dual p4 xeon 2Ghz....

[mastatitan]

Building my first pc in a few weeks(end of oct), what do you guys think of this processor/set-up?

-Seriously considering dual xeon
-512MB (crucial RAM/whoever gots em )
-SCSI RAID (x2 18's or 36's GB/15K RPM)
-SCSI 70-80's GB
-Adaptec 3200
-8500 or GeForce3 Ti 500
-audigy platinum ex
-dvd+rw (or SCSI cd-rw or both)
-SCSI CD
-decoder card/capture card
-5.1 klipsch
-lian-li 70's or coolermaster ATC-210-AX1's
-400+ PSU
-sony 21" (24") or hitachi 21"
Budget $5K [half out of pocket/half paid by employer ]

Uses-
Work/school:
render workstation/graphix apps

home:
gaming/encoding/ripx0r(music+vid)

Thanks for you comments/suggestions.

 

[QuestionsandAnsweres]

i dont think crucial makes RDRAM

also i would go for a duel 1.2ghz athlon MP.

with 1gb of ECC memory

 

[downhiller80]

I think you need an extra 12MB of memory.

 

[QuestionsandAnsweres]

<< I think you need an extra 12MB of memory. >>



lol ya they dont have 500mb of ram out htere

they do u have 512mb

 

[ST4RCUTTER]

I think you need an extra 12MB of memory.

Hehe....


What are you going to be using this computer for?

 

[bozo1]

Crucial be not making RDRAM.

 

[Megatomic]

<< I think you need an extra 12MB of memory. >>



hehe

 

[BlackFalcon]

Its the first computer you've built and you're considering using dual Xeon's, SCSI, and misc other expensive parts? Of course, that's ok, but I'd reccommend a bit of practise with parts that aren't quite so expensive. Plus, I haven't had much experience with SCSI but I hear that it's a big pain to setup. Just a few thoughts since you said it will be your first assembly.

 

[QuestionsandAnsweres]

wait a few weeks for a 1.53ghz athlon xp to come out and use 2 of those in a system

 

[Red Dawn]

Leave it to some Pencil Necked Geeks to make a big deal out of him post 500 Megs of Memory instead of 512

If you go with that setup you'll definately have a God Box. Sounds like a great system for someone who spends 100% of the time they are awake on their computer. Who's your employer, Santa Claus?



<< but I'd reccommend a bit of practise with parts that aren't quite so expensive. >>

Forget that, if you haven't built a system before I'd recommend having someone that kn0ows what they are doing build it for you. It's not Rocket Science but it's also not for a beginer, especially with those expensive parts.

 

[dullard]

<< Building my first pc in a few weeks(end of oct), what do you guys think of this processor/set-up?

-Seriously considering dual xeon

-8500 or GeForce3 Ti 500

Uses-
Work/school:
render workstation/graphix apps

home:
gaming/encoding/ripx0r(music+vid) >>



I'd love to see some 2.0 Xeon benchmarks once you put this together (hoping it won't put my dual 1.7 GHz Xeon to shame.) One question:

What is more important: Good work performance or good gaming performance?

I was just thinking that the video cards you listed will be top of the line for 3D games, but might be just a little lacking when it comes to your graphics work. For a good price/performance ratio stay with the gaming cards. For pure work performance you might consider a slightly faster card. I haven't seen any benchmark comparing the GeForce3 Ti 500 to a Wildcat II 5110 (or Fire GL2-4), it may have almost caught up in performance. It is just too new, and all benchmarkers are focusing on games instead of work.

RDRAM really isn't that expensive, so with a $5000 budget I'd upgrade that to at least 768 MB.

I'm assuming you will get either Win2k or WinXP Professional.

Good luck with building it yourself. I'd really consider at least comparing the savings you would get to the warranty you could recieve.

 

[Sir Fredrick]

I hate to sound like everyone else, but... you'll see better performance with a dual TBird setup.
My Dual PIII450, all scsi setup at home beats my P41.5 all ide setup at work when it comes to being smooth and responsive. My friend's single TBird 1.0GHz is just as fast as the P41.5.

SCSI is a wonderful thing, though I wouldn't really bother with RAID. (and SCSI is not very hard to set up, just RTFM)
Dual is also a wonderful thing, but I have serious concerns about the performance of a Dual P4 system, it just doesn't really make sense. Also, $5k doesn't make sense either, considering that you could build a real workhorse for about half that or less.

edit:

Why not use the money you save with going dual TBird by setting up a cluster (with another dual Tbird board)?

 

[Megatomic]

<< Also, $5k doesn't make sense either, considering that you could build a real workhorse for about half that or less. >>



I agree, you could get lots of "toys" too.

 

[stingbandel]

if I were you, I would add the memory to 1 GIG or more. It's not that much to add considering you have a killer machine with that. I wish I had $$$ like you.









Darno

 

[SnowPunk98]

Heh Xeons are exspensive SERVER CPUs not workstation CPUs thats way overkill you dont need that much onboard cache, especially if this is your first computer get dual Tbirds be a lot cheaper and will be quite sufficent get another 512 of RAM too

 

[dullard]

<< I hate to sound like everyone else, but... you'll see better performance with a dual TBird setup.

Also, $5k doesn't make sense either, considering that you could build a real workhorse for about half that or less.

Why not use the money you save with going dual TBird by setting up a cluster (with another dual Tbird board)? >>



Ok lets try to get a ROUGH price for a dual Tbird:

Dual motherboard: $200 minimum (these go up to about $600)
Case+powersupply: $200
Two 1.2 GHz Athlon MP: 2*$150=$300
512 MB PC2100 DDR: $50
GeForce3 Ti 500: $350
Audigy Platinum Ex: $250
Speakers: $100
two 15K rpm 36 GB SCSI: 2*$600=$1200
10k rpm 73 GB SCSI: $900
21" Sony: $800
DVD+RW: $600
decoder/capture card: $100

Total: $5050.

Ok my prices are rough, but I can't see this being half the price as you claim. It is all those SCSI drives that bring the price up. Replace this exact same system with dual 2.0 GHz Xeons ($600 each) and change the DDR to PC800 RDRAM ($100 more) and you get the machine for $6050.



<< My Dual PIII450, all scsi setup at home beats my P41.5 all ide setup at work when it comes to being smooth and responsive. >>



Nice trick there comparing a *dual* machine with *SCSI* to a single with IDE. Using this logic: My Toyota Tercel with round tires beats my Porsche Boxster with square tires when it comes to being smooth and responsive.

 

[dullard]

<< Heh Xeons are exspensive SERVER CPUs not workstation CPUs thats way overkill you dont need that much onboard cache, especially if this is your first computer get dual Tbirds be a lot cheaper and will be quite sufficent get another 512 of RAM too >>



Intel has not yet released ANY server version of their P4 Xeon. That release was recently postponed to the first half of 2002 (starting at 2.2 GHz I think). There are WORKSTATION versions of the P4 Xeon currently out. They don't have any extra cache that wastes money. You confused this with the P3 Xeon for servers.

 

[Windogg]

Wow, the mobo alone is going to cost $500 - $600. Not only that but workstation boards are usually very big Extended ATX monsters and will require a WTX case with some beefy power and cooling needs.

As for the Xeon, the 2 Ghz model has been scrapped so 2.2Ghz will be the next available Xeon.

Windogg

 

[Red Dawn]

<< Also, $5k doesn't make sense either, considering that you could build a real workhorse for about half that or less >>

Hey it's only costing him $2500.00. His boss is paying for the other half. Go for it guy, we'd love to see the benchmarks.

 

[dullard]

<< As for the Xeon, the 2 Ghz model has been scrapped so 2.2Ghz will be the next available Xeon. >>



Why does everyone still think this? Here is a quote from Intel on Sept 25, 2001:

"Intel Corporation today introduced the world's fastest processor for dual processor, high-performance workstations. The 2 Gigahertz Intel® Xeon? processor, based on the NetBurst? microarchitecture, targets high-performance and mid-range workstation market segments"

Dell has it listed as coming soon.

Intel did announce that the 2.0 GHz SERVER (ie 4 or more processors and or large cache) Xeon version was scrapped.

Did this article confuse you:

"Intel has scrapped plans for a 2GHz Xeon processor for SERVERS but has accelerated release of a 2.2GHz Xeon with enhanced performance features to fill the gap... the company will now release "Prestonia," the code name for a 2.2GHz Xeon for dual-processor SERVERS at the beginning of the first quarter of 2002 rather than toward the end of the quarter. A 2GHz Xeon for two-processor workstations WILL come out in September."

 

[dowxp]

i would go for it. and then some. 2500 isnt bad...

 

[Sir Fredrick]

<< Ok my prices are rough, but I can't see this being half the price as you claim. It is all those SCSI drives that bring the price up. Replace this exact same system with dual 2.0 GHz Xeons ($600 each) and change the DDR to PC800 RDRAM ($100 more) and you get the machine for $6050. >>



Note that I also told him to scrap the RAID. It doesn't make sense for what he's doing. A single high speed drive is more than enough, RAID just boosts transfer rates which don't make much of a difference nowadays, what matters is access times.



<<

<< My Dual PIII450, all scsi setup at home beats my P41.5 all ide setup at work when it comes to being smooth and responsive. >>



Nice trick there comparing a *dual* machine with *SCSI* to a single with IDE. Using this logic: My Toyota Tercel with round tires beats my Porsche Boxster with square tires when it comes to being smooth and responsive. >>



It's not a trick, I'm just comparing what I have available. One would expect that a system that I built several years ago for ~$1500 would be outperformed by a modern >$2000 dell P4, but that's not the case. Dual helps, but 450+450 is 900, and the performance increase from going dual is not linear anyway. Yeah, my system is SCSI and the P4 here is not. That's too bad. I also mentioned my friend's 1GHz tbird which is IDE, for a more direct comparison.

 

[Sir Fredrick]

<<

<< Also, $5k doesn't make sense either, considering that you could build a real workhorse for about half that or less >>

Hey it's only costing him $2500.00. His boss is paying for the other half. Go for it guy, we'd love to see the benchmarks. >>



Hey, I have no problem with the money he's spending, I'd just like to see it spent for optimal performance. He's going to have a lot more computing power if he sets up a cluster.

 

[yourharddrive]

i cant believe how much $$$ some people have i wish i could afford that kinda sys

 

[bret]

i am almost done building my duel athlon mp 1.2


athlon mp has 1gb+ more bandwidth than a xeon.

go with mp not xeon