• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Dual proc vs single proc... for non gamer.. serious worker!

K

kormaster

Senior member


Building a NON-gaming system. It is for a hardcore architecture user who uses mainly rendering progs, intensive graphic manipulation, progs such as Adobe Photoshop, 3Dmax, AutoCAD, FormZ... i understand that not all are SMP ready progs.. but would DUAL proc system w/ 512+ mem is suggested with Radeon 8500?

Seems like there is A LOT of problems running a dual proc... Im thinking about putting Win XP Pro..

Suggested Components:
Mobo :MSI k7D?
CPU: AMD MP.. dont know which clock speed yet...
VID: Radeon 8500
mem : 512+ Crucial DDR2100 reg or non-reg??
case: something w/ 400W if possible

DVD/CD-R: LITE-ON 40x... 16x DVD-ROM

Well... under $1000 possible or

should i just stick to single prc system.... im so lost.. help me... and if dual or single.. please suggest me with exactly which one to buy.
Thanks guys.
 
Definatley Dual, with a SCSI harddrive if possible. Seagate cheetah X-15, if you can fit it in.

I'd say just use dual MP1200+'s as they're dirt cheap (80$) and just get 512MB of PC2100 CAS2.0 X 1 and you should be set.

512MB of PC2100 should be 100$ (Registered, if the price is wrong someone correct me please!)
189$ for the mobo
160$ for the CPU's
Radeon8500=100$
SCSI controller=80$ (Ultra2, since this is a single harddisk rig)
Seagate X-15 36LP 200$
Liteon 16X DVDROM 50$
Liteon 40X CD writer 70$
1000$ after shipping. BUY BUY BUY!!!





 
I've gotten a suggestion to use Asus mobo. And MSI.. they are new and people are having probs across the net.. i checked with 2cpu.com forum where SMP is the driving force of the whole forum... people arent happy with MSI.. Number of people suggested Tyan... so I'm leaning toward that... Ok.. now.. to the fun part.. ORDERING. heheh

Newegg Prices.
TYAN Tiger MP (S2460) K7 AMD 760MP - $169

Little help here... which one??
AMD Athlon MP 1600 1.4 GHz PROCESSOR CPU - OEM - $133
RETAIL - $141
AMD PALOMINO MP1200 1.2GHz 266MHz FSB MP -oem - $79
AMD ATHLON MP 1800+ 1.53 GHz Retail - $160


CRUCIAL MICRON 256MB 32x72 PC 2100 DDR RAM - OEM((((REGISTERED ECC))))184-Pin, CL=2.5-Unbuffered. ECC 2.5V - $69 (x 2,3,4) I might go for 4 sticks

ANTEC Server Chasis (Workstation Tower) Model SX1040; Antec Original P4 400 watt - $118
*** has 40a for +5 volt ***
ANTEC Performance PLUS Model PLUS880- with Antec Original TRUE P4 Power Supply 430Watt - $121

OUT OF STOCK :-(


HD: SCSI HD is our of the budget range... dont u think.. all this under 1000?? possible??
Maybe I can get the 8 meg cache WD special edition....
WD WESTERN DIGITAL "SPECIAL EDITION" 80GB 7200RPM EIDE HARD DRIVE MODEL # WD800JB - OEM, DRIVE ONLY
$120


ATI OEM RADEON 8500 64MB DDR AGP BULK 275/275 - $116
ATI OEM RADEON 8500 LE 128MB DDR DVI/CRT/TV - $119
ATI RADEON 8500 LE 64MB DDR - OEM/White Box -$99
ATI RADEON 8500 128MB DDR RETAIL - $162

Any help please?
 
Hey man, SCSI is super important for that kind of work. Nobody likes waiting for modles to load. How about this?

2X registered ECC 256MB PC2100=69$X2 or 512MB of PC2100 Registered for 160$.
2X 1.2GHZ AthlonMP 160$
1X Tyan Tiger MP 160$
ANTEC Performance PLUS Model PLUS880- with Antec Original TRUE P4 Power Supply 430Watt - $121
ATI OEM RADEON 8500 64MB DDR AGP BULK 275/275 - $116

That's 717$ without shipping.

Now, add on the 280$ for a SCSI X15-36 LP (18GB, 15000RPM, that thing will open things in the blink of an eye) plus an 80$ Ultra2 SCSI controller

997$ Exactly under 1000. Maybe slightly over with shipping. I dunno about you other guys, but an X15-36 LP is way way way way fast... just make sure you have active cooling!!


 
Ack, the controller card and the drive *together* are 280$.

Anyways, if 1100$ would fit your budget, you've got your scsi. And that's important to these people because they deal with huge models that they can't wait to load.

Also, the X-15 is possibly more reliable than the WD800JB. 5 year warranty vs 3, which one would you trust more?
 
hmm... SCSI sounds so tempting.. and since u emphasized the speed to be WAY WAY WAY WAY faster than those 8 meg buffered WDs... hmm
What brand SCSI should i get??
 
If your going to go Dual Processor, with SCSI, your going to spend over 1000 dollars.

And don't CAD users like Matrox Videocards? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought CAD workers really like Matrox... Maybe an OEM Parhelia would be good...

Please don't bash me here guys, but I swore I remember CAD ppl saying Matrox was awesome.

I would say a G550 or something for the card, but then I see 3Dmax, which would need more 3D features.

What does everyone else think? Parhelia sound right for a box like this?
 
Most well known, and already recommended in this thread are the seagate cheetah x15 (36lp). At least i think they are referring to the 36lp, which is the newer version (second generation 15k rpm) of the x15. from what i have read, a VERY speedy drive - just go to storagereview and see what they say about it.

-Mel

ibm and fujitsu also make 15k rpm drives, i believe, although i coudl be mistaken.
 
that seagate x15 SCSI drive seems to be one bad @ss HD.... but still dont know which SCSI controller.. Tekram?? Adaptec?? but the latter one cost so much more.. geez... plus.. how will i set this up??

would the SCSI drive be the boot drive? (A DUMB question) but i once had a scsi drive and I had a HORRIBLE experience trying to boot from it... actually... i couldnt figure it out... sigh.... maybe it was a cheap SCSI card... (5 yrs ago)hahh ever since then.. i stayed away from it... but i guess i REALLY need it in this rig plus now it's a different SCSI generation...

Matrox vid card?? G550 ?? wouldnt Radoenm 8500 be as good as that??? plus it's got better 3D in some respect?? i dont know what im trying to say but.. that is my believe... well guys?? any comments?
 
If you gonna go TYAN, I wonder how much more a Tyan board w. integrated SCSI would be?

Dunno in US, but where I live the difference between a plain board and one w. scsi controller is less than a separate controller?

Check if S2462UNG or S2468UGN are awailable?

Go ATi over MAtrox (Just my opinion)
 
Originally posted by: DaFinn
If you gonna go TYAN, I wonder how much more a Tyan board w. integrated SCSI would be?

Dunno in US, but where I live the difference between a plain board and one w. scsi controller is less than a separate controller?

Check if S2462UNG or S2468UGN are awailable?

Go ATi over MAtrox (Just my opinion)
Click to expand...

You may be right about ATI over Matrox... Wish there were a CAD person here, maybe I'm crazy, but I swear CAD people love Matrox
 
Dang it, I just saw the prices on the proper bootable Tekram Controller's. GOSH DARN!!

I guess your rig might look a bit like this then.. might need to ask for a bit more money to pull this off.


AthlonMP 1.2GHZ X2 160$
Tyan Tiger Dual Athlon 160$
512MB registered ECC DDR (256X2) 140$
Tekram SCSI controller 125$ (From new egg)
Cheetah X15-36LP 220$ (From hyper microsystems)
Radeon8500 100$ or G550 Dualhead (It's really good for cad! Really good for photoshop! This thing is a workstation card, everyone who does hardcore CAD loves Matrox just like redshirt said. Then again... Not so good for 3dmax...) 80$ he will love this card for anything except 3DMAX.
Case with good powersupply 100$
SCSI cable 30$
Shipping~70$
All together it looks to be 1100$. Is that in your budget range? I mean, this machine will just tear up CAD models. Just have to get the money together..

I guarantee you though, this rig has alot of headroom upto the MP2000+'s...

Guarntee stable as a rock.

This thing should really chew through anything you throw at it, really... put Windows 2000 professional (WindowsXP feels a bit slow.. and he should be used to NT) and that thing will scream.

And yeah, the

 
And really, how much 3D does 3dMAX need while working on something, I didn't think it was too much. I thought it just needed it when all was said and done when it was being rendered. The G550 may have enough even for that.

Look into Matrox. And if he really wants the best for Photoshop, CAD, and all his 2D, he MUST go Matrox, but if he wants fast 3Dmax, then he'd probably have to go the Matrox Parhelia which would add a lot of cost to the system.
 
Booting from an old IDE drive would decrease preformance. While you could put the swap file on the SCSI card, windows itself would be on the old drive, decreasing preformance.
 
i guess SCSI is a must... i will find out if my sister is a hardcore 3dmax user... but still.... isnt there something that covers both sides of the mountain? G550 vs R 8500... hmmm

I was thinking about booting from her old 30 gig IDE.... yes.. it will be comparatively slower than SCSI of course.. but it would be A LOT faster than her old p3 500 that she used to render with.. gosh.,. that's like a Corolla vs mustang... now... it would be ideal to put a bootable SCSI in case of a major crash, the Ghost image i will be making her would be less hassle no??? Or.. lets avoid all that bootable business...

COULD I:
1) have SCSI as primary boot and in case of a failure of OS and need to reload the OS, i can make her boot through a floppy to DOS and load GHOST prog manually and load from an image that is stored on the 30 gig IDE which will be a 2ndary drive.

2) sacrifrice performance and do IDE as primary and SCSI as to access those big model files... in my thinking, since the comp is reading off from the SCSI to render those files, it would be faster...
 
First is highly advisable.

Second isn't highly advisable, but feasable.

You realize man, that as long as she's not looking to get the fastest performance in 3dmax, the G550/450 would be *perfect*. I hafta reiterate this, for CAD and graphics, Matrox has ruled that roost forever...

Funny, how I always visualized a guy as the master of this rig.

If your sister's worried about noise, switch to the MAM3184MC, a 15000RPM drive that tom did a review on. The Cheetah is frikkin *LOUD*!! Loud enough that it might become mildly distracting. The MAM well... It's not as fast as the X15-36LP, (Just a tad bit slower) but it has a much lower noise floor and runs much cooler. I will reiterate, on all 15000RPM drives, active cooling *is* a *requirement*.

Now that I think about it... a single AthlonXP 1800+ costs as much as an AthlonMP 1200MHZ..

And on second thought, it might be better to get an Ultra160 controller from the FS/FT forum, as it might be actually *less* costly than buying that 125$ Tekram controller. Better investigate the forsale/fortrade forum.

You might consider just putting an single AthlonMP 1800+ in right now and adding another one later if she needs it since those apps doesn't seem to be SMP enabled. SCSI would be much more of a performance boost than Dual Athlons right now, so best to put in a single AthlonMP 1800+ now and add one at a later date if she ever feels the comptuer being unresponsive in multitasking. Another point i'm thinking is that a single AthlonMP 1800+ will be easier to cool than twin AthlonMP 1.2GHZ processors.



 
Another thing. use Windows2000 instead of XP. XP is sllloowww with SCSI writing.

Final thing. Don't be afraid to boot off the SCSI drive! It's not going to jump out and bite you and say "I don't wanna be stuck with all of this stupid operating stuff"... I think you just had one bad experience. If you have trouble booting from a SCSI controller, we'll help you.
 
Heck, get a dual board, but get a normal XP processor. If the preformance isn't great enough (which I think it will be if she is used to a 500 mhz Machine), just sell the proc and get duals later on.

Or even more insane, you could just get a single board, and a single processor, and focus your attention on other areas, like the Scsi, this would allow your system to be under 1000 bucks.

While I do see where FishTankX is going with the reccomendation of getting one MP, I don't think it would be worth it, because if you never do decide to upgrade to duals, you have wasted all that money on the chip.

Second, if you do get a dual board and one XP prosessor, over time, the MP's will come down in price. At a later date, you could just simply sell the XP processor and get dual MP 2300+'s or something, instead of being locked at the 1800 speed, and by that time the 2300+ MP's would be cheaper than the 1800+ is today.

Just my 2 cents.

And I'd get a G550, reguardless of if she used 3Dmax a lot, it is probably better than what she has now, and for all the 2D stuff it can do... well, it'd be worth it. If 3D is WAY WAY inportant, then I'd go Parhelia over the Radeon, even though it is much more expensive, it is just so much better at all the 2D stuff. Not to mention it has all that extra color stuff that will help in PhotoShop (10 bits per color as opposed to everyone else's 8 bits per color).
 
Why not just go WD-SE + RAID 0. The noise would not be a problem and you wouldn't need actice cooling. Also, it should be fast enough compared to that old IDE 30gn drive.
 
Originally posted by: TNTrulez
Why not just go WD-SE + RAID 0. The noise would not be a problem and you wouldn't need actice cooling. Also, it should be fast enough compared to that old IDE 30gn drive.
Click to expand...

The CPU utilization for RAID kinda hurts it. SCSI is just so fast with very small CPU utilization. Plus with the raid, if one drive fails, everything is gone. SCSI drives are generally much more reliable than IDE drives. Note the word generally.
 
Allright, I think i've got it!!

AthlonXP 1800+ 85$

512MB of regsitered ECC DDR 140$

Adaptec 2944UW pci scsi card = was $130. Lowest on Pricewatch is $196. Retail price at $399. NOW $100 shipped. GRAB THIS NOW!!!! 100$ TOTAL STEAL! MUST GET NOW!!! Quick, PM the guy who's selling this before someone else gets it!!!

Tyan Tiger MP AMD 760MP chipset ~160$

G550 85$ from new egg

Seagate X15-36LP 220$ from Hyper microsystem.

SCSI cables 30$

Case 110$

Shipping~100$

~1000$, you've got your workstation man!!
 
Anyways, that didn't take into account the harddisk cooler which is around 30$. Just slap a harddisk cooler on it and you should be oK. Use your old 30GB drive as a backup drive and make the SCSI drive a boot drive.
 
Don't forget the other components too.

Floppy, CDRW, DVD, speakers, fan for proc, It'll still be over a grand, but a lot cheaper than going dual.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top