SMP - AMD and Intel

[~Aragorn~ 0]

ok a few questions about SMP/multiprocessing

 

1. What intel MOBO is best

2. What is SMP?

3. Can i for example Run ANY CPU intesive task on proc 2 while doing other stuff on proc 1?

4. What games support it?

5. What are AMD's Plans?

6. What specs would u reccomend?

 

Ta

 

Aragorn

[INFERNO2000 0]

1: depends... 840 is probably one of the best, but it required RDRAM. Look at a Tyan motherboard, or an ABIT based off the Intel 440

 

2: Simultaneous Multi Processing

 

3: only if the application supports 2 processors. otherwise you'll only use 1

 

4: Quake 3 Supports it in beta mode

 

5: Dunno

 

6: Windows 2000 and anything you want hardware wise

[Down8 0]

Quote:

Originally posted by INFERNO2000:
2: Simultaneous Multi Processing

I've heard Symmetric Multi Processing, but that is symantics.

1) I like the Tyans
5) AMd should be releasing their multiprocessing chipset very soon.
6) Any 'advanced' OS [WinNT/2K, Linux, etc.]

I don't think there is much worth in getting an SMP unit for a home workstation. The performance gain is only about 10-15%, which isn't really worht it for the extra cost of another chip. Your money would be better spend on a better motherboard and a faster chip, as I see it.

That being said, I would definitely love a dual IA-64 Xeon setup!

-bZj

[Beastie 0]

1. What intel MOBO is best

 

I own a Abit BP6, there are better SMP boards. I would recomend waiting for an SMP duron board. It will be a cheap SMP solution

 

2. What is SMP?

 

Symmetrical Multi Processing http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=symmetric%20multiprocessing

 

 

3. Can i for example Run ANY CPU intesive task on proc 2 while doing other stuff on proc 1?

 

Yes, however _you_ dont really do it your OS will manage it.

 

4. What games support it?

 

Currently only quake3 engine based games. And not very well at that.

 

5. What are AMD's Plans?

 

They have designed a SMP chipset, we should start to see boards with this chipset by 2001

 

6. What specs would u reccomend?

 

I would recomend waiting for a duron SMP board. If you cannot wait, do not get a SB Live! as the drivers do not work well with SMP in wintendo 2k. I would also recomend getting at least 256MB RAM as always CAS2 if possible. For OS win2k, Linux 2.4.x, FreeBSD 4.x, BeOS, or Solaris ia32.

 

here is a good SMP site

http://2cpu.com/

[DosFreak 2]

You can set the affinity for apps with SMP. ( Assigning apps to different processors).

[Down8 0]

I've never tried it, but I've heard that Solaris sucks on the PC. I was looking into it, because I love the SPARCs at my school, but I heard it is doggedly slow [in comparison] on the x86.

 

-bZj

[Gambler FEX online 0]

YEs stay away from SB LIve! + SMP bad combination! Crackling popping BSODS you name it. Us SMP users have been waiting for half a year now on SMP compatible drivers but nothing yet they dont even know if next driver release will support it!

 

thats what happens when you port win9x drivers to win2k

[Ben 0]

(SB Live!) + SMP + W2K = Angry SBLive! owner

 

(Angry SBLive! owner) - ((updated drivers)*12(months)) = Happy Turtle Beach Owner