Low cost PCI-X motherboard/CPU

[rayon]

Hi all,

I'm looking into building a new home server that will be doing a bunch of stuff (domain controller, file server, streaming server, web server, caller ID server, etc). I already have a machine doing this right now (the Ahtlon XP 1800+ w/ 512MB RAM is doing just fine) but I plan to add a RAID 5 controller and 5 HDs in there.

In order to maximize I/O performance, I'm planning on moving towards a motherboard with at least one (preferably 2) PCI-X slots as the RAID 5 controller is PCI-X (64bits, 133MHz). Also, I'm looking into getting GbE going on on my home network.

What would you suggest I buy to accomodate these requirements (inexpensive, w/ PCI-X slots + GbE)? Right now I'm looking at the Gigabyte GA-8IKHXT + Pentium 4 2.4GHz 800MHz FSB (Northwood). The price for this combo was the best so far at eWiz.com (never dealt with them but are apparently compotent, according to resellerratings.com).

I've looked into an Opteron solution, but those are really expensive.

Any other suggestions?

Thank you,
Bruno.

 

[Peter]

Can't find that mainboard. In the P4 arena, there are a few half-arsed PCI-X jobs out there, using the 6300ESB south bridge. This supplies PCI-X slots at 66 MHz, attached to the south bridge which has a total uplink bandwidth of 266 MHz for everything - PCI-X, PCI, IDE, SATA and USB. Talk about bottlenecks.

edit: ... and the "7210" chipset is exactly what I'm talking about. Actually, that's an 875 north bridge, and a 6300ESB "Hance Rapids" south.

If you want PCI-X on a chipset that actually does handle the bandwidth (as well as provide proper PCI-X at 100 or even 133 MHz), you need to go with E7501 chipset and a Xeon, or an Opteron board with AMD's 8131 PCI-X tunnel(s) on.

 

[rayon]

Hi Peter, thank you for your reply.

Here's the link:

http://www.giga-byte.com/Serve...verBoard_GA-8IKHXT.htm

And yes, it is based on the 6300ESB south bridge (and the E7210 as north bridge), so I'd have that bottleneck you talk about.

However, mobo + CPU would run me about $320. Do you think I can get a Xeon or Opteron solution even for a few $ more? I'm opened to suggestions.

Thanks,
Bruno.

 

[Vette73]

What peter is saying is right.


I have a Asus NCCH-DL with the 875 north and 6300 south. Yes the PCI-X slots run at 64bit 133Mhz, but the connection between the North and South bridge is so limited that running a Raid 5 setup would get bogged down by it in heavy use.

 

[Peter]

The PCI slots on Hance Rapids 6300ESB run at 66 MHz only. The chip doesn't even bother support 100 let alone 133 MHz.

You'll have to get more serious on your mainboard choice if you want the real thing, as far as I/O bandwidth is concerned.

 

[rayon]

Are there any good MB for Pentium 4 with better bandwidth between the north and south bridges or will I have to go Xeon/Opteron?

Do you recommend any mobo in particular?

Thanks,
Bruno.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: rayon
Are there any good MB for Pentium 4 with better bandwidth between the north and south bridges or will I have to go Xeon/Opteron?

Do you recommend any mobo in particular?

Thanks,
Bruno.

Not that has 64bit slots.

If you want a reg. board (non-Opteron/Xeon) then get a Athlon64 939 board with the nForce chip. Yes you would have to use the 133Mhz on the pci bus, but video and ethernet would not be on that so it should provide enough. And since it is a single chip I THINK it runs at the standard hypertransport speed to the CPU/Mem. controller.

Like this...
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=13-123-222&depa=1

 

[rayon]

Thanks, Marlin1975, but I'm looking into maximizing the I/O performance. I need a PCI-X running at 66MHz at least.

Ok, I think found some more or less affordable good mobo's to start:

Tiger i7501(S2723GNN): http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=13-151-117&depa=1

Supermicro X5DPA-GG: http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=13-182-024&depa=1

Both are based on the E7501 + P64H2 chipsets. Both have at least 1 PCI-X 64bit 133MHz slot, have a GbE port and they both cost about the same. I'm not familiar with neither brands although I've heard good things about both. Which one would you choose?

The next thing would be to find Xeons at a good price. Once thing I've noticed (at least on Newegg) is that the 533MHz (Prestonia) parts are more expensive than the 800MHz FSB parts (Nocona). Perharps its because the Prestonias have 1MB of L3 cache?

Any suggestion on where to get good prices on the 533MHz? Maybe without the L3 cache they would be less expensive but I don't know if they make them without the L3 cache.

Thanks,
Bruno.