Just picked up 2 PIII 866's need a dual mobo

[Mucman]

Over the years I never read dual CPU mobo reviews because they were usually way out of my price range. My friend gave me these CPUs and they are just begging for some SMP action .

I really don't have any particular use for a dual mobo CPU but I am like the rest of you guys and just want it to just say that I have a dual proc machine . I checked out the IWILL DVD266 and it looks pretty sweet. I am just wondering what others I should check out. I doubt I will get RAID because I don't even need 1 HD so buying 2 to get some RAID 0 action is out of the question (maybe it can happen in the future).

I will be putting, Win98, BeOS and FreeBSD on the machine.

Thanks!

 

[bozo1]

Just though you know, Win98 doesn't support dual processors. For Winders, you need W2K or XP.

I think the IWill and the Supermicro P3TDDE are about the only dual P3 boards still being sold besides the ones with built-in SCSI that run > $400.

 

[Mucman]

Yeah, Win98 is there as a last minute resort for when I screw up with FreeBSD (which is my main OS).

 

[bozo1]

Guess Tyan has a few still available as well but using the old 133T chipset.

 

[Mucman]

I am getting the Tyan because it has a 1337 chipset!

I have a Tyan Trinity 400 now and I love it... I haven't found any dual socket370 boards from my local shop though

 

[bozo1]

micropro.com is a good source for dual boards.

 

[Mucman]

Shipping to Canada sucks though ... take the cost their multiply by 1.55 to convert to Canadian dollars... then add ~$20-30 for shipping and then 14.5% taxes

 

[skriefal]

I've been relatively happy with my MSI 694D Pro for the couple of years that I've had it. It uses the Apollo Pro 133A chipset, and supports 2 Coppermine P3 processors -- but no Tualatin support. There's a newer version ("694D Pro 2"?) that supports Tualatins, if that concerns you.

I've also heard that the ECS D6VAA is a decent board, and it can probably be found for less than $60.

Check out the forums at 2Cpu for more dual processor discussion...

 

[Mucman]

Dasm, that's a nice site! Thanks for the link...

 

[mechBgon]

A clarification regarding WinXP: for dual-processor systems, you'll want WinXP Pro. WinXP Home doesn't do SMP.

 

[Mucman]

Yeah, I knew that... Windows XP Pro isn't an option though, too pricey for me. I will stick with the free stuff