P3-700mhz-dual-capable\64mb\10 gb\40x\10/100 LAN $599

[Sinner]

Toshiba M500D
700MHz Intel® Pentium® III Processor
Dual Processing Capable
64MB SDRAM Memory
10GB Hard Drive
40X CD-ROM
10/100Base-T Ethernet
AGP Graphics Card
8MB SDRAM Video RAM

Linkified

I ordered 3. I believe they don't require a VRM for the second CPU (it's on board). Means these servers are cheap to upgrade. They make a great workgroup server. I have 1 Toshiba M500 in my server farm already. I was going to wait till I received my 3 and had a chance to "review" them before posting this, but I see there are only 10 left so HOP on.

 

[unclebud]

how much is shipping? oog... egghead...
gl
bump

 

[Sinner]

I don't remember...I shipped by pack mule cause I got 3 of them and didn't want to pay alot in shipping.
Ground would be about $30 each I suspect as it usually costs me that on computers.

 

[dougjnn]

I wonder two things.

What's the motherboard? Can the PIII 700 be run at 133fsb. (I bet not.)

What's the AGP card, or is it built into the mobo with seperate video ram also on the mobo. Probably the laster. Maybe the Intel 810 chipset mobo? Who made dual of that though? Can a real 3D card be plugged in instead?

These are the Q's I'd ask if I was in the market right now for something like this, which I'm not.

(I think you could build from parts for about $100 cheaper, quick guesstimate.)

 

[WindWalker]

Specs from Toshiba
PDF
Looks like Giga MB
TNT vanta Video

 

[VBboy]

Sinner, what, you couldn't built one for like $150 less? And if you go with AMD Duron 750, you could save over $200. 64 MB is not likely to help you make a workgroup server unless you're on Win 3.11

 

[Kwad Guy]

AMD is now supporting SMP????

I would call this only a warm deal, especially if, as it says on the
Egghead site, this board only supports processors up to 700Mhz.

A *HOT* deal on a SMP server was the Compaq ML350 that was selling
for around $650 shipped from Onvia a couple of months ago. That
supports dual processors up to 933/133Mhz, has on-board SCSI, has
a hot swap bay, etc. A much better machine than the Toshiba.
Downside is that to use the second processor slot you need to
locate a VRM, which is not an easy feat if you're not willing
to buy an official Compaq processor upgrade kit...

Kwad

 

[Sinner]

Although I appreciate sarcasm as much as the next guy...

I ordered these servers for work and added memory to them, RAM is so cheap these days I order all my machines with the lowest possible amount and buy more aftermarket. I get the full manufacturer's warranty on the equipment, not to mention I save time. I don't know about you but my time is to valuable to be ordering components from different sources and then building the servers.

I posted this deal...not because it was the cheapest way to build a ~700mhz system but because it was a good deal on a workgroup server. I seem to recall this being the "Hot Deals" forum and not the testoserone-charged "I can build it cheaper" forum.

I also wouldn't put a Duron in a server. Not that they aren't speedy processors, but I use strictly Intel for my server applications.

Regardless, it's a deal that isn't for everyone. I posted it because I remembered the popularity of a similar deal on the Compaq Proliant ML350 600mhz. That machine required a VRM and was much more expensive to upgrade. If you don't have anything nice to say then keep your trap shut..didn't your momma teach you that?

 

[dougjnn]

Just for my general computer knowledge, what's a VRM?

 

[Sinner]

I should also note...my rep at Egghead tells me that ordering 10 I can get them for $579.

They only show 3 in stock but I know they have more...if you really needed that many you could probably convince a CSR to transfer a few from the auction side.

 

[Sinner]

Voltage Regulator Module.

Most enterprise servers require an external (to the motherboard) one which adds $300-$600 plus CPU for an upgrade.

The Compaq Proliant VRM was $389 Last time I bought one.

 

[VisionsUCI]

Sinner, this was a good post. Don't mind the other members. Given the opportunity cost of not having to build it, plus it being a good, inexpensive server, I think it is a hot deal.

 

[unclebud]

yep, it's a good deal, the only reason i ooged was cause it was egghead, i know ya'll have seen the thread so i won't bore ya'll... do they take cash? it's not auction, is it? haven't clicked yet--surf time very limited here

 

[Sinner]

It isn't an auction its a clearance. They got 300 of these in 2 weeks ago, but I was afraid to post until my paperwork here at work was completed and my units shipped.

Those Compaq's sold out in hours and I was afraid I'd miss out if I posted before I got mine.

 

[Vpham97]

I don't know what the exact stat is any more.

But an Athlon single CPU 700 can outrun Dual Pentium 500.

So, I wonder what can an Athlon 1 Ghz can outrun Dual Pentium of??

 

[rominl]

for AnandTech server, they run 1GHz Athlon against Dual 550 Xeon.

 

[JImmyK]

Vpham, what exactly do u mean by outrun? I hope ur not talking about raw power r u? I jsut did a quick benchmack using the basic sisoft sandra.
Dual P3 Benchmark on sisoft compared to Athy 1 gigaertz

 

[PG]

Something's not right with those benchmarks.

 

[JImmyK]

not right? either ur implying that im lieing or you think the software is faulty, whatever the case I dont understand y. what were u expecting? if there is another benchmark program u want me to use I will.

 

[PG]

Sorry, but they didn't look right to me at first.

But after some searching on the web I found some other benchmarks that look almost exactly the same as yours. They are within a few points for most results.

http://www.pcscoop.com/hardware/motherboards/ABIT/VP6/Sandra-cpu-screenshot-full.asp

I didn't expect a dual Celery setup to look that good in the benchmark. Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you were lying.

 

[hojl]

I always laugh when I see these AMD INTEL battles because WHO CAREs

 

[deadmeat]

Actually, although this turned into more of an information thread, I care because I am starting to do digital video editing (just for fun) and my athlon 950 takes a LONG time to render video, even with 256 mb ram and the fastest HD I can buy. I'm thinking of going dual processor so rendering doesn't take all night, and would like any more info on the single-processor vs. dual processor thing. For example, the link just above seems to say that a single 1ghz athlon only does half as good as a dual pentium 1ghz processor. If these benchmarks are true, might be worthwhile for me to spend a few hundred to upgrade to a dually, since it doesn't look like we'll have dual athlons any time soon. Anyone else have links to this sort of info?

Thanks as always for great info and debate!

 

[HEUGE]

I actually own two of these (purchased a last year at $700-something each + shipping from uBID). No regrets so far...

The machine I have at home is very stable, and it has the following specs

Gigabyte ga6bxd
Award Bios v4.51pg
fc 01 00
02/22/20

A few notes on the Motherboard:
1) Considered one of the most stable dual-processor boards out there
2) Is NOT overclockable to 133MHZ (the processor is a 700E Slot 1) as noted on many MP sites
3) Motherboard is flashed to most recent revision - can support 80GB HD (I think that's what GB website said)
4) No ISA slots (the motherboard has the pinouts, but no connectors)

since I cared about 1 and not 2, I bought it. It looks like a second processor with a 100MHz bus could be purchased OEM or Retail and it should work. The only problem is the CB0 Slot 1 700E's are no longer made, and only the Cc0's are apparently pretty good. I would recommend buying two machines, combining the two CB0's into one machine and buying two new processors (up to 950 supported *unofficial, but dipswitch hackable*) for the other box. And you are right, no VRM's. As of last month 700Mhz slot 1's were readily available retail boxed, but now they have increased in price. The OEM's are still relatively cheap. Point 4, ISA... we don't need no stinkin ISA...

Power Supply
hipro 300w max 180w actual

Video Card nvidia Riva
ga 620
vanta 2.05.47.03.00
12/02/99
<- not too bad, but I upgraded. As a note, since this is an older MB, the AGP slot may have power issue with some of the video cards out there. That is why I upgraded to a Voodoo 5 5500 (separate power). I have heard the gforce may have issues with this.

The CPU in my machine is
700/256/100/1.65v s1
serial removed
imc '00 sl3xm

10/100 card is a D-Link card (note non-standard!!!)
It's not even listed on D-link's website as a card they make. The Toshiba drivers are for WinNT and 2K, but nothing for 95/98. If you get it to work let me know, but I replaced the one at home with two Linksys 10/100's (cheap and well supported, but best of all they are rock solid)

10GB HD is a WD at 5400 rpm (I think)
30 GB Maxtor just added as secondary master with the CD moved to secondary slave.

No sound on the system, but the Sound Blaster Live XGamer nipped that one in the bud. Digital and analogue inputs went straight into the CD (liteon).

Memory upgraded to 256 MB ECC SDRAM (100MHz)

The machine I have at work was not so stable for ESSBASE, but after that was removed and other applications loaded it has been rock solid. The instability could have been caused by a bad Maxtor (old 40 GB model) inside of it. That machine is stock running NT4.0 with 1GB of ECC SDRAM. Initially I bought this to become my home linux monster (I wanted paired machines), but I kept it at work and developers were using it as a quick test box, and eventually there was so much hard work being done on it that the company decided to keep it. (I finally gave up on taking it home and expensed it last week)

Is this a good machine for $599? Yeah, if you are looking for dual processor that is stable. (note: Only a Yeah, not a heck yeah since it has been selling for sub-$500.00 in past months). Is this a good price for someone who wants to play with overclocking and Dual Processor? Nope. Build your own rig with a 133MHz system. Am I going to buy a third one to match with my home machine? Nope, the MB can't support many of the newer video cards due to power requirements (some have said that they have been able to run, others say unstable), and computer prices should still keep tumbling this year.

If you are on uBid and you want to build a server... then go look at the HP servers there selling for sub-$700.00 with hot-swap bays and built-in dual-channel SCSI, and some with hardware RAID. Those have a warranty of 1 year if they are the new ones. The HP dual processor boxes require VRM's, but they are rock solid. At one point I was looking into building some servers based on a mix of uBid parts and Crucial memory, and I could have built a machine that was quad-Xeon capable (not in there yet) with 1 GB of memory and 12x9GB disks running RAID 5 for $3000.00. *drool*

If you bid on the Toshiba, don't bid more than $400.00-$425.00 (my personal opinion) since you are just raising the price for others, they have been selling hundreds of these over the past few months, and I bet they have more.

 

[Wolverine88]

I got Dell PowerEdge 2400 for about $1500 (inc. Tax) with free shipping.

it's
serverworks chipset
dual-cpu capable
piii 733
128 PC133 RAM
9g scsi u160
etc.

the coolest thing is the neat server case.