SMP Question (bet Tim's the man for this)???

[dimmreaper]

I've been considering purchasing a Gigabyte GA-6VXDC7. As far a FSBs go, it's got the same available FSBs above 133 as my current MoBo (140 and 150). And I can easily hack the Vcore to almost anything I want. And if I get the board and hate it, Ebay would be glad to let me auction it off. So for $135 I figure WTF could it hurt.

But . . . .
Their is a footnote on Gigabytes website that says "In order to support dual processor mode, the 2nd CPU must has the same stepping, FSB and ratio as the 1st CPU."

So I have to use another cB0 for sure! I can't just throw a cC0 in for the other CPU? Or are they just saying that to relese themselves from any liability, just incase their is a compatability issue?

[dimmreaper]

Think I may have answered my own question.

Different steppings use different voltages, hence the warning.

But since I will do some VidPin hacking anyway, I don't think it will matter.

[Tim-]

The MB reads the VID pins for the Vcore, and the logic reads a cc0 and a cb0 together as 1.3v. At least on the VP6... The BP6 had separate Vcore adjustments for the 2 processors so this wasn't a factor. As far as other MBs go, it depends on how they handle the VID pins,

If you are willing to manually set the VID pins, it shouldn't be a problem. BUT you may have to isolate a pin from the cc0 since the VID pins may be a "low" normally and this is a little more complicated than just grounding a "high" pin.

[dimmreaper]

I better just try to get a cB0 to make it easy on myself. But rather than wiring the Vid pins, I'd solder some patch wires off the back of the MoBo (right were the ZIF Socket is) to a Dipswitch array. That should work with any s370 MoBo.

I can probably get a good deal on a cB0 700E from some rich kid whos upgrading to a 1.2GHz Tbird :D
Either that or just buy another 700E, and if it's a cC0, I'm sure someone in the forum with a cB0 would be glad to swap. All I care about is hitting 140FSB with both chips, and alot of cB0 700Es can get there.

Not so sure, It might be worth waiting till SMP SocketA boards become available. The SMP SocketA boards will be very expensive from what I've heard, but the cost of the CPUs comensates for that.

[dimmreaper]

I don't really feel like pushing 2.05V to two cB0s.

I better see if I can find a used BP6 (or a decent dual slot1 board and another Iwill slocket2). That way I have good voltage control. So tim, you think my GeForce2 MX can live with an AGP bus of 45MHz+ :D

I've got a an old dual slot1 440LX chipset board, but I'm not really in to underclocking :D

[Tim-]

I'm afraid I don't know much about Geforce cards- hopefully someone else will jump in.

The problem with running wires to a dipswitch is that it won't allow you to change from a 0 to a 1, only the other way around. On the cc0 chips, you will find that to be a problem. You have to isolate the pin from the socket, or cut the trace from the socket to the rest of the PCB to prevent the cpu from pulling it low, so that the dipswitch will have control. Or you could cut the pin off the cpu if you're confident that you will keep it forever. I believe some folks have bent the pin over to get the same effect, but the odds on being able to straighten it out again are poor.

[dimmreaper]

Well Tim-

I found an even better solution! MSI make a great series of MoBo based on the VIA Apollo Pro 133A DP northbridge. They offer indipendent Vcore adjustment, and FSBs all the way up to 200! They utilize a Winbond Health monitoring chip to read the on-die thermal diod too! Plus they are very affordable, and the top of the line model features ATA100 raid, and IEEE 1394 (AKA firewire)!

There top of the line SMP board is only $125 - $140 depending on were you buy it. Thats a great price for the feature list.

Sadly AFAIK the board lacks a VIO adjust. I'll just have to see what I can do about adding a trimmer for variable VIO. If I can figure out how to do that, then It should make a schweet MoBo.

Anyway, I'm very very seriously considering purchasing one. If I do I'll be writing a review up on my website, so stay tuned.

[DocClock aka MadClocker]

Speaking of SMP, is there a dual slot one board out there that can handle Alpha P3-125's?