Dual Processor Mobo + chips

[beatinitup]

I'm trying to build a dual processor system,

still trying to decide if I should go with dual althon mp's or dual p4's.
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[minendo]

Go with dual XPs that are smp unlocked. It is the cheapest choice.

 

[BeauJangles]

Yeah otherwise you gotta get Xenons and they = teh expensive.

 

[beatinitup]

yeah that's what i was thinking about doing, only problem is that I can't decide on a dual athlon mobo. Plus all the ones I've seen are ddr 266, are there any chipsets that support DDR 400 or even DDR 333?

 

[charlie21]

There aren't any chipsets that support > 266 FSB for the Athlon MP. Also, if you want to go dual Intel, you're stuck with Xeons. P4's aren't SMP capable.

 

[beatinitup]

charlie21: ahh thanks for the info, any recommendations on what mobo to go with?

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: beatinitup
charlie21: ahh thanks for the info, any recommendations on what mobo to go with?

I use both the Tyan S2460 and the Asus A7M266-D. Out of those two I recommend the Asus board. I have heard good things about the MSI boards, but don't have the resources to purchase one and test it out.

 

[beatinitup]

cool, so would two athlon xp 2500+ chips be powerful enough for a mySql database server?

 

[joshg]

Ermm.. heh.. Yes, and if that's really all this server is going to be, and depending on user and process load, you could probably do it with much less.

 

[beatinitup]

joshg: mysql, with an append engine. *maybe* use oracle.

 

[beatinitup]

Thanks for all the info guys, how would i obtain athlon xp's that are smp unlocked?

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: beatinitup
Thanks for all the info guys, how would i obtain athlon xp's that are smp unlocked?

You can attempt to buy them in FS/FT forums or do the unlocking yourself. To smp unlock an XP chip only one connection has to be made at the L5 bridges.

 

[beatinitup]

minendo, that shouldn't be that difficult correct? I've got a bit of soldering experience, is there a step by step guide that shows how to do this?

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: beatinitup
minendo, that shouldn't be that difficult correct? I've got a bit of soldering experience, is there a step by step guide that shows how to do this?

You don't even have to solder. The steps taken to smp unlock an XP processor are the same as multiplier unlocking the chip.

Here are some directions on unlocking the multiplier of XP chips. The steps are the same, but for smp unlocking you generally need to only modify one bridge on the L5.

Turning the Athlon XP into an "MP"

 

[beatinitup]

minendo, you rock man

Much thanks =]

 

[joshg]

Originally posted by: beatinitup
joshg: mysql, with an append engine. *maybe* use oracle.

OK, well how many users will be hitting it, and what kind and size of data processing and user load are we looking at?

 

[beatinitup]

Josh: Server will be internal, only I will be using SSH to login and run jobs. DB files will range from anywhere from 500MB up to 2GB each. I figure 1.5GB of ddr 266 should do it.

 

[SUOrangeman]

www.2cpu.com and fourms.2cpu.com

-SUO

 

[beatinitup]

ahh many thanks to my fellow anandtechers, can't wait to throw this rig togeather =].