Dual CPU's

[embj]

I'm thinking about going dual for my server. I can't decide which way I want to go....Xeon or Athlon MP. So I was wondering if it is possible for now to just run 1 CPU in a dual mobo whether it be the Xeon or the Athlon MP 'til money permits to buy a second CPU.

Thanks.

Yes.

[Daft_Ghosty]

yes you can run it with one cpu.. some motherboards require that you have a dummy cpu in the second cpu socket.. just research your motherboard to see if you need one.. also some motherboards come with a dummy cpu , so u wont have to get one..

[NDC]

P4 Xeon boards and MP boards nowadays do not require a terminator for the 2nd CPU. So I wouldn't be too concerned... Only thing that can be a pain is changing from a single processor HAL to a Multiprocessor HAL. Although there are many links that show this can be done, I've notocied many SMP users to end up doing a fresh install after getting the 2nd CPU...

[embj]

Ok...that's good. I'm plan to get a 2.4ghz Xeon with the numbers of:
2400DP/512/533/1.50V
SL73L COSTA RICA
3318A494-0727

I looked it up on Intel's Processor Finder, here.

All Xeon's can run as a dual am I right? I decided that I'm going to get a motherboard from a Dell Poweredge 1600SC and the specs of it are:

Processor Sockets
Up to 2 Intel® XeonTM 1.8GHz, 2.0GHz, 2.4GHz, 2.8GHz and 3.06GHz



Front Side Bus
533MHz front side bus

Chipset
ServerWorks® GC-SL Chipset
Memory Sockets

4 sockets for DDR DIMM support up to 4GB PC2100 ECC RAM



Expansion Slots
6 expansion slots
2 x 64-bit/100MHz PCI-X (Supports 3.3v or Universal cards)
2 x 64-bit/66MHz PCI (Supports 3.3v or Universal cards)
2 x 32-bit/33MHz PCI (Supports legacy 5v or Universal cards)

Drive Controllers
LSI Logic 53C1020 Single-Channel LVD Ultra320 SCSI controller
Primary/Secondary IDE
Floppy Drive

Communications
Single embedded Intel Gigabit NIC with PXE support.

Graphics
Integrated ATI-Rage XL controller with 8MB of SDRAM

Other
2 USB 1.1 Ports


It might take about 3 hours to reinstall everything but, it won't bother me. It takes awhile to configure and install everything in Server 2003. The worst thing is reinstalling Exchange 2k3.
Anyway...what do you guys think? Thanks.

[embj]

Also...I was just thinking of this. Will this even work? Intel says the socket of that cpu is 604-pin. I'm trying to figure out if the board has a 604-pin or a 603-pin.

[pinoy87]

I say go Athlon MP...this is because XEON's are really expensive and with Athlon MP you can just take a regular Athlon XP and change it to an MP by connecting one of the bridges...theres some trick sort of like the pencil trick. Try searching google.

[ArcticFox]

Yeah, if you don't have the cash for a Xeon rig, go AthlonXP and modify them.

[embj]

How exactly would you modify them is what I want to know? If I would have known that I wouldn't have spent all day looking at them.

[ArcticFox]

The procedure is similar to unlocking an XP to overclock it. Look it up on Google, or ask someone here.