AMD 4x4 + SERVER MOBO??

[Goose77]

Does anyone know if its gonna be possible to do quad fx in a server motherboard. Would be cheaper, as some boards start out at 200$, NOT to mention Unbuffered ram!!

I wouldnt mind this set up because of NUMA, and, with unbuffered ram latiency would be nice.

 

[TanisHalfElven]

Originally posted by: Goose77
Does anyone know if its gonna be possible to do quad fx in a server motherboard. Would be cheaper, as some boards start out at 200$, NOT to mention Unbuffered ram!!

I wouldnt mind this set up because of NUMA, and, with unbuffered ram latiency would be nice.

isn't unbuffered ram bad for server enviorments. i mean isn't it more error prone

also please explain your post. cuz i thihnk most server boards require ecc ram

 

[Ayah]

Buffered ram just costs more, is slower and in theory "safer".

 

[aka1nas]

Originally posted by: Goose77
Does anyone know if its gonna be possible to do quad fx in a server motherboard. Would be cheaper, as some boards start out at 200$, NOT to mention Unbuffered ram!!

I wouldnt mind this set up because of NUMA, and, with unbuffered ram latiency would be nice.

I don't see your point. You are talking about the server motherboards being cheaper, but you can already do dual dual-core with those. Those boards require registered/ECC RAM already.

 

[Furen]

Just so everyone knows, he's asking if you can run a 4x4 system on a server board instead of buying the expensive 680a board. If the pin configuration is the same then there shouldn't be any problems at all except (maybe) with DRAM compatibility. Registered and unregistered RAM have the same pinout but the motherboard may not let you use it just because its unbuffered.

 

[aka1nas]

Originally posted by: Furen
Just so everyone knows, he's asking if you can run a 4x4 system on a server board instead of buying the expensive 680a board. If the pin configuration is the same then there shouldn't be any problems at all except (maybe) with DRAM compatibility. Registered and unregistered RAM have the same pinout but the motherboard may not let you use it just because its unbuffered.

Wouldn't it be cheaper to buy 2xx series dual core Opterons instead?

 

[SexyK]

There's no way it will work. The memory controller in the 4x4 FX's is different than that in an Opteron. Currently the ASUS L1N64-SLI WS (used in Anand's 4x4 review) is the only board that supports 4x4 FX's. Doesn't make much sense to use these chips in a normal server board anyway, as others have said. Much of the appeal of 4x4 (if it has any appeal at all) comes from the vast number of PCIex16 slots, SATA ports, USB ports, etc...

 

[Furen]

Originally posted by: aka1nas

Originally posted by: Furen
Just so everyone knows, he's asking if you can run a 4x4 system on a server board instead of buying the expensive 680a board. If the pin configuration is the same then there shouldn't be any problems at all except (maybe) with DRAM compatibility. Registered and unregistered RAM have the same pinout but the motherboard may not let you use it just because its unbuffered.

Wouldn't it be cheaper to buy 2xx series dual core Opterons instead?

If you want 1.8GHz or 2.0GHz Opterons then yes, it'll be cheaper. You'd still have to buy registered DIMMs but that's something else altogether. The nice thing about 4x4 is that $600 gets you a pair of 2.6GHz Opterons (basically) that can use unbuffered RAM.

Originally posted by: SexyK
There's no way it will work. The memory controller in the 4x4 FX's is different than that in an Opteron. Currently the ASUS L1N64-SLI WS (used in Anand's 4x4 review) is the only board that supports 4x4 FX's. Doesn't make much sense to use these chips in a normal server board anyway, as others have said. Much of the appeal of 4x4 (if it has any appeal at all) comes from the vast number of PCIex16 slots, SATA ports, USB ports, etc...

I have yet to see any information that tells me how, exactly, these chips are different. The only difference I know of is the memory controller's support for unbuffered RAM, but I doubt the memory controller itself is different, more likely than not all K8 memory controllers of the same revision are identical but have certain features disabled. I wonder if a BIOS update would allow a non-4x4 Opteron board to use Quad FXes.

 

[Goose77]

To clearify,

this system is 1 not for server, but gaming. I know, there is not a reason for such a system.

I have always wanted a system like this. SO, its either go OPTERONS with buffered ram (which would be expensive) or stick with single socket. Thats why i got excited when i heard about 4x4.

I was hoping to go the 4x4 route since it would be cheap plus unbuffered ram. And if ya look the prices up the 4x4 is cheaper than opterons at same speed, plus they dont require buffered ram. I failed to realize that the mobo also required buffered ram, thinking that the memory control was ondie and that the only thing mattered was the proc.

also i already have 2gigs of ddr2 ram, so buying a 4x4 with a server board is all i would have needed, saving me big $$$.

i hope that clears things up.

 

[Furen]

Originally posted by: Goose77
To clearify,

this system is 1 not for server, but gaming. I know, there is not a reason for such a system.

I have always wanted a system like this. SO, its either go OPTERONS with buffered ram (which would be expensive) or stick with single socket. Thats why i got excited when i heard about 4x4.

I was hoping to go the 4x4 route since it would be cheap plus unbuffered ram. And if ya look the prices up the 4x4 is cheaper than opterons at same speed, plus they dont require buffered ram. I failed to realize that the mobo also required buffered ram, thinking that the memory control was ondie and that the only thing mattered was the proc.

also i already have 2gigs of ddr2 ram, so buying a 4x4 with a server board is all i would have needed, saving me big $$$.

i hope that clears things up.

I'm not sure whether or not a server motherboard would REQUIRE registered ram. The BIOS may require it but I think an update could take care of that. More important is the fact that AMD is calling the FX socket socket L1FX, which could mean that these are not pin-compatible with socket F. Of course, it could just be marketing but we won't know for sure until someone actually plugs in a pair of FXes into an Opteron motherboard (or the other way around).