Any SSE Mobos for MP?

[IntelConvert]

Photoshop is SSE-optimized. So since I'm looking to build a new Athlon DDR system, as a Photoshop user I'd like to take advantage of MP's SSE instruction-set.

...but an MP wouldn't do me much good in Photoshop if none of the current crop of DDR mobos support SSE yet! Anyone know for sure if any of the Socket-A DDR mobos out there will support SSE now (or very soon)???

 

[ST4RCUTTER]

Maybe I'm confused, but what does SSE optimization have to do with the mobo? I mean, this is software not hardware based. What changes on a mobo to make it SSE compliant?

 

[senior guy]

ST4RCUTTER: A mobo's BIOS not only must recognize the CPU (in this case, Athlon 4/MP), it has to enable the CPU's SSE instruction-set. Lacking that, the SSE instructions in the Athlon 4/MP will not work!

IntelConvert: As another heavy PS user, I've also been trying to find that out. Although I don't know for sure, I don't believe that of the socket-A BIOSes out there (that recognize the A4/MP) will support SSE yet, but I'm sure they will by the time the desktop A4 is finally released (i.e., before Sept).

 

[Rand]

Most of the AMD760 based boards will utilize the SSE capabilities, but only a very small handful of the KT133A, ALi Magik1, and KT266 boards are able to at present. All of the upcoming and currently available AMD760MP(X) boards can utilize it.

To get the SSE support in the AthlonMP your probably going to have to purchase Tyan's Dual processor board, or one of the AMD760 boards.

 

[TuffGuy]

the 8K7A has MP support for *some* sse instructions, and a BIOS supporting all sse instuctions should be released by the end of july.

 

[Boonesmi]

all the mp boards will have some sse because they are designed for the athlon mp which has some sse instructions

 

[bevo]

The only amd761 MB, or any other MB, that has SSE native bios support, in its latest bios, for Athlon MP, that I currently know of, is the MSI K7 Master.....

 

[IntelConvert]

I guess I should have asked: are there any Socket-A DDR mobos out there that will FULLY support SSE now (or very soon)?

So what I'm 'hearin' is that right now Tyan's 'dually' and MSI's K7Master are the only DDR mobo that FULLY support Athlon MP's SSE (3DNow! Pro) instruction-set. Well, the Tyan's price is just outrageous, so I guess that leaves the K7Master. I want to build my system by the end of the month, so unless someone knows of another solution, I'll probably be ordering a K7Master sometime next week (I sure hope bevo is right about this)!

 

[Courtland]

Unless you are talking about the Tyan dual motherboard, the only board with native/full support via a BIOS flash for the MPs capabilities, is the K7 Master. However, please note that all or at least most of the current Athlon DDR boards will POST with an MP chip in them and will most likely have a BIOS update in the near future that will add SSE support. Also note that the Tyan dual board is the only one that supports the Palominos built in thermal diode.

 

[bevo]

Courtland is correct in what he says, He's another disciple of fasteddie and fasteddie is the master of the master. One other thing is that I'm not sure if any 761 boards support the memory prefetch feature od the Palomino. You might ask fasteddie at amdzone.com, bbs, amd chipset section. He's a very nice fellow and I'm sure he would be the best to ask..

 

[IntelConvert]

Courtland, bevo... Thanks for your help. I will try to get fasteddie's confirmation on this before making my move. I've seen the performance difference that SSE makes running Photoshop, so I don't want to wind-up with a new system that won't FULLY support SSE now, or very soon!

 

[Insane3D]

The Hardware Prefetch is supported by the Epox 8K7A, I know it work on mine with the latest bios. The only thing it doesn't enable is SSE support, but Epox has confirmed they will release a bios with full SSE capability sometime this month... I think it's a pretty fair statement to assume just about any AMD760 board will have SSE support added in a bios update at some point..

"You might ask fasteddie at amdzone.com, bbs, amd chipset section. He's a very nice fellow and I'm sure he would be the best to ask.."

Ummm..there are a few people here that are using them too...but ignore us, we don't know what we are talking about....

 

[bevo]

<< Ummm..there are a few people here that are using them too...but ignore us, we don't know what we are talking about.... >>

Insane3D...Of Course there are, sorry about that, no disrespect intended!

 

[Insane3D]

None taken...just pokin fun..

 

[IntelConvert]

Actually, I wouldn't mind waiting as much as another month for complete AthlonMP support (including, of course, full SSE support).

In that regard, as a non-OC'er, heavily into Photoshop, I'd really appreciate your views as to the pros &amp; cons of the Epox 8K7A vs MSI's K7Master vs ???

 

[Insane3D]

One thing to rememember, even though the new Athlon 4 core supports SSE, it's not as fast with SSE instructions as Intel CPU's... Here's a quote from Anand's review of the AMD 760MP chipset...


&quot;The Athlon MP is the first non-mobile AMD processor to bring a full implementation of Intel's Streaming SIMD Extensions (SSE) to the table. This allows the Athlon MP to run code optimized for 3DNow! or SSE instruction sets although it doesn't necessarily mean that it can run SSE optimized code as fast as a Pentium III/Pentium 4. AMD calls the Athlon MP's 3DNow! + SSE support their 3DNow! Professional technology. AMD will eventually include full SSE2 compliance in their Hammer line of CPUs. &quot;

 

[IntelConvert]

I realize that may be, but I don't like the (available) Intel alternatives!

So what are your mobo recommendations for my specific needs?

 

[Insane3D]

Probably the K7Master or the Epox 8K7A. If you need more than 512mb of ram, check out the Gigabyte GA-7DXR as it has 3 DDR slots. If you do go the Gigabyte route, remember that you need Registered DDR to fill more than two DIMM slots on a AMD760 mobo.

 

[IntelConvert]

In some other thread, I believe that a GA-7DXR user said that he populated the board with up to 640MB (2x512 + 1x128) of Unbuffered PC2100 and it ran totally stable!

As far as I can see right now, 512MB will do just fine, but that is a nice (potential) advantage that the GA-7DXR has over the other two boards. However, it is apparently so popular that it is in very short supply!

 

[Insane3D]

I have read that also, but the only reason this may have worked is because the third dimm was 128mb. I am not calling him a liar or anything, but the registered memory issue is a known limitation of the AMD 760 chipset, and it is listed as such in their techdocs...

 

[IntelConvert]

Yeah, I knew of that AMD spec, but that user (I believe it was 'Biosmaster') was very certain of his findings, and as I recall, he was writing a review somewhere on the GA-7DXR!

As I said, I'm pretty sure that 512MB will me do just fine, but having a 3rd DIMM slot to add another 128MB would be good insurance. But then again, the GA-7DX is extremely hard to get.

 

[Courtland]

I remember reading something like that but I wouldn't trust it, I am sure his was working fine, however there are people who have tried it and have gotten bad results, if you are getting new ram, go for registered if you are going the gigabyte or kg7 route, I don't think they cost much more per dimm.

 

[senior guy]

Registered DDR modules don't cost much more, BUT they use an additional clock-cycle in each memory operation, so you take a hit in overall performance! :frown:

 

[bevo]

<< a GA-7DXR user said that he populated the board with up to 640MB (2x512 + 1x128) of Unbuffered PC2100 and it ran totally stable! >>

it may have worked out for him in the short-run, but I wouldn't take any long-term bets on the reliability of his system. He faces the probability of mega-corruption issues.

Intelcovert, I am in just about the exact situation as you. I have had 20 pc's due and on hold for my graphics dept since the beginning of this year that are speced for amd solutions. Most of these are to run photoshop. The best solutions are just now rearing their heads.If you can wait about a month, the bios situation on many existing boards will be much more mature, the sis and nvidia chipsets will be debuting, and most important to photoshop users, the dual amd MBs will find the surface. Since PS is a threaded application, it should sing with dual 1.4MHz Palominos and about a GB of ddr...forget sweating this out for now and hang in there!

 

[IntelConvert]

bevo~

Yes, we do indeed have a common interest here. Can I wait about a month? Well yes, but I'm ashamed to admit that I've been playing the 'waiting game' for over a year now! You know how it goes - there's always something better coming soon!

Sure PS would sing with 'duallies' (it would probably sing even better with SCSI drives), but where does one draw the line???

BTW, I reached FastEddie. Both he and Tako_chu confirmed that the MSI K7Master with its latest BIOS fully supports the Palomino. Thanks for the referral.