Best/Cheapest Multiprocessor?

T

TheLordsServant

Gawd
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Sep 29, 2005
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Well I would like to go to a multi-processor system, but being somewhat new to it, I have no idea what is best. It would be nice if I could get a dual socket 754 or dual socket A, but I'm really not too picky. I would love any recommendations I can get, because as I said I'm new to this. And also, one last question. Which is better, dual-core or dual-processor?

Thanks!
 
IMO dualcore is better than dual socket. Cheaper and better at most things. There is no such thing as dual 754, dual socket a is obsolete (they've could've at least improved the memory system but it's stuck in single channel pc2100 cuz AMD switched to Opteron). You should be looking for something in 939/AM2 socket.
 
Just get an E6300 or E6600 and You'll be more than happy and they don't cost much for the performance you'll recieve.
 
Way to not answer the question guys :) ever think he might want 4 cores or more ?

on the AMD side you have socket 940 (older) or 1207 (iirc) that is opteron with ddr2, or 771 for woodcrests/dempseys.
 
I used to run dual AMD Athlon 2000+'s on an MSI k7d-master motherboard, with 2 gigs of DDR-333, running Ubuntu linux, with windows xp in vmware, and the machine ran really solid.

Then, after a watercooling accident that destroyed the motherboard and all my pci-cards, I built a machine using dual AMD Opteron 246's, with a Tyan Tiger K8W motherboard, and 2 gigs of ddr-400 -- this machine runs great too.

Personally, I would recommend the Tyan Tiger K8W, and some cheaper opterons if you want a nice dual processor board that still fits in an ATX case.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813151125 -mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103620 -procs


HOWEVER,
If you want to build a really fast, dual processor computer, and you don't care about having two physical processors, you can probably save yourself some money and get a dual-core processor. Real dual processor motherboards are much more expensive, most don't fit in a standard ATX case, and all require ECC/Registered memory, which is more expensive than regular unbuffered memory.

just my $.02
 
Robstar said:
Way to not answer the question guys :) ever think he might want 4 cores or more ?

on the AMD side you have socket 940 (older) or 1207 (iirc) that is opteron with ddr2, or 771 for woodcrests/dempseys.
Click to expand...

AM2 and 775 might get quadcore soon. If you want more then the server stuff is the way to go but it's a pretty significant jump pricewise.
 
Well, I think you all have answered my question, pretty much the only reason to have dual processors is mostly bragging rights, as dual core is probably faster. Yes, I like the idea of AM2 sockets, as they support DDR2 RAM which I think is getting cheaper as DDR Ram gets more expensive
 
Cheapest? An old Pentium III dual-proc system, I'd suppose.
Best? It depends on your application.
 
The most cost effective for performance is one of the new Core 2 duo's from Intel.
 
ive got an old abit bp6 dual cpu system :) have had it since they first came out way back when....got me thru highschool and college...good machine

now its dedicated to ipcop duty (router/firewall) and its great for it.

ive been lookin around on ebay for an older abit vp6 too....theres a few, like 2 i think reasonably priced.

but youre probably better off going with more current tech. dual core. as its probably easier to maintain, and its still currently supported where as some of the older stuff isnt
 
I've got a BP6 too, pending sale though. Main system is a dual opteron 248.

Also, djnes has a VP6 system for sale w/ cpu's and mem in the fs/ft forum, look around and you'll find it.
 
The pentium D805 is showing to be a decent price performance ratio for processors right now, slap that on a lga775 board and you've got a decent upgrade path.
 
Slartibartfast said:
hehe Dan that RAM is seriously tempting me. I may be starting grad school in jan tho so I need to be frugal...must resist...
Click to expand...

Having 4GB is nice. I used to have 5GB on here, but didn't notice a difference. So I threw that ram into another machine.
 
Dan_D said:
Having 4GB is nice. I used to have 5GB on here, but didn't notice a difference. So I threw that ram into another machine.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm running 4gb currently, the system never even so much as hiccups at me.
 
I've heard you get a little better performace out of 2 single core CPUs that one dual core because they can each access their own memory at the same time. Not sure how true/noticeable that is though.
It wouldn't be TOO expensive to get a dual Socket 1207 board and a pair of the new Opterons. Dual 940 is also an option, as others have mentioned.
 
J3ph_42 said:
I've heard you get a little better performace out of 2 single core CPUs that one dual core because they can each access their own memory at the same time. Not sure how true/noticeable that is though.
It wouldn't be TOO expensive to get a dual Socket 1207 board and a pair of the new Opterons. Dual 940 is also an option, as others have mentioned.
Click to expand...

I believe the performance benefit seen in a NUMA system is like, a single-digit percentage. The big benefit of a dual socket system, I think, is the added server features as well as upgradeability.

Dual 940 can still be fairly expensive, I spent about $2500 on my system all told and I'm only using opteron 248's.
 
J3ph_42 said:
I've heard you get a little better performace out of 2 single core CPUs that one dual core because they can each access their own memory at the same time. Not sure how true/noticeable that is though.
It wouldn't be TOO expensive to get a dual Socket 1207 board and a pair of the new Opterons. Dual 940 is also an option, as others have mentioned.
Click to expand...

In the case of the Opteron it is because each Opteron has it's own memory controller. This is not true of dual core X2 processors in Socket 939 or AM2 forms.

Additionally with NUMA, you can get double the memory bandwidth. Though this is useful only for certain types of applications. Really only SQL and other database type applications really can bennefit from a NUMA configuration. Though some memory bandwidth dependant games can get a single digit percentage boost as well. UT2004 is one such game that benches higher on a dual processor single core system with NUMA, than it would on a non-NUMA system of similar configuration. Though you trade off low memory latency for increased bandwidth in an Opteron.

Also the Opterons have more Hyper Transport links than a regular desktop processor has. Though this is also true of the single system Opteron 1xx and 1xxx series CPU's as well. The dual processor 2xx series has three HTT links per processor. This is less of an advantage and more a necessity of design.

They offer similar performance, but for different things. At the time I built my machine, I built it to be the fastest configuration I could imagine (though it took a few upgrades to get there). Dual core socket 939 CPU's weren't out when I assembled this box with dual Opteron 246's, and then I later upgraded to dual 254's because it was like having twin FX-57's, the then fastest single core desktop processor on the market. I got a great deal on my processors, and I have been very happy with my purchase.

As for socket 1207 (Socket F), vs. Socket 940, it would appear that the difference is about what it is between Socket 939 and AM2. Basically, not much. Some applications show a little increase, but nothing earth shattering.

At least with AM2, you get the bennefit of greater overclockability of the ram. DDR2 modules seem to be overclocking demons compared to DDR1 modules. With Socket F vs. Socket 940, you don't have that. Though I am sure that database applications and SQL transactions show marked improvement as they thrive on increased memory bandwidth. In which case Socket F Opteron is king of that.

Though the Woodcrest Xeon's are kicking the Opterons ass now in most areas. The effecient Core architecture is really pretty amazing.
 
Dan_D said:
Additionally with NUMA, you can get double the memory bandwidth.
Click to expand...
This is a common misconception; NUMA doesn't double memory bandwidth. It just tries to let each processor keep its own memory bandwidth to itself. One processor might steal bandwidth from another, and that happens even in applications which were tailor-made for NUMA.


Dan_D said:
Though this is useful only for certain types of applications. Really only SQL and other database type applications really can bennefit from a NUMA configuration.
Click to expand...
That's because databases like SQL Server is one of the precious few NUMA-optimized applications shipping today. Other applications could benefit more substantially, if their vendors thought it was worth doing the work required.
 
I hear it is VERY tough to code for. Multi threading is already hard enough for many software companies to get right.

Dual core is the most effective way to SMP right now. You can SMP without registered ram and you get lots of enthusiast motherboards.

AM2 socket will give the option of four cores soon.

Dual socket however, will get you twice what you can get on single socket... two dual cores... or two quad cores soon. It will give you registered ram support so you can get over 4gb easily, and you get the robust server options on the motherboards.
 
Yashu said:
I hear it is VERY tough to code for. Multi threading is already hard enough for many software companies to get right.

Dual core is the most effective way to SMP right now. You can SMP without registered ram and you get lots of enthusiast motherboards.

AM2 socket will give the option of four cores soon.

Dual socket however, will get you twice what you can get on single socket... two dual cores... or two quad cores soon. It will give you registered ram support so you can get over 4gb easily, and you get the robust server options on the motherboards.
Click to expand...

I don't know about writing the software, but on everything else you are correct. There are only very specific instances where anyone would bennefit from a dual socket, dual processor, multi-core machine.
 
Dan_D said:
There are only very specific instances where anyone would bennefit from a dual socket, dual processor, multi-core machine.
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Then it should be easy for you to concisely enumerate those very specific instances. Could you do so for me?
 
mikeblas said:
Then it should be easy for you to concisely enumerate those very specific instances. Could you do so for me?
Click to expand...
High Performance Computing clusters. One of my professors just got 40 Dual socket Dual core mATX boards from Intel to use for small portable clusters.
http://littlefe.net/ <- they will be used to build stuff like this (previous versions of his project).
 
I guess I asked a really poor question towards my point. I don't think it's true that there are only a few specific instances which benefit from a four-core machine. From games to high-end, vertical simulation software, the extra processors will help -- as long as you're running software that takes advantage of it.
 
mikeblas said:
I guess I asked a really poor question towards my point. I don't think it's true that there are only a few specific instances which benefit from a four-core machine. From games to high-end, vertical simulation software, the extra processors will help -- as long as you're running software that takes advantage of it.
Click to expand...
Yea, although I don't think many games will take advantage of it yet, hopefully that will change.
 
Xipher said:
Yea, although I don't think many games will take advantage of it yet, hopefully that will change.
Click to expand...

Yeah but having a second cpu/core can still make a difference because it can take care of whatever else is going on in the system. I personally like being able to have a ton of stuff going on while playing a game :cool:
 
mikeblas said:
I guess I asked a really poor question towards my point. I don't think it's true that there are only a few specific instances which benefit from a four-core machine. From games to high-end, vertical simulation software, the extra processors will help -- as long as you're running software that takes advantage of it.
Click to expand...

A second core or CPU can improve overall system responsiveness, and allow you to have more programs open at once. So even though not all of your software will bennefit from dual core or dual processor configurations, I still think it is worth having.

As for four core and four processor and up configurations, most home users and even gamers probably won't be able to take advantage of this for some time. So while the new Kentsfield CPU interests me, I don't think I am going to be rushing out to buy one.
 
Dan_D said:
As for four core and four processor and up configurations, most home users and even gamers probably won't be able to take advantage of this for some time. So while the new Kentsfield CPU interests me, I don't think I am going to be rushing out to buy one.
Click to expand...
I think the applications are only limited by the creativity of the user. You don't need an application that supports multiple threads to use the procs; you can run multiple processes.
 
mikeblas said:
I think the applications are only limited by the creativity of the user. You don't need an application that supports multiple threads to use the procs; you can run multiple processes.
Click to expand...

True. I thought I had made that clear by my statement about the extra cores/processors handling system load better.

Apparently I didn't. :)
 
I think if you're going to address the effectiveness or responsiveness of a dual core system when multi-tasking, you should also address balance.

You'll want to balance the system memory with the programs you'll be running regularly.
A low range dual core don't go less than 1 gig of ram, if you want something that can actually do some work, go with 2 gigs of ram. I've only built one dual core system with a single gig of ram and I think the client expected more, but I warned him and he didn't listen, so it wasn't my fault. He did a lot of 3DStudio Max work and wanted a dual core system for cheap, and he got it, but it wasn't the door smoking-multi-tasking-beast he thought it would be.
 
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