Why Not?

kyelek

Junior Member
Dec 20, 2008
2
0
0
Hi everyone, if this is in the wrong forum I apologize.

In the course of researching hardware for my new build and checking out the latest hardware, I've noticed something that seems a little odd. I'm a geek for top of the line hardware, so I'm always interested in the details. What I've noticed is that it seems like no one is really taking full advantage of current technology for maximum performance.

I'm not looking for a detailed technical answer here just an informal little discussion. I'm sure I'm showing some of my ignorance on the subject since I've never really had the time or money to get deeply into computer building. In fact I've only owned four and those were all off the shelf, from our Apple II gs to my compaq.

Anyway this is a spec sheet for a motherboard that could be, these are all specs that I've seen in use on different boards, but not all together, and the ones that do use these high end specs that one spec tends to be the only good thing about it.

CPU socket: 4 die LGA 1366 (on the top end that 16 cores at 3.2 ghz each) (with switching ability to run 1,2 or, 4 dies at a time{haven't seen the switching tech but it would make sense for the expensive chips)
FSB: QPI 6.4gt/s per die

NB: X58
SB: Don't know which would be best so whatever would be best

RAM: 16 x 240 pin
RAM standard: DDR3 2133 either dual or quad channel (I've only noticed up to triple channel but quad would make sense, four quads)

Expansion Slot
6x PCI-E 2.0 16x
2x PCI 2.0
1x PCI 1x
2x PCI-E
(Space for quad SLI, dual 10/100/100 mbps ethernet, PhysX gpu, sound card, and then some)

Storage:
16 x SATA 3.0gb/s
Raid: 0/1/5/10
(can anyone say space for 15 terabytes?) way more than anyone needs I know. plus space for your optical drives

It seems like someone could make such a board on what is for the most current technology, plus probably a new MB form factor and custom case. I think it would be pretty neat, even if it was just more of a technology show piece, or maybe extremely high end gaming platforms.

edit:changed the storage listing slightly so that it makes sense
 

videogames101

Diamond Member
Aug 24, 2005
6,783
27
91
Because no game could take advantage of that hardware, thats server level stuff there, and it was attempted with the skulltrail motherboards, and they didn't sell, and had tons of issues.
 

DarkRogue

Golden Member
Dec 25, 2007
1,243
3
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My first thought was:
How the heck will you cram all that into a standard ATX board?
To get all that stuff together, you'd need a monstrosity of a board just to house it all - it would be purely a lab table PC.
But yeah, more is always fun, it's just not always practical. Would you actually buy something like that, only to have most of its parts outdated in 6 months?
 

kyelek

Junior Member
Dec 20, 2008
2
0
0
Yeah I noticed that with the skulltrail board but that was a kind of retarded board anyway. only one cpu/mobo choice? plus the rest of the board didn't seem impressive to me.

It's true that individual games won't take advantage of all that (at least not current ones), but if you hook up three KVM sets you can run four instances of a game on one machine (albeit each instance won't get any real boost from a real nice gaming rig). in that case you have high speed multi player gaming sessions w/o going online.
I imagine the machine would be programmed mainly for extreme multitasking, or perhaps multi-user use in a lab or video editing environment.

As for practical no it isn't really, that's why I added in the bit about it being a technology showpiece. something to show off bleeding edge tech and maybe pick up some related technology, kind of like the space program giving us stuff like teflon or road racing giving us hydraulic brakes and clutches.

as for it being obsolete, GPUs are always gonna be obsolete after six months; that doesn't mean you upgrade them that quick. RAM seems to take three or four years, the physx gpu hasn't really gone anywhere since it's inception (since not many things take advantage of it), and you'll get at least two years on an intel chip, possibly longer if they don't change the socket. Since we're going for bleeding edge tech, why not have a modular NB/SB/and socket? when it goes obsolete just pop it out like the CPU and replace it. Also, if we assume only one manufacturer goes this route, and the rest of the industry continues as is, then there wouldn't be any real need to upgrade for quite some time, especially since it would probably take awhile for games to catch up to that much processing power.

For a last note, so far we're only discussing a mythic motherboard. if we move into CPU, cooling, and factory tuning areas it goes further. How about eight core 6 ghz CPUs?

And as for the money, if you can afford ten Gs (or more) for a computer, are you really all that concerned about having to buy a new one?

Edit: I've noticed I have a tendency to sound arrogant or flip in type, i guess because i use a lot of inflection when I'm talking, so if i come off like that at any point I apologize, I don't mean too. and If i do mean too, it'll be obvious.
 

videogames101

Diamond Member
Aug 24, 2005
6,783
27
91
Sounds like your looking for a server, which can have that much stuff, and more.

Although they don't often come with GPUs.
 

JackMDS

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 25, 1999
29,517
409
126
If you have a very rich mother with only One child to pick up at school her top of the line choice might be two sitter Lamborghini.

If she has three kids it might be a Rolls Royce. Each of these Vehicles would cost about $250.000

If you have a man that has a construction firm is top choice would be a very expensive truck (he can find one for $250.000 too)

I.e. there is a lot of top choices depending on the specific functional need.

What are your needs (computing wise)?

Cause right now it seems that your need is generate Noise and Heath, and there is a lot of other (expensive) way to achieve this as well.
 

Denithor

Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2004
6,298
23
81
A few answers for you.

First thing I saw, immediately, you cannot physically fit that many PCIe/PCI/etc slots onto a standard ATX form motherboard. They simply won't fit, even sandwiched together. Meaning your hypothetical motherboard won't fit into any standard cases available, so it will never get created because there wouldn't be any sales to recover the cost of design. A new form factor MB? You saw what happened when Intel tried that with BTX, right? It failed miserably -- even when pushed out by the biggest chip producer on the planet.

Second, PhysX is a dead issue, has been replaced entirely by nVidia GPU (nVidia bought PhysX and chose to move all the work onto their GPU instead of using a dedicated PPU).

16 RAM slots ... most desktop applications don't even really use 4GB fully and almost none need more than 8GB (which can be easily accomodated on current boards with four slots). In server space, they've already got 8 or 16 slot motherboards available to handle the extreme memory needs in those applications.

Multi-CPU setup ... similar to RAM issue. Mostly unnecessary in typical desktop applications, already addressed in server systems (where multi-socket has been standard for years).

And if you seriously need 15TB of storage you should buy a standalone storage cabinet with hot-swap capability and automatic backup, etc. All standard features for network storage used in the server market, by the way.

Hope you see a trend developing here. There's a reason server & desktop systems are kept distinct: they handle completely different tasks and meet different needs. Most server gear would be complete overkill in desktop apps and a typical desktop system couldn't handle the requirements of even an entry-level server system.