 1.4GHz CPUs (they come with 512K cache). AMD based dual system must use MP versions of the CPUs or you would end up having to modify the mobo to accomodate the second XP+ CPU! The choices are not that many for dual CPU mobos! Good luck and keep us informed on what the final decision is.

LPTECH

[sm8000]

According to Microsoft, Windows XP Home does not support dual processors:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/choosing2.asp

[Disk11]

XP home supports 1 real CPU and 1 logical CPU (ie P4Cs)
XP Pro supports 2 real CPUs and 2 logical CPUS (ie 2 new Xeons w/ Hyperthreading)
XP can tell the difference between virtual and real CPUs, 2k thinks they are all real.
So if you choose to do dualie Xeons, get XP pro or 2k server (??) because regular 2000 can only reconize 2 CPUs.

[sm8000]

Originally posted by Disk11
So if you choose to do dualie Xeons, get XP pro or 2k server (??) because regular 2000 can only reconize 2 CPUs.

So why would 2000 Pro have a problem recognizing two Xeons??

:confused:

Oh wait, if he uses 2000 he should get Xeons without Hyperthreading?

[BipolarBill]

You got it. Two HT CPUs is essentially 4 conventional CPUs.

[Bluehail]

I love threads like this
I likes me some learnin' lol

[Disk11]

If you really want to learn more about SMP go to www.2cpu.com. (www.2cpu.com)

[Bluehail]

Originally posted by Disk11
If you really want to learn more about SMP go to www.2cpu.com. (www.2cpu.com)

Cool, im diggin in right now - thanks!