Dual CPU PC

[CraigK]

I plan on building a new PC at the end of the summer, and I was offered the chance to get a dual CPU mobo(didn't ask what brand). I don't exactly need dual CPU's but i would love the bragging right of saying "I'm running dual CPU's."
Can anyone tell me the advantages/disadvantages to running a dual system.

[311Sam]

I'd say go for it. I think the next computer im going to build will be dual cpu. There really are no disadvantages for dual cpu systems. But only programs that are multi threaded will be able to take full advantage of a dual cpu system. Windows xp pro is multi threaded, most games are not though. That just means that a game will have a whole cpu for its own use, but not 2 of em. Im sure that will change in the future though..


Did i get that right?

Sam

[CraigK]

What about overheating? I'm using an antec alienware tower case and wondering if it has enough room to keep it cool enough.

[Bruneau]

With the hyperthreading here I would say that games and programs will be forth coming w/ multi threading. And a dually is certainly better than a single hyperthreaded cpu.

But, at the present, I'd say it's not worth it. A single will perform as good if not better in most apps and games today.

[goldenbuddha]

I'd say it depends on what type of dual CPU system it is. If its anything older than a dual P3, don't bother. Cooling is pretty standard, you case will be just fine.

As far as applications, if you are not running Windows 2000, or Windows XP Pro, you will not see ANY of that dual cpu goodness as all.

XP HOme, ME, 9.x all do not support dual CPUs, they will only use 1 and leave the other to sit there.

If you just use the system for the internet, play games, email and other regular use, you will see a slight but barely noticeable difference between 1 and 2 cpu.

If you, however do 3D modeling, mad graphics stuff etc, then yeah the dual cpu will simply make your work so much more streamlined.

[Sixpac_XP]

You forgot that Linux also supports dual cpu's out of the box.

[Scott Tiger]

I'm not trying to thread crap here but I've been thinking my next pc would follow just the opposite route (even though I primarily use Linux).

Since cpu's seem to have gotten allot faster than the rest of the pc (relatively speaking anyway) I was going to get a cheap Dell with a Hyperthreaded P4 and then use the cost savings there to get a 10,000 rpm SCSI drive setup.

I/O seems to be the biggest bottleneck right now so that where I'll be focusing my attention. Just my .02 anyway.

[engracio]

CraigK,

Yes that type of case is great for dual cpu setup. 4 of my duallies have those cases from Antec, SX835/1040 series. The other two are the older 282 Antec case. Stay away from the SX6xx and go with the full towers if you want a duallie. I have to transfer a MSI K7D from an SX630 to the older Antec 282 because the case temp goes up to 35c and shuts down the power supply. Now I got the box running 144fsb from 1529mhz(XP1800) to 1656mhz(XP2000).

Yes, those boxes do use the dual cpu's. We call it DC (distributed computing). Folding@Home and Genome@Home on my case.

Enjoy.


e

[Ultima]

I put together a dual cpu one day, was built on the msi 694D Pro, with 2 P3's 1Ghz.

It has a 1024Mb of ram and I use it as a fileserver, gonna use it as a game server not to long from now.
I use it for a lot of other things too, and she has been great for me.

The board has an ata100 controller, and seriously, I have never seen an AMD rig copy a full divx movie to disc as fast as my server does.
It takes only 35 seconds, while on my AMD rig, it takes 3 minutes, maybe 4.

I bought it, cause I always wanted a dually, and I have loved it since I built it. You won't regret it if ya ask me.

[Nighthawk]

If it's a dual-hyperthreading CPU, you'll need something other than 2K/XP Pro. IIRC, Windows sees each virtual CPU as its own CPU and XP will only use two, so you'd need 2K/2003 Server at least if you want to stay with Windows.