Got XP Pro--now what dually setup can I get?

[Pundit]

Well, I found it for a good price so I got it instead of Home Ed. I will be using some of the extra features (like remote desktop) and would like to take advantage of the dual proc feature since I'm going to be updating soon. Was going to get a P4 1.6 OCed to ~2.2 but a dually may be better right? What mobo and CPUs should I get?

 

[bozo1]

If you're going P4, you have to use Xeon processors. Dual P4 mobos are available from Supermicro, Intel, Tyan and Iwill.

 

[Adul]

going the xeon route will be very veyr expensive. better off with dual athlon.

 

[ripthesystem]

Agreed.. the Xeon would be nice. Super sweet. but I'm going to add my comment that I concur it is very VERY expensive.

You can get a nice dual AMD solution for a fraction of the cost.. Otherwise you can go with P3's.. not sure if the new Tualatin's are SMP compatible or not.. but might be worth looking into.

check out www.2cpu.com

ripthesystem

 

[Jizzler]

Here's the last Xeon I built: Dual 1.8Ghz

Very nice system!

Dual Xeon will run ya about $300-$350 more than a comparable AthlonMP system. So I don't think its that much more expensive, but thats just what I think. Is the extra money spent to get the benefits of a dual Xeon worth it to you?

 

[Instagib]

What are using it for do you really need a dually or do you just want it?

 

[Pundit]

<< What are using it for do you really need a dually or do you just want it? >>


Gaming. And I know that most games don't use dual, but more and more will be in the future. Am I way off base here? Also, I figure I'd do some DC while I'm at it.
<edit>and like I mentioned earlier, since I got XP Pro I figure I should use the feature.</edit>

 

[Pundit]

<< Here's the last Xeon I built: Dual 1.8Ghz

Very nice system!

Dual Xeon will run ya about $300-$350 more than a comparable AthlonMP system. So I don't think its that much more expensive, but thats just what I think. Is the extra money spent to get the benefits of a dual Xeon worth it to you? >>


Probably not. What I would like to know is this: what has a greater price/performance ratio, dual PIII or AMD?

 

[Instagib]

I personally havent heard of any games that can take advantage of a Dual setup. I wouldn't bother.
I would invest in a good vid card and maybe a SCSI setup.

 

[Blackberry Junkie]

Pundit, if you look at Anand's review of athlon mp vs xeon, MP setup easily wins for price/performance ratio over xeon.

 

[Jizzler]

<< Probably not. What I would like to know is this: what has a greater price/performance ratio, dual PIII or AMD? >>



AMD.

Though I'd put dual P3-S 1.4Ghz a close second

 

[Jizzler]

<< I personally havent heard of any games that can take advantage of a Dual setup. I wouldn't bother. I would invest in a good vid card and maybe a SCSI setup. >>



Quake III, Falcon 4, DroneZ, some others.

But generally duals and games is like Twinbank. All the 'extra' is put off on the second processor. Feels very responsive and smooth when playing games. Are you fully utilizing both CPU's? No. But are you benefitting from having two? Yes

Plus, my machine is never doing just 1 thing. I test my boxes like in the screenshot cuz thats how I normally abuse them . Check this screen shot, SS is unplayable at ~5 FPS. But on the dualie, smooth as a babies behind.

 

[tboo]

I agree with Instagib, your better off investing your money in other components rather than a dualie setup for gaming(unless, of course, you have an unlimited amount of cash). Very few games support SMP & even then its not a huge difference in performance.

 

[Instagib]

<<

<< I personally havent heard of any games that can take advantage of a Dual setup. I wouldn't bother. I would invest in a good vid card and maybe a SCSI setup. >>



Quake III, Falcon 4, DroneZ, some others.

But generally duals and games is like Twinbank. All the 'extra' is put off on the second processor. Feels very responsive and smooth when playing games. Are you fully utilizing both CPU's? No. But are you benefitting from having two? Yes

Plus, my machine is never doing just 1 thing. I test my boxes like in the screenshot cuz thats how I normally abuse them . Check this screen shot, SS is unplayable at ~5 FPS. But on the dualie, smooth as a babies behind. >>



I still think that unless your servin up stuff you really don't need a dual setup. On the other hand if that is what you really want then go for it. Go for dual AMD's. I just think it goes back to the old saying my puter is bigger than your puter.

 

[ripthesystem]

My duallie system (in my specs) houses 2 small web servers, email server, FTP server, 2 firewalls, anti-Virus, etc etc.. and is often found to have a game running, Graphic, and music apps, internet etc.. I basically bog my machine down on a 24/7 basis and it never stutters.

So even if games don't directly take full advantage of 2 CPU's I benefit from the added stability and the ability to do multitasking from hell. And don't even get me started on RC5- hehe

Been 2 months since my last reboot
ripthesystem