Computing question, about mainboards...

christoefar · #1 (**permalink**) 11-30-2003, 05:02 PM

I not quite sure if this really fits in with webproworld, but anyway.

I am wanting to buy a dual processor mainboard and have found this product http://www.msi.com.tw/program/produc...ail.php?UID=73, I don't know anything about dual processors, it says it can take up to 2800+ does this mean each processor, or is that both in total?

I really want to buy a mainboard that can handle two amd 2000+ athlons and suggestions would be appreciated.

rocky1 · #2 (**permalink**) 11-30-2003, 05:45 PM

In that Steven Glover offered a computer for sale not long ago with dual processors, and even more recently stated he builds his own frequently to stay abreast of technology, I would suggest you contact him if he doesn't find this thread.

See the Christmas Giving = Instant Karma thread and tell him you want info about a dual processor motherboard for Christmas!

mikmik · #3 (**permalink**) 11-30-2003, 05:49 PM

coolo_chris asked

Quote:

I really want to buy a mainboard that can handle two amd 2000+ athlons and suggestions would be appreciated.

Wow! I want to buy a dual board, in about 6 months.
I am not really an expert, Steve Glover, and some others here, would be better to ask, but I know this much: I would not but this board!

First, Dual 2800+ means two - processors, each one up to 2800+ (they would both be the same)so TWO 2800+ PROCESSOORS.

Why this board? My concern is that it is only AGP 4X, doesn't have onboard USB, and only FSB = to 266Mhz, which means that you cannot use higher than DDR 266Mhz/PC2100 - and it is already outdated if you are going to do any gaming or performance stuff like video encoding etc.

However, for a server setup, it is a sweet, sweet looking arrangement - but here I am out of my league.

So, what will you be using it for?
Personally, I am looking at dual AMD Opteron setups, so I absolutely don't mind helping you research this stuff! I am pretty busy today, but if others don't chip in, I will be back !!

So, c'mon everbody!

mikmik · #4 (**permalink**) 11-30-2003, 05:50 PM

Rocky1, you one quick dude!!

rocky1 · #5 (**permalink**) 11-30-2003, 05:54 PM

I just didn't write as much as you did Mik!

christoefar · #6 (**permalink**) 11-30-2003, 06:57 PM

I don't really know why I chose that one, I haven't been able to find that many, I don't really want to spend that much aswell, it's going to be for a personal computer, and will play some games on it, I will aslo do some video editing.

Does anyone know where I can buy good dual mainboards from?

mikmik · #7 (**permalink**) 11-30-2003, 08:13 PM

rocky1 wroad

Quote:

I just didn't write as much as you did Mik!

But I started yesterday! Next week in Mandurah!

coolo_chris wrote

Quote:

I don't really know why I chose that one, I haven't been able to find that many, I don't really want to spend that much aswell, it's going to be for a personal computer, and will play some games on it, I will aslo do some video editing.

Does anyone know where I can buy good dual mainboards from?

I will check some stuff. You in U.K.? Sauldam?

Also, coolo, what do you have now for; case, hard drive, motherboard/processor?
I just bought serious smoke - Athlon XP 2500+( $160CDN), GigaByte GA-7N400-L Dual DDR MoBo($130), and 256Mb 400Mhz Kingston Value Ram($77). I already had hard drive, video card, CD-RW, and proper case.
My system now will play Anything - haven't tried Halo - but I keep up tp Pentium4 2.6 Hyper's with ease. Total = $375CDN, 250 Euro !

flood6 · #8 (**permalink**) 11-30-2003, 09:22 PM

I always check www.pricewatch.com to find the best deal on a specific computer component.

More often than not, I end up buying from www.newegg.com (I'm in no way affiliated with these guys). I built this PC about 9 months ago and got most of the parts from newegg. I spent about $1000, XP 2100+ (oc'd to 2.5ghz), 512 corsair pc3200, EPoX 8RDA+, GF4ti4200, antec file server, antec PSU, lite-on CDRW, 40gig WD 7200rpm, etc. (9 months ago, this was awesome, expensive stuff). They have great customer service, and ship fast as hell. I haven't heard anything about their European service, though, so you may need to look into that.

I would say unless you really need to do some serious number crunching, you stick with a single CPU setup. The dually won't be as good for gaming, if that is your primary interest.

Just my opinion.

christoefar · #9 (**permalink**) 12-01-2003, 08:42 AM

At the moment I have

2000+ Athlon XP
640 MB SDRam
40GB Hard Drive
DVD-RW
Geforce MX440

All I want at the moment is a new mainboard and processors, I'm willing to buy some new ram if I need DDR, I am also wanting a new hard drive and graphics card.

But I want a new mainboard at the moment.

mikmik · #10 (**permalink**) 12-01-2003, 10:37 AM

Okay, I see what you are getting at!
I will get some links posted here, another guy is looking for upgrade info as well, so I can help two at once!

Start, though, by going to the AMD site, they have sections on different types of Mobo's, so maybe you can pull up some stuff on Dual processor boards, here is a forum, http://forums.amd.com/ ,I Think http://www.amd.com/us-en/ is the main site and FAQ http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/...82_861,00.html

christoefar · #11 (**permalink**) 12-01-2003, 12:17 PM

I'm looking at the AMD website now, looks to me like i'll be going for Athlon MP's

I'll keep looking.

JayDrake · #12 (**permalink**) 12-01-2003, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coolo_chris

All I want at the moment is a new mainboard and processors, I'm willing to buy some new ram if I need DDR, I am also wanting a new hard drive and graphics card.

But I want a new mainboard at the moment.

Just a few notes for ya. First, you'll either need to buy Athlon MP processors or do modifications to XP processors in order for them to run dual. Second, does the software you are using support dual processors? Unless your software is setup to utilize multiple processors, dual processors won't help you at all. You would do better to upgrade your single processor, ram and video card. (Crucial.com's got some really nice Radeon DDR cards!) It would also help to upgrade to 10,000RPM SCSI hard drives. (Mmmm... power and reliability.)

Rod Swift · #13 (**permalink**) 12-01-2003, 01:09 PM

Hi,

If you are using it for gaming and video editing then go for at least a 333Mhz FSB to get the maximum performance from the dual processors. When large amounts of data are being processed this is a critical performance area as both processors will be pulling data regularly from the main memory in into their local caches.

If you OS is Windows XP then you will need the PRO version as this supports dual processors, the HOME version will ignore the second processor.

I would reccommend you use some performance testing tools to work out where the performance bottlenecks are on your current system as you maybe better off spending the money a higher performance graphics card and hard disc. Try using the Sandra suite of tools from http://www.sisoftware.co.uk/sandra

I hope this is of help.

Regards

Rod Swift

christoefar · #14 (**permalink**) 12-01-2003, 02:09 PM

I'm running XP pro, I will get MP as I wouldn't know have to modify the CPU.

I haven't been able to find many dual athlon mainboards, does anyone know where I can find some?

Thanks for your comments,

voodooboy · #15 (**permalink**) 12-01-2003, 03:40 PM

Companies that I know make Dual AMD CPU mainboards are Chaintech, MSI and Asus. Most other manufacturers only deal in Intel dual CPU systems. I personally would suggest going with something like this:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...000&CatId=1231

or if you want to spend the money:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...X51&CatId=1182

I don't honestly see the benefit with dual CPU unless you are running a server and the above samples would more than accomplish what you are looking to do (and then some).

But I can be (and often am) wrong. But I thought I would share anyway.

mikmik · #16 (**permalink**) 12-01-2003, 03:43 PM

Chris, I just was looking at the Gigabyte board, it is like the one you mentioned above.
The chipset on these boards only uses REGISTERED DDR 1600/2100, and the IDE controller only supports ATA 100Hard drives and and only AGP4X. I would think very seriously before going with this. The guys are 110% right, all these are BIG performance roadblocks!!!!!!!!!!

I can't stress enough about agreeing with needing at leastDDR 333. I IMPROVED my write to ram by 600 Mb/sec (2100 to 2700Mb/s) just by bumping my FSB to 400 from 333 on a barton chip, using Kingston Value ram!
That is probably an increase of DOUBLE your total now.
With a 266 FSB and RAM, you will get about HALF the write speed I get for 3 times the price, maybe more. Registered/buffered RAM is mucho dinero, and it isn't even dual channel board.
You could get an 8X 128DDR vid AND a 120 GB HDD with the money you save!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mikmik · #17 (**permalink**) 12-01-2003, 03:53 PM

Good taste there, ghstdrgns, 'specially the second one. Maybe a year or so from now.....

voodooboy · #18 (**permalink**) 12-01-2003, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikmik

Good taste there, ghstdrgns, 'specially the second one. Maybe a year or so from now.....

Yeah, the way I understand it, Windows is still in beta with their 64-bit XP version. But here is a good article on the 64-bit processor and another on 64-bit boards.

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...1276873,00.asp

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...1387633,00.asp

Granted in a year or so the price will inevitably drop. But what will be on the boards in a year? It just moves so fast.

Narasinha · #19 (**permalink**) 12-02-2003, 12:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghstdrgns

Yeah, the way I understand it, Windows is still in beta with their 64-bit XP version. But here is a good article on the 64-bit processor and another on 64-bit boards.

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...1276873,00.asp

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...1387633,00.asp

Extremetech.com is an excellent source of information. Great articles for build-it-yourself'ers and benchmark tests to help make hardware and software decisions.

Now if I can just figure out if I really need an AMD Athlon 64 FX....

voodooboy · #20 (**permalink**) 12-02-2003, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Narasinha

Extremetech.com is an excellent source of information. Great articles for build-it-yourself'ers and benchmark tests to help make hardware and software decisions.

Exactly. When I was building my current system I did most of my research here to decide which manufacturer I would go with for mainboard, hard drive, video card, memory, sound system and monitor.

I don't have the Athlon 64 yet, but I am putting money away. Maybe in 2004.

shadowolf · #21 (**permalink**) 12-02-2003, 02:47 PM

Ok here is the deal. You first need to know why you really need dual processing. Answer the folling. One are you going to set up a server running many different task with multi. users of up to 25 or more at a time. OR do you do multi design and video processing at the same time or run a gaming server. If your answer is yes to any of those or close then you need to look at dual processing if not it a over kill and a waist of your money.

Part 2. If you do say yes then the best boards for this is MSI right now> plus I read one person talking about the 64 bit Microsofts software is still beta this is true I talked to someone with the MS team last week it looks to be late March at best before it will be ready. Ny the way if you know MS that means it will come out but it will take a year before they fix most of the fixes and patches. So this is now good because you will have all the hardware still working at 32 bit. I would wait and let the prices come down a bit first.

Part 3. If you still must have this new technology then please make sure you get optron for server use or MP for work station and make sure the are all in 3000+ range because the other processor rank below 3000 still run on old 32bit technology chip set and are just over clocked on the boards side to proform. And they run real hot I have already seen boards melt down. AMD which I love and use myself will not tell you this because of the money they have spent trying to hype everyone up on it. Plus I was at the launch party in CA. They had to crashes at the show because of the products not having support from software and other vendors not ready yet. Also they said they the launch was really for the gaming guys and user of video and multi media stuff for the first part of 2004 the good stuff would not be ready until 2004 June. If you need more just let me know. Any here some information on me and my company www.shoppcdirect.com
Later and good luck.

PS sorry for miss spells I was in a hurry no time to read it over.

TrafficProducer · #22 (**permalink**) 12-03-2003, 06:28 AM

Two CPU's

You may wish to check out Hyper Threading on the newish Intel P4's.

This makes one CPU look like two.

With dual channel DDR RAM this should boost speeds.

voodooboy · #23 (**permalink**) 12-03-2003, 07:39 AM

Alright, who let the Intel guy in here? O.o

(just kidding) :o)

christoefar · #24 (**permalink**) 12-03-2003, 08:54 AM

I don't really need a dual processors, as i'm not running a server, all I'm going to do is play games and do some small video editing, http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...000&CatId=1231 seems to be the mainboard and processor I'm going to buy, seems quite a reasonable price, I live in the UK do they deliver to the UK?

Might get dual processors when I start to run a gaming server!?

Thakyou for all you help!!

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode