Dual MP motherboards?

[iNeb]

What is a good motherboard for a dual MP?

arround $110~ max



And what are the cons to dual processors..

and what are the pros besides faster speed total

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Well, for price you are probably only going to have one option, the Asus AM266 I think it is, since it's the only board that says it will run with up to 2 sticks of non-ECC ram.

cons: HEAT, Processor cost (if you want to use real MP's not hacked XP's), power supply must be at least 450W, must run an NT based OS (no 9x) or Linux, Must use SMP software to use both CPUs, (there are more)

Pros: great for graphics rendering and other CPU SMP supported software,Better multitasking. .

Also you don't get any more speed out of a dualie, you just get more power if the applications use it.

[iNeb]

So two 1.5 wouldn't be 3.0?

I'm want to be a pc technician so i have alot to learn about hardware, i only know software some.

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

No, 2 1.5's is just 2 1.5's, If you are running a single application that is not written for SMP then it will run at the same speed as a 1.5 single, (but it will be slightly faster due to lack of system processes) if the program is SMP capable then it will run as if it was 3Ghz roughly ( I think it's closer to 2.5) So there is no "real" benefiet to running dual, except for CPU intensive tasks such as rendering. For games there is really no difference except for quake ( I think that's the only SMP game)

however If you are running 2 non-SMP tasks then they will both be completed as fast as a single processor takes to do 1.

[iNeb]

Ah, ok thanks

[Brangwen]

iNeb:

This is an interesting "area" to play in, but my research has shown there are obstacles. It's expensive. The known dual boards are: Tyan, Gigabyte ... a couple others I cannot think of and the IWill MPX2, which I was considering because I know IWill builds good motherboards (my last 3-4 systems plus my present use an IWill).

I was looking at the IWill MPX2. It is large (as are most dualie mobos), and It runs close to $200 last time I looked. So do the hi-end Gigabytes, but I believe they have less expensive dualie mobos.

If your programs cannot take advantage of what 2 CPUs offer, it's a money pit unless you're building such a system mostly for a challenge only, like I was.

The MP CPUs have fairly recently become available in higher frequencies (AMD). They are a tad expensive. Heat is a very serious issue to contend with in a dualie system: "like two 100W light bulbs 10" apart is an analogy I read.

Have fun! I think the established boards - Tyan and Gigabyte are pretty stable. The IWill I think would be a helluva adventure!

Moderator MntSnow is a resident dualie expert.

Brangwen

[iNeb]

Well, i didn't know that, so i won't go with dual processors.

[shootcraps]

Originally posted by Brangwen
iNeb:

If your programs cannot take advantage of what 2 CPUs offer, it's a money pit unless you're building such a system mostly for a challenge only, like I was.

Brangwen

As long as the OS, (either W2kPro or XP Pro) can take advantage of multiple processors, your software (say Microsoft Word) doesn't need to be written for it - does it? Since your software talks to the OS, not the CPUs. If the OS has two CPUs to work with, especially if they each have 512k of cache, I think you should notice a substantial performance increase.

Our multiprocessor Unix machines certainly run faster with more processors.

[sMoKiE]

Do some research prior to choosing motherboards...
I found that the gigabyte boards work great for dual crt monitors while the tyan's work great for fan speed control.
Just make sure you know what you need or like.

My 2 cents.

Unless you have a need for dual processors, then I recommend spending your money on a good uni-proc configuration. My vote says P4, others say Athlon, but that is your judgement call to make.

If you just want dual-proc experience, then you might want to look towards the older socket 370 format. A couple of P3's and a cheap ECS D6VAA dual board can be found for decent prices these days.