Something new...

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: coolred
Nothing to special, it will basically be my main rig, used for internet, gaming, encoding general multitasking and whatever else strikes me as cool.

For a general system, dual opterons just aren't the best choice, IMO. If you really need to spend that money, you'd be better off w/ an FX-53 of AMD64 3800+. Dual processors just aren't that useful, and certainly aren't cost effective.

 

[coolred]

With dual Opterons I'd spend the money on a PC Power and Cooling unit. You'll already be spending thousands, so what's a couple hundred more to make certain you have reliable power. You'll be able to take that power supply with you when you upgrade too.

If I go dual opterons, by the next time I am itchign for an upgrade I am sure BTX will be more robust, does it require a new PS or does it use standard ATX? If it does use standard ATX then your right and that makes sense, if not, then it doesn't mean as much.

For a general system, dual opterons just aren't the best choice, IMO. If you really need to spend that money, you'd be better off w/ an FX-53 of AMD64 3800+. Dual processors just aren't that useful, and certainly aren't cost effective.

Well I do quite a bit of multitasking, and once I get my full SageTV box up and running, I will be doing quite a bit of video encoding. I'm not quite sure why you would say dual processor are no that useful. Being able to do 2 full CPU load things at once seems pretty useful to me. It also helps with multitasking and apps that are SMP aware, granted these are few. But with dual core chips on the way next year, multithreaded apps will start becoming more and more mainstream.

I will admit dual CPU's are not that cheap(unless I skimp out and go with modded XP mobiles). But then again neither is an FX53 or 3800+. And dual 246 opterons at just slightly more expensive then either of those chips, would blow them away in almost everything. Plus I am trying to get this done cheap. I got my first 246 off ebay for 255.00 and will stick with it until maybe christmas when hopefully I can pick up another for under 400.00. I am most likely gonna go with the MSI K8T dual motherboard which isn't to much more expensive then any other board. And although it will require registered RAM, thats not too huge of a price premium.

SO if you could please explain to me why dual opterons aren't a good choice, please do. I would be more then willing to go with something else(preferablly AMD, but I suppose I could consider Intel). But as of right now socket 939 chips seem to cost more then opterons and socket 754 will quickly become a value board. SO what do you recommend?

 

[GnomeCop]

I have an antec neopower in my system, I installed it last week and have been using it without a problem ever since.

I only have 1 raptor, 1 200gb seagate, one optical drive (dvd burner), and a 9800 pro AIW.
the res in my sig.

With all the fans, cpu, memory, and cards, this thing doesnt even break a sweat. Its not loud at all, very comparable to the zalman 400watt I had in my system before.
The 120mm fan cools a lot better though.

With all the hardware in my box and the p4 3.06 being one of the more power hungry cpus, the thing never goes into "heavy load" mode and the colume remains very quiet. My system is extremely quiet now with decent temps.

airflow probably helped because I only had to plug in 2 of the cables, and one splitter.
my case may have looked clean before, but its even nicer now.