Dual Core, Dual CPU?

[raptorsoft2000]

I was wondering if money is no object, is there a place I can get, or is it possible to build myself a dual-core, dual cpu, (effectively 4 cpus) computer????

I just saw on Dell that they have dual-cores now, making it less geeky, but a DC-DCPU would blow everyone away! If I get a dual cpu motherboard that supports the socket that the dual cores use, can I use 2 dual cores in it? Or do they not make the dual cpu, dual core boards even? If so, how much would the board be, linky?

Thanks!!!!

 

[sonoma1993]

amd opteron systems is what you are looking for. On monarchcomputer.com you can build an amd opteron with dual cpu/dual core cpu.

 

[ProviaFan]

You're looking at a Tyan K8WE motherboard (dual Opteron) with two dual-core Opterons in it. With all the accessories, I'd expect the price to hit the north side of US$3000. If you should desire to go so low as to attempt some gaming on that friggin awesome workstation, the K8WE does have dual PCI-E 16x slots, so some Nvidia SLI goodness is not out of the question.

 

[imported_michaelpatrick33]

Yeah, currently I believe you can have up to an eight way dualcore system (MMM 16 processors)

Monarch is a good place to build a theoretical system.

 

[l Xes l]

w0w.. daz insane...

 

[bob4432]

but, what game is setup to use smt/smp? for gaming it would be a total waste of money and you would better off if you wanted to go extreme to go with a fast a64 and 2x6800ultras. at this time, most programs are not smp/smt aware, let alone games so you would only be playing with one processor, while the other did nothing unless you planned on encoding audio/video where some of the encoders are smp/smt aware. also, i don't think xp pro allows more than 2 processors yet, but i could be wrong on that point.

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: bob4432
but, what game is setup to use smt/smp? for gaming it would be a total waste of money and you would better off if you wanted to go extreme to go with a fast a64 and 2x6800ultras. at this time, most programs are not smp/smt aware, let alone games so you would only be playing with one processor, while the other did nothing unless you planned on encoding audio/video where some of the encoders are smp/smt aware. also, i don't think xp pro allows more than 2 processors yet, but i could be wrong on that point.

I was joking about the gaming... Obviously such a workstation would have to have primary purpose that involved heavily multithreaded applications (probably several of them at the same time) to be justifiable in terms of cost / performance.

FYI, MS has decided - how nice of them - to count HT and dual core systems in XP OSes based on the socket, not based on the number of virtual or real cores. Therefore, AFAIK, in theory you could use the P4 XE dual core with its two virtual processors per core with XP Home edition that supports only one "processor," and of course, a dual dual core Opteron system would work fine with XP Pro.

 

[Dubb]

Originally posted by: bob4432
but, what game is setup to use smt/smp? for gaming it would be a total waste of money and you would better off if you wanted to go extreme to go with a fast a64 and 2x6800ultras. at this time, most programs are not smp/smt aware, let alone games so you would only be playing with one processor, while the other did nothing unless you planned on encoding audio/video where some of the encoders are smp/smt aware. also, i don't think xp pro allows more than 2 processors yet, but i could be wrong on that point.

I always read posts like this and raise an eyebrow, scrunch up my nose, and look quizzical.

For starters, I don't game, and I'd be hard pressed to come up with a program I use reqularly that isn't multithreaded. Notepad? word? Acrobat reader? I think that's about it.

secondly...after making the switch to a dual processor computer...I can't stand using single processor computers anymore. It drives me batty that I can't open 5 things at once and still be able to websurf while it's doing that.

I suppose it'd be different if I gamed...

different strokes for different folks I guess...

 

[imported_michaelpatrick33]

Originally posted by: bob4432
but, what game is setup to use smt/smp? for gaming it would be a total waste of money and you would better off if you wanted to go extreme to go with a fast a64 and 2x6800ultras. at this time, most programs are not smp/smt aware, let alone games so you would only be playing with one processor, while the other did nothing unless you planned on encoding audio/video where some of the encoders are smp/smt aware. also, i don't think xp pro allows more than 2 processors yet, but i could be wrong on that point.

He didn't mention anything about gaming. He wanted to know about dualsocket dualcore options which in an AMD only party at this point (albeit a very, very expensive one). Unless of course you count the 1000 dollar 840EE hypethreading active dualcore process as "four" cores. Of course the 550 dollar AMD X2 beats and uses a lot less energy. It would be interesting to see how much more if any electricity a two 275 system uses than a 840EE system with comparable (can't be the same obviously) systems.

If he is looking at a four processor system, I don't think (I hope not anyway, LOL) he is thinking of using it as a gamebox. That would be funny. Of course when the newer multi-threade game engines come out. Of course an advantage to dualcore is playing a game and doing background tasks, such as file compression, multimedia stuff, encoding, or multi-tasking with eleven programs open at once (I don't usally have more than five or six myself but still)
You are incorrect with the XP Pro. XP Pro licenses by socket, not by core. So Windows XP Pro will support 4 processors in a two socket format.

 

[bob4432]

i got mixed up, i was reading another thread at the same time and kind of answered this one thinking it had to do with gaming too, my bad. i guess i dont multi task to well...

in response to dubb - i have had a dual machine and i will admit they are quite speedy, i just can't afford a new dually or i would have one, maybe looking into the athlon x2 when it is cheaper in about a year or so.

 

[batmanuel]

From what I've seen, AMD cheats a bit with the dual core chips and reports the multiple cores as virtual processors rather than physical processors. This way, a two-way dual-core Opteron setup will look the same to the OS as a dual Xeon with HT (two CPU sockets and four virtual processors) and Win XP Pro will run happily thinking that there are really only two physical processors.

Some of the CPUID screenshots of dual core AMD systems I've seen so far show the chips as actually having Hyperthreading enabled because the AMD chips are reporting the chips as being HTT-enabled to the current Winodws OS and legacy apps while using a new CPUID feature bit to tell future software that it is really a dual core AMD chip with no HTT.

 

[biostud]

Originally posted by: batmanuel
From what I've seen, AMD cheats a bit with the dual core chips and reports the multiple cores as virtual processors rather than physical processors. This way, a two-way dual-core Opteron setup will look the same to the OS as a dual Xeon with HT (two CPU sockets and four virtual processors) and Win XP Pro will run happily thinking that there are really only two physical processors.

Some of the CPUID screenshots of dual core AMD systems I've seen so far show the chips as actually having Hyperthreading enabled because the AMD chips are reporting the chips as being HTT-enabled to the current Winodws OS and legacy apps while using a new CPUID feature bit to tell future software that it is really a dual core AMD chip with no HTT.

Uhm, if it makes the software run faster without the need of changing the code, it's just a smart way of doing it, not cheating.

 

[WackyDan]

Buy an IBM P-Series..... and you can be 4 or 8 core and multi-cpu al you want...

If you got the dough.....