What's the disadvantage of getting an Opteron server board?

[The Pentium Guy]

I'm kind of curious as to what the disadvantage is to getting an Opteron server board, such as Tyan Thunder, which will have support for 2 CPUs.

I mean these boards have pci-express slots, so you could definately put in a 6800GT or something. I doublt SLi support would be there. Woudln't these boards be more 'stable' as they're server boards?

The obvious disadvantage is definately lack of overclocking features. Fine. That's a gimmick. I'm just curious as to what else is the difference.

-The Pentium Guy

 

[imported_llama]

unless the software is compatable with dual cpu's it wont work that well, you will need ECC registered memory and also you might need a bigger case as some boards are eATX

 

[imported_zoom314]

One of the disadvantages of a dual opteron motherboard is the cost of the cpus, The ram and having a good enough power supply, I should know as I have all that in My PC zoom3 which runs 24/7 in an overclocked state with no problems.

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Originally posted by: llama
unless the software is compatable with dual cpu's it wont work that well, you will need ECC registered memory and also you might need a bigger case as some boards are eATX

Eek. Expensive. Very expensive. I'm assuming you won't get great speed in games anyways, as it's not meant for games.

 

[Peter]

You're going to leave the toy store and enter the serious arena.

This means: You need another kind of power supply, a bigger case, registered DIMMs (with or without ECC), and then you get to use your Opteron processors.

In return you get a much more robust RAM system, twin PCIE 16x slots (yes twin 16x), drastically improved I/O throughput thanks to the separate PCI-X busses just waiting for you to plug a SCSI RAID card in, the gigabit ethernet not connecting to the lame legacy PCI bus, etc. etc.

Yes that'll cost. But it'll show too.

 

[imported_zoom314]

I don't know as I play games on Mine and It does pretty good, Mind You that is while crunching numbers for Seti and this is at 100% load too.

 

[imported_zoom314]

zoom1: XP--M 2600 cpu @ 2.54GHz[DFI Ultra Infinity A+]
MSI mx-4000 agp card w/128Mb ram
40Gb 7200rpm hdd
SP-97 hsf w/a 119cfm fan
JPAC 500w psu Single +12v rail @ 18A
Black Chieftec ATX Mid-Tower Case
Kingston PC3200 256Mb ram Dimm
Buffalo Hynix PC3200 256Mb ram Dimm
D-Link DWL-G520 SuperG wireless nic pci card
---------------------------------------------------
zoom2: 3200 90nm cpu @ 2.34GHz[MSI K8T Neo2-F] (Via K8T800 Pro Chipset)
Visiontek Ti-4200 agp card w/64Mb ram w/an agp bus @ 74.5Mhz(Locked)
20Gb 7200rpm hdd
XP-120 hsf w/a 120x25mm 130cfm fan(Needs a 150cfm fan installed, I just haven't gotten to It yet)
Aspire 520w psu Single +12v rail @ 35A
Black Diablo Red ATX Case
PDP Patriot PC3200 512Mb ram Dimm(5-2-2-2.0 @ 200Mhz)
120x38mm 150cfm exhaust fan w/an 80-120mm adapter
D-Link DWL-G520 SuperG wireless nic pci card
---------------------------------------------------
zoom3: 2-244 ---- cpus @ 4.02GHz[MSI K8T Master2-FAR] (Via K8T800 Chipset)
EVGA FX-5700 Ultra agp card w/128Mb ram
80Gb 7200rpm hdd
NEC ND-1100A DVD+RW/CD-RW Drive
Enermax 460w psu Single +12v rail @ 33A
Black Demon ATX Case
Corsair PC3200 512Mb ram Dimm (CMX512RE-3200LL 7-2-3-2.0 @ 226Mhz)
120x38mm 130cfm exhaust fan w/an 80-120mm adapter
USB 2.0 56x Acer CD-Rom drive
Teac 3.5" fdd
D-Link DWL-G520 SuperG wireless nic pci card

 

[imported_Kensai]

Originally posted by: zoom314
zoom1: XP--M 2600 cpu @ 2.54GHz[DFI Ultra Infinity A+]
MSI mx-4000 agp card w/128Mb ram
40Gb 7200rpm hdd
SP-97 hsf w/a 119cfm fan
JPAC 500w psu Single +12v rail @ 18A
Black Chieftec ATX Mid-Tower Case
Kingston PC3200 256Mb ram Dimm
Buffalo Hynix PC3200 256Mb ram Dimm
D-Link DWL-G520 SuperG wireless nic pci card
---------------------------------------------------
zoom2: 3200 90nm cpu @ 2.34GHz[MSI K8T Neo2-F] (Via K8T800 Pro Chipset)
Visiontek Ti-4200 agp card w/64Mb ram w/an agp bus @ 74.5Mhz(Locked)
20Gb 7200rpm hdd
XP-120 hsf w/a 120x25mm 130cfm fan(Needs a 150cfm fan installed, I just haven't gotten to It yet)
Aspire 520w psu Single +12v rail @ 35A
Black Diablo Red ATX Case
PDP Patriot PC3200 512Mb ram Dimm(5-2-2-2.0 @ 200Mhz)
120x38mm 150cfm exhaust fan w/an 80-120mm adapter
D-Link DWL-G520 SuperG wireless nic pci card
---------------------------------------------------
zoom3: 2-244 ---- cpus @ 4.02GHz[MSI K8T Master2-FAR] (Via K8T800 Chipset)
EVGA FX-5700 Ultra agp card w/128Mb ram
80Gb 7200rpm hdd
NEC ND-1100A DVD+RW/CD-RW Drive
Enermax 460w psu Single +12v rail @ 33A
Black Demon ATX Case
Corsair PC3200 512Mb ram Dimm (CMX512RE-3200LL 7-2-3-2.0 @ 226Mhz)
120x38mm 130cfm exhaust fan w/an 80-120mm adapter
USB 2.0 56x Acer CD-Rom drive
Teac 3.5" fdd
D-Link DWL-G520 SuperG wireless nic pci card

That's one hell of a rig.

 

[imported_zoom314]

Originally posted by: Kensai

Originally posted by: zoom314
zoom1: XP--M 2600 cpu @ 2.54GHz[DFI Ultra Infinity A+]
MSI mx-4000 agp card w/128Mb ram
40Gb 7200rpm hdd
SP-97 hsf w/a 119cfm fan
JPAC 500w psu Single +12v rail @ 18A
Black Chieftec ATX Mid-Tower Case
Kingston PC3200 256Mb ram Dimm
Buffalo Hynix PC3200 256Mb ram Dimm
D-Link DWL-G520 SuperG wireless nic pci card
---------------------------------------------------
zoom2: 3200 90nm cpu @ 2.34GHz[MSI K8T Neo2-F] (Via K8T800 Pro Chipset)
Visiontek Ti-4200 agp card w/64Mb ram w/an agp bus @ 74.5Mhz(Locked)
20Gb 7200rpm hdd
XP-120 hsf w/a 120x25mm 130cfm fan(Needs a 150cfm fan installed, I just haven't gotten to It yet)
Aspire 520w psu Single +12v rail @ 35A
Black Diablo Red ATX Case
PDP Patriot PC3200 512Mb ram Dimm(5-2-2-2.0 @ 200Mhz)
120x38mm 150cfm exhaust fan w/an 80-120mm adapter
D-Link DWL-G520 SuperG wireless nic pci card
---------------------------------------------------
zoom3: 2-244 ---- cpus @ 4.02GHz[MSI K8T Master2-FAR] (Via K8T800 Chipset)
EVGA FX-5700 Ultra agp card w/128Mb ram
80Gb 7200rpm hdd
NEC ND-1100A DVD+RW/CD-RW Drive
Enermax 460w psu Single +12v rail @ 33A
Black Demon ATX Case
Corsair PC3200 512Mb ram Dimm (CMX512RE-3200LL 7-2-3-2.0 @ 226Mhz)
120x38mm 130cfm exhaust fan w/an 80-120mm adapter
USB 2.0 56x Acer CD-Rom drive
Teac 3.5" fdd
D-Link DWL-G520 SuperG wireless nic pci card

That's one hell of a rig.

That is 3 PCs, All networked, If You're just talking about zoom3, Thanks. But thanks no matter what.

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Originally posted by: Peter
You're going to leave the toy store and enter the serious arena.

This means: You need another kind of power supply, a bigger case, registered DIMMs (with or without ECC), and then you get to use your Opteron processors.

In return you get a much more robust RAM system, twin PCIE 16x slots (yes twin 16x), drastically improved I/O throughput thanks to the separate PCI-X busses just waiting for you to plug a SCSI RAID card in, the gigabit ethernet not connecting to the lame legacy PCI bus, etc. etc.

Yes that'll cost. But it'll show too.

Pretty cool stuff. Thanks for the knowledge bit

 

[imported_zoom314]

Originally posted by: The Pentium Guy

Originally posted by: Peter
You're going to leave the toy store and enter the serious arena.

This means: You need another kind of power supply, a bigger case, registered DIMMs (with or without ECC), and then you get to use your Opteron processors.

In return you get a much more robust RAM system, twin PCIE 16x slots (yes twin 16x), drastically improved I/O throughput thanks to the separate PCI-X busses just waiting for you to plug a SCSI RAID card in, the gigabit ethernet not connecting to the lame legacy PCI bus, etc. etc.

Yes that'll cost. But it'll show too.

Pretty cool stuff. Thanks for the knowledge bit

Actually ECC is required and isn't optional, If You do buy a dual opteron cpu motherboard, Spare Yourself a hassle with the ram and the psu, Get what I have, It's good stuff and It likes Opterons.

 

[Peter]

ECC is NOT required, the Opteron can run the memory controller w/o ECC just as well. Registered in turn is required.

In reality though, you'll be hard pressed to find a DIMM that is Registered but non-ECC, so you'll end up with Registered ECC anyway. Furthermore, with large amounts of RAM, you absolutely want ECC to cover up for the occasional "soft error". These do occur, one reason being neutrino particles passing through the material - yes even on ground level.

 

[imported_zoom314]

Originally posted by: Peter
ECC is NOT required, the Opteron can run the memory controller w/o ECC just as well. Registered in turn is required.

In reality though, you'll be hard pressed to find a DIMM that is Registered but non-ECC, so you'll end up with Registered ECC anyway. Furthermore, with large amounts of RAM, you absolutely want ECC to cover up for the occasional "soft error". These do occur, one reason being neutrino particles passing through the material - yes even on ground level.

Well I was under the impression that ECC was required, Oh well. But of course having It doesn't hurt though.

 

[tcsenter]

Hey Zoom, joined up with Anandtech I see. I got a vacation from MSI forums for taking on the mindless Kilowatt Power Supply Cult (again).

You should stay here, far more likely to receive accurate information and at least they don't silence dissent or debate here.

 

[imported_zoom314]

Originally posted by: tcsenter
Hey Zoom, joined up with Anandtech I see. I got a vacation from MSI forums for taking on the mindless Kilowatt Power Supply Cult (again).

You should stay here, far more likely to receive accurate information and at least they don't silence dissent or debate here.

That's the problem with Me, I used to be registered here, I think, But I guess I didn't visit enough and so well I guess It got deleted maybe. That and I cover at least a dozen or so forums on the web. pcper, 2cpu, anandtech, bbr, msi, elite bastards, cluboc, hardocp, systemcooling, ninjalane, amdzone, full metal alchemist, poke mon, xtremesystems, etc, etc, etc.....