Athlon XP and MP dual cpu config

[imported_TopCat]

I currently have a single Athlon MP 2400+ on a dual-chip board. A second 2400+ is pretty hard to find at a reasonable price, so I'm wondering if I could instead buy an XP 2400+ and perhaps modify it to run in an SMP config. If so, would I run into any problems in placing it on the same board as an MP?

I'm assuming both would have to be the same core, thoroughbred in my case.

 

[TheStu]

i dont think that will work... if for no other reason than that arent the only XP procs availabe these days Barton core?

 

[TomKazansky]

only t-breds may be converted from xp to mp. bartons cannot.

 

[aka1nas]

Untrue, many run modded bartons and higher end MPs are bartons with a lower FSB. The only issue is that regular Barton's run on a higher FSB than MPs and may be multiplier superlocked.

You will need to pinmod the XP's L5 bridge that enables SMP for it to work of course.

 

[imported_TopCat]

So is that a yes, the modding converts the XP into an MP and can be used with another MP 2400+? I just want to be safe before I spend $60 on a chip.

 

[aka1nas]

Yes L5 modding the correct bridge will make the XP functionally equivalent to the corresponding MP. You need to maek sure they are of the same core(Thoroughbred) and running at the same speed. You can look up a guide to find out which bridge to paint and how to do it.

BTW, which dual board are you running? Some of them can handle mobile Barton's if you want to upgrade to newer chips with more L2 cache. The MPX chipset on your board is pretty weak on memory bandwith, so having the Barton's extra cache might actually give a decent performance boost in that case as it might take some of the load of the memory bus.

 

[imported_TopCat]

I'm running a Tyan Tiger MPX S2466N-4M board.

 

[aka1nas]

According to Tyan's website, you need BIOS v4.05 or higher to use anything higher than an MP 2800+. As you already are using a 2400+, you should at least be running v4.04 atm. Luckily, you have the newer revision of the board and should be able to handle the load of two 2400+s provided you have a decent PSU hooked up to that thing. The earlier revisions of the MPX boards had troubles with higher end Athlon MPs running in SMP as the power delivery circuits couldn't handle the load and would end up burning out the power connector over time. What PSU do you have?

 

[imported_TopCat]

Originally posted by: aka1nas
According to Tyan's website, you need BIOS v4.05 or higher to use anything higher than an MP 2800+. As you already are using a 2400+, you should at least be running v4.04 atm. Luckily, you have the newer revision of the board and should be able to handle the load of two 2400+s provided you have a decent PSU hooked up to that thing. The earlier revisions of the MPX boards had troubles with higher end Athlon MPs running in SMP as the power delivery circuits couldn't handle the load and would end up burning out the power connector over time. What PSU do you have?

Right now I've got a 300W. Think that'll be enough to drive both chips or should I upgrade it? Not really much else in the system: 1 hd, GeForce 3, old Sound Blaster, 1.5 gigs 2100 ram, case fan, and a dvd drive.

 

[aka1nas]

A 300 watt PSU will probably not handle a dual Athlon Setup. Who makes it and what are the +12v and +5v ratings? Most of the folks over at 2cpu.com would probably recommend something in the 450 watt range from a reputable manufacturer for a dual Athlon setup.