Challenge - Non-server PCI-X board

D

D3v1an7

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Oct 22, 2003
Messages
1,256
My director came to me and asked if I could find any desktop MB that supported PCI-X. The catch is it can't be multi-proc and needs to be an Intel based chipset, socket 478.

The first board I found that I suggested was this
http://www.giga-byte.com/MotherBoard/Products/Products_Spec_GA-8KNXP Ultra-64.htmt
This board just happens to be a new revision of a the board she is warrenty replacing currently so everyone was happy. Except, you can't find the board anywhere but on EBAY, which to us means it was probably crap and has been discontinued.

So, what I need is a few socket 478, PCI-X recomendations from the experts in the group.

Oh yeah, the reason she needs this board is she is building a Linux box for housing a Terabyte of storage in a SCSI RAID 5 array. The PCI-X slot is for the controller she has picked out.

Thanks in advance to all those who can help!
 
Mabye an Intel SE7210TP1-E board will be to your liking.

Socket 478, single CPU
Intel E72010 chipset

Intel Page here

I just built a FreeBSD fileserver using one of these boards, works just grand.

Here's the server I built:

titan-ng3.jpg
 
Thanks, I will send that up to her and see what she thinks.

Anyone else have any suggestions?
 
The only problem with that board is that it is nearly impossible to come by now. Even my director's friends who have connections couldn't get her one of those boards.
 
Tigerbiten said:
Have a look at the Tyan Tomcat i7221 (S5150) .
http://www.tyan.com/products/html/tomcati7221.html
Its a new board so may not be in full production yet.

Luck.......... :D
Click to expand...


That is an interesting board... PCI-E and PCI-X on the same Mobo with no AGP? I'd be interested in seeing a few reviews of it first before I passed that on to my director. Have you heard anything about it's stability and performance? What do you think of Tyan mobos in general? I haven't heard too much myself as I usually stick to a few "old reliable" manufacturers (like ABIT, ASUS, GIGABYTE, etc).
 
xonik said:
How about Socket 479?

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=13-136-150&DEPA=0

Edit:

Supermicro P4SCT,

http://www.google.com/froogle?q=p4sct&btnG=Search+Froogle&scoring=p&sa=N&start=30
Click to expand...

I'm a little rusty with my Intel knowledge but, correct me if I am wrong, she won't be able to use her 478 pin chip on a socket 479 board. To keep costs down she doesn't want to have to buy a new chip (she wants to recycle the chip off the gigabyte board that died)

The other board looks promising; I'll have to look into that a little more before passing it on. Do you have any experiences with Supermicro Mobos?
 
Supermicro and Tyan are probably the best board manufacturers out there. Intel is another good one. Supermicro and Tyan have built server/workstation motherboards for over 10 years apiece. They are well respected in the server/workstation business.
 
xonik said:
Supermicro and Tyan are probably the best board manufacturers out there. Intel is another good one. Supermicro and Tyan have built server/workstation motherboards for over 10 years apiece. They are well respected in the server/workstation business.
Click to expand...
Agreed. We use SuperMicro's in the lab all the time and they are very solid.

If you are not running a multi-proc system, one thing to consider is that PCI-X boards are supposed to work just fine in non PCI-X slots. For example, the products we have that are PCI-X 64-bit 133 MHz run just fine in a PCI 32 bit 33 MHz slot. In single CPU systems, you could argue that there's little difference in bus throughput. You are bound by the bus width, bus speed, and the number of transactions on the common bus. High end servers have lots of bridges in them to isolate bus segments to improve throughput.

...now, with a pair or four CPU's, and one to four dual port GbE cards on the PCI-X bus.....different story.

Regards - B.B.S.
 
Thanks for the info guys, it is much appreciated.

This is why the [H]ardForums are the best.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top