Dual Processor Motherboards

[taltosit]

I am building my own PC and want to know which dual processor motherboard is rated as the fastest and easiest for installation.

If you also know of cases that you would recommend, let me know.

Right now, I have a 500W power supply.

Thanks for the information.

 

[mechBgon]

What CPUs do you want to use in it?

Also, be aware that many dual-processor boards don't fit into just any case, and many use an EPS power supply with a 24-pin main and 8-pin auxiliary power connector.

 

[taltosit]

Perhaps dual processor is not a good choice.
I want the fastest CPU available. The best I could find was 3.2 Ghz 800FSB.
As far as the manufacturer...that is the dilemma (sp?)

Who has the best quality? Intel, AMD, Cyrix or ?.

There are just so many motherboards available, I do want a high end one that is reliable and easy to install.

 

[mechBgon]

In some situations a dualie is worth it. If you intend to do very heavy PhotoShop work, or maybe 3D modelling/animation/rendering, or very heavy database work, or another application that's built particularly to take advantage of two CPUs at the same time, then a dualie is going to be nice.

If you want to run one hard-hitting single-CPU application non-stop in the background for hours at a time, and still have a responsive system for doing other tasks, then a dualie is good for that too, since the ongoing project can only take up half the CPU resources.

If you want a fast gaming system, then using the fastest single-processor system you can get is still probably your best bet.

So if you want a dualie after all, then you might look at dual AMD Opterons or dual Intel Xeons. Otherwise, the Pentium4 with 800MHz FSB, paired with i875P and dual-channel DDR400+ memory, is the fastest single-processor setup in almost everything.

 

[Vette73]

The easiet to setup that are not to outdated would be a pair of Athlons on a 760MPX board. If you have money to burn then look at a dual Xeon or Opteron system. I would look toward opteron if $ is not a worry.

 

[render]

Dual Pentium 4 XEON 3.06GHz and Iwill DP533 MB

 

[mechBgon]

There's not actually such a thing as a "Pentium 4 Xeon." It's either a Xeon, or a Pentium 4.

 

[taltosit]

Ok, perhaps I should state what I will use my puter for.

Of course I want it for regualr Internet stuff such as surfing, and email.

I want to run and use things such as Word Processing, Excel, Power Point, and a MultiSim Electronic workbench, and some serious gaming. =)
Some of the additional hardware will be a scanner and a digital camera. So, I guess there will be some image manipulation.

Now, taking your advice on the AMD dual motherboard, here is what I found.

Asustek A7N8X Deluxe Motherboard

MSI K8D Dual AMD Opteron Motherboard

Would any of these two be good?

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: taltosit
Ok, perhaps I should state what I will use my puter for.

Of course I want it for regualr Internet stuff such as surfing, and email.

I want to run and use things such as Word Processing, Excel, Power Point, and a MultiSim Electronic workbench, and some serious gaming. =)
Some of the additional hardware will be a scanner and a digital camera. So, I guess there will be some image manipulation.

Now, taking your advice on the AMD dual motherboard, here is what I found.

Asustek A7N8X Deluxe Motherboard

Is this a good choice?

It's a good single-processor board, and I use one at work (specs, some of the parts listed are currently in transit). I don't do any serious gaming at work, of course, but it's very satisfactory for hardcore file manipulation, image editing, all manner of office work and so forth.

If you want a dual-processor AMD board, then a Tyan TigerMPX would be a safe bet (it will accept your ATX power supply and fits many popular cases), but be aware that it doesn't offer as many cool goodies as the nForce2 boards such as A7N8X-Deluxe. No Firewire, no USB 2.0, no support for 333MHz-based or 400MHz-based CPUs. It does offer 64-bit PCI slots, if you want to run a burly PCI RAID card and/or a gigabit network card at full speed, and two AthlonMP 2800+'s would still hold the aces over a single AthlonXP 3200+ in some situations... but not in gaming.

 

[render]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
There's not actually such a thing as a "Pentium 4 Xeon." It's either a Xeon, or a Pentium 4.

how do you identify p2 xeon, p3 xeon, and p4 xeon ?

 

[taltosit]

Originally posted by: mechBgon

Originally posted by: taltosit
Ok, perhaps I should state what I will use my puter for.

Of course I want it for regualr Internet stuff such as surfing, and email.

I want to run and use things such as Word Processing, Excel, Power Point, and a MultiSim Electronic workbench, and some serious gaming. =)
Some of the additional hardware will be a scanner and a digital camera. So, I guess there will be some image manipulation.

Now, taking your advice on the AMD dual motherboard, here is what I found.

Asustek A7N8X Deluxe Motherboard

Is this a good choice?

It's a good single-processor board, and I use one at work (specs, some of the parts listed are currently in transit). I don't do any serious gaming at work, of course, but it's very satisfactory for hardcore file manipulation, image editing, all manner of office work and so forth.

If you want a dual-processor AMD board, then a Tyan TigerMPX would be a safe bet (it will accept your ATX power supply and fits many popular cases), but be aware that it doesn't offer as many cool goodies as the nForce2 boards such as A7N8X-Deluxe. No Firewire, no USB 2.0, no support for 333MHz-based or 400MHz-based CPUs. It does offer 64-bit PCI slots, if you want to run a burly PCI RAID card and/or a gigabit network card at full speed, and two AthlonMP 2800+'s would still hold the aces over a single AthlonXP 3200+ in some situations... but not in gaming.

 

[taltosit]

oops..sorry about the last post!!

Anyways, I think I will go for the single processor board. That seems to be my best bet there. Now I am off to a pretty good start.

Thank you for all of your help and advice.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: render

Originally posted by: mechBgon
There's not actually such a thing as a "Pentium 4 Xeon." It's either a Xeon, or a Pentium 4.

how do you identify p2 xeon, p3 xeon, and p4 xeon ?

Sorry I was splitting hairs but the names, as best I recall, are:

Pentium II Xeon,
Pentium III Xeon, and
Xeon (the current processor is simply "Xeon")

taltosit, glad I could help, but be aware that in all honesty, the Pentium4's with 800MHz bus are faster than any of the AthlonXPs for most situations, if you have the money to set them up right with an i875P or i865PE board and dual-channel DDR400.

 

[taltosit]

Originally posted by: mechBgon

Originally posted by: render

Originally posted by: mechBgon
There's not actually such a thing as a "Pentium 4 Xeon." It's either a Xeon, or a Pentium 4.

how do you identify p2 xeon, p3 xeon, and p4 xeon ?

Sorry I was splitting hairs but the names, as best I recall, are:

Pentium II Xeon,
Pentium III Xeon, and
Xeon (the current processor is simply "Xeon")

taltosit, glad I could help, but be aware that in all honesty, the Pentium4's with 800MHz bus are faster than any of the AthlonXPs for most situations, if you have the money to set them up right with an i875P or i865PE board and dual-channel DDR400.

Heh...guess I should also state that when I said I was building my own PC, I also meant that I am building my very first one. I have taken the one I currently have apart for cleaning dust out, etc. And thought hmm...there isn't too much stuff in here. I have added more memory cards to it, added an extra HD, so now I can run Windows on one and Linux on the other. And so far..no smoke!!..LOL

So, I thought to give a try at building one from scratch and see what I come up with. I figure the first things to get would be a good power supply, a case, and Motherboard. I guess the best way to learn is to research and get your hands dirty.

 

[mechBgon]

Absolutely! They're not that complicated, and you can get all the help you want right here at the Forums if you run into a snag. Basically, concoct a parts list, go post it over in General Hardware and ask for a critique, then buy your parts, bolt it together, smack your Windows and/or Linux CDs into it and off you go

My #1 advice: get a high-quality power supply with power to burn.

Oh, and you can also hit General Hardware and look at other peoples' "review-my-system" threads to get a feel for what's what.

 

[beatle]

Judging from what you're planning to do on your computer, it sounds to me like you'd be just fine with a single CPU setup. Aside from the cost, the heat and resulting noise needed to cool a dual cpu setup could break your bank and/or ears.

 

[taltosit]

Originally posted by: beatle
Judging from what you're planning to do on your computer, it sounds to me like you'd be just fine with a single CPU setup. Aside from the cost, the heat and resulting noise needed to cool a dual cpu setup could break your bank and/or ears.

What did you say?...LOL

 

[beatle]

:music:

 

[SpideyCU]

I concur with beatle. From what you listed, nothing seems to require a dually setup. A solid single processor system will do you just fine - the most intense thing you've got listed, the gaming, won't really benefit from two CPUs. The scanner and digicam-related photo work aren't anything dramatic enough to demand a dual. AFAIK most people don't take pix with their digicam to run it through extreme manipulation. Just a crop or resize here and there.