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Thinking of upgrading - Oh, to duallie or not???

J

JPS

Golden Member
Here is my current config:

PSU: 400W Fortran (modded)
CPU: Athlon XP 1700+ overclocked to 2.2GHz
Mobo: Soltek SL-75FRN2-L
RAM: 1.0GB of Kingston HyperX
HDD: 160GB Seagate Barracuda
Video: Raedon 64 (VIVO)

I use it for general pupose stuff (email, web, office tasks, etc), development (web and software), scientific research (still analyze data occasionlly from my grdauate days and my wife is still trying to save the world and model fires). Additionally, I do multitask heavily and I do not game at all.

Now, I have run dual AMDs before on an old Tyan MP (Dual Durons at the time) and it was very nice! My development pace has increased substantially in the last 6 months and now I am toying with going after a basic Athlon64 rig or trying to get a pair of mobile AthlonXPs in an MPX motherboard. As is usually the case, I am trying to do so by spending as little as possible on the upgrade.

If I go the A64 route, I can reuse my HDD, Case, PSU, and RAM. I will only need to pickup the new mobo and CPU (which will likely be an Athlon64 2800+ OEM). Total out-of-pocket before resell of old mobo and CPU is approx $300.00

If I go the dual XP route, I can reuse my HDD, Case, and PSU. I will need new registered RAM (which will likley not O/C very high), a new mobo, and 2 new CPUs. Total out-of-pocket before resell of old mobo, CPU, and memory is approx $600.00.

There is a significant price difference but I am willing to pay it if the upgrade makes sense. Going for dual Opterons is just out of my price range all together, that is why I was thinking abou the dual XP-Ms.

What do you guys think, stay where I am (which works fine), go for the dual XP-Ms, or go for the single A64?
 
I am not sure if a dual cpu system, compared to a single cpu of the same cost, would give you that much an increase in performance.

But, if you want one, get it
 
That's an interesting question. The 64 is built so that multi-tasking can be at it's highest. But dual processors are really nice for heavy loads as well. So, if you're not planning on gaming on your system, or anything besides your number crunching and basic applications, then I would suggest that you go with the dual processor system, because it seems that it would go faster.

But if you want to use your system for an occasional gaming session, or to do something fun, you should go the 64 bit way.

Honestly I believe that you will only get the slightest bit of difference in performance between the dual MPs and the 64 bit. If this was my choice I would go the 64 bit way.
 
It sounds like you may have a justifiable need for an Opteron 2xx system JPS. They are not as expensive as they were late last year and this way you'll get the benefit of SMP and 64bit. I'd get one myself if I could justify it to my wife. 🙂
 
Having looked closer at this, if I am going to do duallie, it seems like the Opteron option is better. Boards have more features and the Opterons are flat out better cores than the XP-Ms. My one reservation is the lack of board options - looks like it is either MSI or Tyan and MSI kicked Tyan's ass over in the reviews at TechReport. I do not like the color rampage of the MSI, nor do I like the fact that I have to use proprietary HSFs.

Then again, I could just get an old MPX mobo, keep my RAM (which is gross overkill for an MPX chipset), and get a pair of XP-Ms as well as the additional cards I would need for SATA and Firewire. I like this option for the fact that he XP-Ms use less power than the Opterons, but the Opterons have the 1MB L2 cache!

Dang it, maybe I should just get an A64 and juice the crap out of it on an ABIT KV8 Pro mobo. Then again, I do not do anything that is 64-bit and have no intentions of moving my work to 64-bit for a long while. I just like the speed, HTT, and cache options of the A64 and Opterons.

Back to the think tank for a while...
 
Schadenfroh, to anyone who NEEDS a dual Opteron and who can afford a dual Opteron system the price increase of registered DDR is well worth it. There is an entire segment of the PC world that doesn't operate on a gamer's shoestring budget.
 
If I go duallie Athlon XP-Ms then I can use my current 1.0GB of Kingston HyperX because I will only be using 2 of 4 slots. If I were to upgrade, then I would need registered. Problem is my HyperX is *WAY* overkill in an MPX mobo...
 
Agreed. I was considering going dual XP also and my current Corsair PC3500 is also way overkill. I could buy most of a dual XP system with the money I'd get from selling my current memory. 🙂
 
my .02


I was in the same situation as you a couple months ago.. I wanted to add another dual rig to my setup but pn the otherhand, I wanted an A64. I asked just like you and their responce were almost the same. "get what you need" lol. well, I will tell you first hand, as a developer myself, the A64 rig is an awesome development platform. It's plenty fast coupled with a nice 15k scsi setup this beast smokes. anyway, for compairson. I have dual 1.6 MP's with 15k scsi and A64 3200+ with 15k scsi and the A64 is much more powerful.

to each their own.. I love the dual CPU aspect of my MPX rig but the raw speed of the A64 wins me over. Both will do fine I would honestly go with the A64. It will serve you great.
 
Originally posted by: Megatomic
Schadenfroh, to anyone who NEEDS a dual Opteron and who can afford a dual Opteron system the price increase of registered DDR is well worth it. There is an entire segment of the PC world that doesn't operate on a gamer's shoestring budget.
Click to expand...


You also forget that registered RAM is a GOOD thing, as is ECC.

Those things are GOOD, they help keep your computer stable and compinsate for memory errors. Regular memory is incapable of compinsating for errors.

Dual CPU is cool because even though it doesn't show in benchmarks it shows in day to day use of a computer.

Do you have more then one program running at a time? Do you want to be running photoshop, or ripping CD's DVD's and other stuff, AND be playing games or doing whatever else. Then Dual proccessors is a definate advantage.
 
What is your upgrade budget ?? For dual opteron/Xeon here's some pricing:
Dual Opteron 246 (2.0ghz) , Tyan K8w mobo, & 2 gigs (4x512) ram $1714
Dual Xeon 3.0(512k cache), Asus PP-DLW mobo, & 2g. ram $1557

check the dual processor benckmarks at tomshardware & gamepc

So, most probably you'd be better of w/ the fastest single proc that you can afford.

Regards,
Jose
 
Originally posted by: jose
What is your upgrade budget ?? For dual opteron/Xeon here's some pricing:
Dual Opteron 246 (2.0ghz) , Tyan K8w mobo, & 2 gigs (4x512) ram $1714
Dual Xeon 3.0(512k cache), Asus PP-DLW mobo, & 2g. ram $1557

check the dual processor benckmarks at tomshardware & gamepc

So, most probably you'd be better of w/ the fastest single proc that you can afford.

Regards,
Jose
Click to expand...

Thanks Jose. After thinking long and hard about this, I have decided to go for a single A64 solution...
 
Originally posted by: jose
Sounds good, will it be 754 or 939 based ? Which mobo ?
Click to expand...
Probably the ABIT KV8 Pro which is 754. Just trying to decide on the CPU now - am actually thinking of a mobile A64, muwhahahaha!
 
I realize this question is behind the discussion, but is it even possible to run mobile XP's in a dual setup?

NEVERMIND - 2 seconds of Googling and I answered my own question...good luck with your system
 
You can buy a dual CPU motherboard now and run just a single proccessor. Then when the chips get cheaper, you need a speed boost, or otherwise want a upgrade, then you can buy the second proccessor. I beleive.
 
If you can't justify the Opterons, the MP2800s are nothing to sneeze at. I've heard they give 242s a run for their money, but I somehow doubt that.

$169/CPU isn't bad though.
 
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