Im building my first dual cpu rig :)

[dguy6789]

hi, im buildin my first dually, since i heard so much good stuff about em. here are the specs.

2X AMD Athlon MP 2800+
4X 512MB PC3200 ECC Registered Memory
250GB Western Digital 7200RPM 8MB
52X32X52 CD burner
ATI Radeon 9800 XT
Gigabyte GA-7DPXDW-P mainboard
generic case
550 Watt Sparkle PSU


So what do you guys think? This seems like the best stuff i can get on newegg.com for the price. Do you guys think this thing will run games fast, and burn cds at the same time?

 

[dartworth]

:beer:

nice...

 

[mastertech01]

Having owned a number of them, I just suggest reading up on them thoroughly over at 2cpu.com, and ensure the board you have selected will run reliably with all the ram slots full and video card is compatible. They can be pretty picky with hardware. If its all compatible I would say it will be a great performer.

 

[dguy6789]

Trust me, i have spent the last 6 months readin up at the oc forums. I have learned alot and people say this board rox, but not too good on OC, which i dont need with 2 2800s.
Thanks for the input, and ill check out that site. :beer:

 

[Megatomic]

What do you plan to do with that machine? That's alot of SMP power for CD burning and gaming...

 

[charlie21]

You don't need PC3200 for the Athlon MP's, they still only run on a 266 FSB. PC2100 would suffice.

Also, it would only be ~$100 more to go with dual Opteron 240's on a MSI K8T800 board.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Burning cds doesn't take a whole lot of cpu, it's more of a matter of lots of data being moved around at once, and it doesn't seem like smp would help that much.

 

[acejj26]

radeon 9800 xt is too overpriced considering u can get a 128 MB radeon 9800 pro for about $210 now at newegg. have u thought about maybe using 2 Opteron 240's?? with the money u can save on the vid card, u could probably afford it.

 

[InlineFive]

You don't need a dual-processor for burning CDs along other programs. My 1.4Ghz Athlon could do that. And you don't need the Radeon XT, it's overpriced. If that's all you do consider something more along these lines...

Athlon64 3000+
Asus K8V-Deluxe
512MB PC3200 Memory
<insert your choice hard drive here>
Radeon 9600 Pro

That would do more then you need.

-Por

 

[Swanny]

Nice rig. I've got that board with two 2400+s. I can't complain

 

[OverVolt]

Originally posted by: PorBleemo
You don't need a dual-processor for burning CDs along other programs. My 1.4Ghz Athlon could do that. And you don't need the Radeon XT, it's overpriced. If that's all you do consider something more along these lines...

Athlon64 3000+
Asus K8V-Deluxe
512MB PC3200 Memory
<insert your choice hard drive here>
Radeon 9600 Pro

That would do more then you need.

-Por

Sounds good to me, i'd save the extra money for a new comp 6/mo-1/yr down the road when PCI-X, BTX, and all the other good stuff comes.

 

[ai42]

I agree duallies are practically useless for normal typical Gaming/Workstation PC applications.

Unless you are doing like scientific calculations, serious Photoshop/CAD type stuff the dual processor feature is almost unutilized. I say save your money go for a A64 or P4C setup. Go make a Raptor setup or something with the extra cash.

 

[Pariah]

I agree as well. Ditch the dual MP. For the same price, an Athlon 64 3400+ will kill a dual MP system in gaming. Also, be careful with the "generic case". MP boards are full ATX, which are slightly larger than the standard single CPU ATX boards, and won't fit very well if at all in a number or mid tower cases.

 

[dguy6789]

the mainboard i got says it is atx form factor. So it should fit in an atx case. i know a 3400+ is faster at one thing, but i can compress and decopress stuff, burn cds, and fold and other stuff while gaming without it blinking. Thanks for the input you guys.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Originally posted by: dguy6789
So it should fit in an atx case.

"Should" being the key word here.

 

[Pariah]

Having owned multiple AMD MP systems for about 2 and a half years, it wouldn't cross my mind to buy one today. The platform is so dated, no USB 2, no SATA, no GigE, no firewire, slow memory, and no chance for future CPU upgrades, that it doesn't make any sense to buy into it now. Whether or not you really have any use for SMP is a whole 'nother issue, but Athlon MP is certainly not the way to go, a Xeon system makes a whole lot more sense for not a whole lot more money.

Here is a review comparing AMD MP, Xeon, Opteron, A64 FX, and P4EE. It's not a pretty sight for the Barton.

Ultimate Workstation Round-up: Opteron and Barton vs. Intel's Xeon

 

[Boogak]

Originally posted by: dguy6789
the mainboard i got says it is atx form factor. So it should fit in an atx case. i know a 3400+ is faster at one thing, but i can compress and decopress stuff, burn cds, and fold and other stuff while gaming without it blinking. Thanks for the input you guys.

Hehe, that's why I have multiple computers

 

[Sideswipe001]

Say what you will against dual CPU computers, I love mine (2 x Xeon 2.8). There is nothing like being able to start a game or another program while you're DivX encoding or ripping in the background. If you can afford it, it's wonderful.

 

[CraigRT]

I'd love to try a dual CPU setup like that sometime. maybe my next system.

 

[zodder]

*sigh* Reminds me of my old dual 300@450 celleries

 

[Tango57]

Originally posted by: mastertech01
Having owned a number of them, I just suggest reading up on them thoroughly over at 2cpu.com, and ensure the board you have selected will run reliably with all the ram slots full and video card is compatible. They can be pretty picky with hardware. If its all compatible I would say it will be a great performer.

yep i agree, and you might want to double check the video card compatability. i tried checking out the board on newegg and gigabyte's website. it says game port but it didn't really specify whether it is an AGP port or if it's only 4x or 8x.

 

[Budmantom]

It looks nice but I would go with an A64 3200 , 9800 pro and 1 gb of ram and raid hd's plus all the other goodies you mentioned.

I think the system I mentioned will be less expensive and faster in most apps.

Tom