AMD | INTEL -SMP FAQ
-AMD-
Best Overclocking?
is the MSI K7D Master -L. it has voltage control(The Only Board),FSB Controls,multi, and is very stable oc'ed.
Other:
The IWILL MPX2 has FSB options in increments of 1MHz up to 200+, VCore adjust, VIO adjust mem timing adjust and multiplier adjust on rev 1.3 boards.
How Much Power Do I Need?
most people would suggest at least a 500w,you might be able to get by with 450w. but the more the better.
Can I Use Non Registred memory?
MOST of the boards can handle it in the first two slots only
Is There Any AMD dual board with onboard raid?
yes, the Gigabyte ~ GA7DPXDW and GA7DPXDW + Have onboard promise raid.
Does The onboard usb work
The Boards That Have Working Usb:
MSI K7d -L
Gigabyte 7DPXDW(+)
Iwill MPX2
Tyan TigerMPX-4M
The Non-L K7D Master does as well
can i use a 32bit Card In a 64bit slot?
if it fits..then most likley it will.
Do any boards have onboard scsi?
yes,the thunder k7x
where are the links to all the dual amd boards?
see this sticky:http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=89236
-INTEL-
What Are The Diffrent Versions of Intel Dual Solutions?
Pentium Pro
Pentium III/II Xeon Slot 2
Pentium III/II Slot 1/370(All Pentium III[Coppermine PIIIs stepping A0 (early versions) are NOT SMP capable.] works in SMP except Pentium III with Tualatin core and 256KB L2 cache.
)
Pentium 4 / Xeon Socket
Can I use Regular P4s in smp?
NO. You Have To Use P4 XEONS.
Can I Use Celerons In SMP?
Not all of Celerons work in SMP.
1. early Celerons (also slot 1 and socket 370) till 500 MHz work in SMP
2. Celerons base on Coppermine core from 533 MHz to Tualatin core 1.3 GHz are SMP disable
(All Mendocino Celerons (333a-533a) are SMP capable even though Intel officially denies it.
)
What Are Some Manf. Of Dual Intel Boards?
SuperMicro
Abit
ACorp
How Much Power Would I need?
Pentium III/II Xeon Slot 2 400w+
Pentium III/II Slot 1/370 400w+
Pentium 4 / Xeon Socket 500w+
Some Intel Dual Boards(2cpu.com)
Tyan Thunder i860
Iwill DP400
MSI K7D Master L
Supermicro Super P4DP8-G2
Iwill MPX2
Tyan Thunder i7500
Supermicro 370DLE
Tyan Tiger MPX
AOpen DX34 Plus
Tyan Tiger MP
Rioworks SDVIC-LAR
Dell's Dual Tualatin 2U Server
Tyan Thunder/Tiger LE
Tyan Thunder K7
ECS D6VAA
Iwill DVD266-R
Tyan Tiger 200
Abit VP6
AOpen DX2G Plus
Epox EP-D3VA
AOpen DX6G
MSI 694D Pro-A / MS-Star Force 815
Tyan Tiger 133
Tyan Thunder X
Tyan Tiger 100 rev.F
DFI P2XBL-D
Asus P2B-D
Tyan Thunderbolt
Tyan Tiger 100
Abit BP6
PIII PSU
A Min of 300w will work
-VRMS-
What is A VRM?
It Is A Voltage Regulator Module, Mostly Used On Intel Boards.
You Need One For Each Proccesor
The PIII Xeons on a 133mhz FSB don't require any VRMs, as the VRM is actually on the CPU cartridge. You can spot these when the CPU is labeled 5v/12v. This requires a mobo like the Intel SBT2 or something similar. You don't have too many choices on mobos with those.
PIII Xeons 550mhz and slower (as well as 700mhz, and 900mhz) require an external, or mobo integrated VRM.
All PII Xeons all require an external, or mobo integrated VRM (no on-cartridge ones). Depending on how the mobo manufacturer has built the board, it should have 3 VRMS, as PII Xeons run the L2 cache at a higher voltage than the CPU core. Cores are all 2.0v, and L2 can be 2.5v or 2.7v. I assume most manufacturers would at least have the L2 VRM onboard
How many VRMs do I need?
That depends. Sometimes the first CPU, CPU0, has it's voltage regulator built into the motherboard. Most Pentium Pros use this. Most slot-2 Xeons need a VRM for each CPU. Look at the motherboard and count the VRM sockets. You will need a VRM for each socket that has a CPU in it's corresponding CPU socket.
Where can I get these VRMs then?
Ebay is the best and sometimes only place. $20 or less is a good price, but usually you'll only pay $10 or so for each one. Don't buy from OEMs. They can charge $50+ for each one.
Does it matter what type of VRM I get?
Yes, but it's not hard to find the right kind. There are very few varieties of VRMs around. Most use the ATX 2.03 standard and are either 5V or 12V. The name implies which line of the power supply it uses to generate the CPU voltage. 5V uses the 5 volt line and so forth. Some motherboards require one or the other, but in most cases it's your choice to make based on power needs.
I've used duals for a while but I've never heard of a VRM. Why?
SP better explains:
Only the new, higher-end server boards need VRMs to supply power to the CPUs. Most new motherboards have the regulation circuitry built-in.
-Other Info-
Do The Programs I Use Need to be Diffrent To Take Advantage Of SMP?
yes...they must be programmed to use the the 2nd proc.otherwise you will still only be on 1 proc.
What is the deal with the 4 pin (P4) power plug on the mobo?
it is used for the extra power that the second proc may need.
Linux +Smp
Linux distros can use SMP if they have an SMP enabled kernel. In some cases this must be enabled manually.
What Os Do I need to take advantge of a dual?
One Of These:
XP Pro
2000 Pro
Most Linux Distros
NT 4.0
What is SMP
SMP is a system with 2 or more processors equiped with an operating system that distributes the load across these processors as evenly as possibly.
Does that mean 1 processor will run the os and 1 will run my game
No the Operating system sends threads as soon as there is room to whatever processor is ready .
Is two 1 gig processors faster than one 1 gig processor If all other hardware is equal ?
No because of the added overhead of busses and because the operating system always distributes the load as evenly as possible across the 2 processors.Example if a game uses 50% of a single processor to run and you play the game on a dual the game will use 25% of each processor to run resulting in the same 50% load that we have in a single.Now add the bus for the dual and you are slightly slower in a game.
So if it is not faster why even have a dual system. {It has been said a dual owner never goes back ! here is why.}
Lets encode a video on a 1 gig single with exactly the same hard ware as a dual 1 gig.On the single you will see processor usage at 100% durring the video encoding process.Now Try to open Outlook express Or play a game. On the dual run the same Video encoding and you will see each processor at 50% which is equal to the single at 100%.Now open Outlook express,Play a game,and fold and the dual happly responds.
Why doesn't Windows 2K recognize my second processor?
You may need to reinstall if you installed it originally with 1 processor, or if you upgraded from Win 98. (My own experience)
Kingslayer adds:
If you go to Device Manager and expand Computer you will see Single Processor System. You can change the driver on that to Multi Processor System and it loads the SMP kernel for you.
and finally, nipster also helps out with:
You can go to device manager (XP and 2k only) and select computer. You can change from Standard Computer to MPS Multiprocessor PC in the "change driver" dialog box, and reboot. 90% of the time this will work. NOTE: if you are using an ACPI capable motherboard with ACPI enabled, you will have to reinstall the OS, this trick does not work with ACPI, you will get BSOD. Also under NT4, you can do this as well with an application on the resource kit CD called UPTOMP.exe
Gaming On A Duallie
Your games will actually run slower on a dually most of the time. the ony reason to have a dual gaming rig is if you you do a lot of bg stuff while you play games.
I will be adding more as i get the info
If you want something added..then either email me or aim me(or pm).
mail: [email protected]
aim:TwistedFolder
-AMD-
Best Overclocking?
is the MSI K7D Master -L. it has voltage control(The Only Board),FSB Controls,multi, and is very stable oc'ed.
Other:
The IWILL MPX2 has FSB options in increments of 1MHz up to 200+, VCore adjust, VIO adjust mem timing adjust and multiplier adjust on rev 1.3 boards.
How Much Power Do I Need?
most people would suggest at least a 500w,you might be able to get by with 450w. but the more the better.
Can I Use Non Registred memory?
MOST of the boards can handle it in the first two slots only
Is There Any AMD dual board with onboard raid?
yes, the Gigabyte ~ GA7DPXDW and GA7DPXDW + Have onboard promise raid.
Does The onboard usb work
The Boards That Have Working Usb:
MSI K7d -L
Gigabyte 7DPXDW(+)
Iwill MPX2
Tyan TigerMPX-4M
The Non-L K7D Master does as well
can i use a 32bit Card In a 64bit slot?
if it fits..then most likley it will.
Do any boards have onboard scsi?
yes,the thunder k7x
where are the links to all the dual amd boards?
see this sticky:http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=89236
-INTEL-
What Are The Diffrent Versions of Intel Dual Solutions?
Pentium Pro
Pentium III/II Xeon Slot 2
Pentium III/II Slot 1/370(All Pentium III[Coppermine PIIIs stepping A0 (early versions) are NOT SMP capable.] works in SMP except Pentium III with Tualatin core and 256KB L2 cache.
)
Pentium 4 / Xeon Socket
Can I use Regular P4s in smp?
NO. You Have To Use P4 XEONS.
Can I Use Celerons In SMP?
Not all of Celerons work in SMP.
1. early Celerons (also slot 1 and socket 370) till 500 MHz work in SMP
2. Celerons base on Coppermine core from 533 MHz to Tualatin core 1.3 GHz are SMP disable
(All Mendocino Celerons (333a-533a) are SMP capable even though Intel officially denies it.
)
What Are Some Manf. Of Dual Intel Boards?
SuperMicro
Abit
ACorp
How Much Power Would I need?
Pentium III/II Xeon Slot 2 400w+
Pentium III/II Slot 1/370 400w+
Pentium 4 / Xeon Socket 500w+
Some Intel Dual Boards(2cpu.com)
Tyan Thunder i860
Iwill DP400
MSI K7D Master L
Supermicro Super P4DP8-G2
Iwill MPX2
Tyan Thunder i7500
Supermicro 370DLE
Tyan Tiger MPX
AOpen DX34 Plus
Tyan Tiger MP
Rioworks SDVIC-LAR
Dell's Dual Tualatin 2U Server
Tyan Thunder/Tiger LE
Tyan Thunder K7
ECS D6VAA
Iwill DVD266-R
Tyan Tiger 200
Abit VP6
AOpen DX2G Plus
Epox EP-D3VA
AOpen DX6G
MSI 694D Pro-A / MS-Star Force 815
Tyan Tiger 133
Tyan Thunder X
Tyan Tiger 100 rev.F
DFI P2XBL-D
Asus P2B-D
Tyan Thunderbolt
Tyan Tiger 100
Abit BP6
PIII PSU
A Min of 300w will work
-VRMS-
What is A VRM?
It Is A Voltage Regulator Module, Mostly Used On Intel Boards.
You Need One For Each Proccesor
The PIII Xeons on a 133mhz FSB don't require any VRMs, as the VRM is actually on the CPU cartridge. You can spot these when the CPU is labeled 5v/12v. This requires a mobo like the Intel SBT2 or something similar. You don't have too many choices on mobos with those.
PIII Xeons 550mhz and slower (as well as 700mhz, and 900mhz) require an external, or mobo integrated VRM.
All PII Xeons all require an external, or mobo integrated VRM (no on-cartridge ones). Depending on how the mobo manufacturer has built the board, it should have 3 VRMS, as PII Xeons run the L2 cache at a higher voltage than the CPU core. Cores are all 2.0v, and L2 can be 2.5v or 2.7v. I assume most manufacturers would at least have the L2 VRM onboard
How many VRMs do I need?
That depends. Sometimes the first CPU, CPU0, has it's voltage regulator built into the motherboard. Most Pentium Pros use this. Most slot-2 Xeons need a VRM for each CPU. Look at the motherboard and count the VRM sockets. You will need a VRM for each socket that has a CPU in it's corresponding CPU socket.
Where can I get these VRMs then?
Ebay is the best and sometimes only place. $20 or less is a good price, but usually you'll only pay $10 or so for each one. Don't buy from OEMs. They can charge $50+ for each one.
Does it matter what type of VRM I get?
Yes, but it's not hard to find the right kind. There are very few varieties of VRMs around. Most use the ATX 2.03 standard and are either 5V or 12V. The name implies which line of the power supply it uses to generate the CPU voltage. 5V uses the 5 volt line and so forth. Some motherboards require one or the other, but in most cases it's your choice to make based on power needs.
I've used duals for a while but I've never heard of a VRM. Why?
SP better explains:
Only the new, higher-end server boards need VRMs to supply power to the CPUs. Most new motherboards have the regulation circuitry built-in.
-Other Info-
Do The Programs I Use Need to be Diffrent To Take Advantage Of SMP?
yes...they must be programmed to use the the 2nd proc.otherwise you will still only be on 1 proc.
What is the deal with the 4 pin (P4) power plug on the mobo?
it is used for the extra power that the second proc may need.
Linux +Smp
Linux distros can use SMP if they have an SMP enabled kernel. In some cases this must be enabled manually.
What Os Do I need to take advantge of a dual?
One Of These:
XP Pro
2000 Pro
Most Linux Distros
NT 4.0
What is SMP
SMP is a system with 2 or more processors equiped with an operating system that distributes the load across these processors as evenly as possibly.
Does that mean 1 processor will run the os and 1 will run my game
No the Operating system sends threads as soon as there is room to whatever processor is ready .
Is two 1 gig processors faster than one 1 gig processor If all other hardware is equal ?
No because of the added overhead of busses and because the operating system always distributes the load as evenly as possible across the 2 processors.Example if a game uses 50% of a single processor to run and you play the game on a dual the game will use 25% of each processor to run resulting in the same 50% load that we have in a single.Now add the bus for the dual and you are slightly slower in a game.
So if it is not faster why even have a dual system. {It has been said a dual owner never goes back ! here is why.}
Lets encode a video on a 1 gig single with exactly the same hard ware as a dual 1 gig.On the single you will see processor usage at 100% durring the video encoding process.Now Try to open Outlook express Or play a game. On the dual run the same Video encoding and you will see each processor at 50% which is equal to the single at 100%.Now open Outlook express,Play a game,and fold and the dual happly responds.
Why doesn't Windows 2K recognize my second processor?
You may need to reinstall if you installed it originally with 1 processor, or if you upgraded from Win 98. (My own experience)
Kingslayer adds:
If you go to Device Manager and expand Computer you will see Single Processor System. You can change the driver on that to Multi Processor System and it loads the SMP kernel for you.
and finally, nipster also helps out with:
You can go to device manager (XP and 2k only) and select computer. You can change from Standard Computer to MPS Multiprocessor PC in the "change driver" dialog box, and reboot. 90% of the time this will work. NOTE: if you are using an ACPI capable motherboard with ACPI enabled, you will have to reinstall the OS, this trick does not work with ACPI, you will get BSOD. Also under NT4, you can do this as well with an application on the resource kit CD called UPTOMP.exe
Gaming On A Duallie
Your games will actually run slower on a dually most of the time. the ony reason to have a dual gaming rig is if you you do a lot of bg stuff while you play games.
I will be adding more as i get the info
If you want something added..then either email me or aim me(or pm).
mail: [email protected]
aim:TwistedFolder
Last edited:
