Are old system worth it?

[Skiing Squirrel]

Theres a deal where I can get an IBM dual capable board that has one PII 266 cpu in there right now. The whole rig has 3 4.6 HD's, 128 megs of ram, and other stuff. I want to know if I should get this, becuase I want to get into smp, but want to know a few things:
Its an IBM PC Server 330
I was thinking of yanking out the old 266 single proc, and putting in two pII 450s. This rig would be just for the sake of having another rig, and learning more about computers. I might use it as a file server or somehting, but want to know if putting two 450's in there will really make it semi-usable. If it is going to still be slow, I probly wont do it, but if I can do regualr stuff at a decent rate, I might get it. Also, has anyone ever had this settup? I cant seem to find the motherboard they use or anything. Might be able to overclock it if I get it. Thanks.

 

[SickBoy]

I'd check the specs on the system before buying it. there's a good chance you can't use Deschutes (100 MHz FSB) core P2's in there. Check the chipset - if it's 440FX you're going to be limited to a 333 MHz P2 as your fastest potential CPU. if it's 440LX or 440BX you're good to use Deschutes P2's and if it's BX, maybe even Katmai P3's.

 

[Skiing Squirrel]

Heres all the info: http://www.pcsurplusonline.com/viewprod.cfm?ID=1483

 

[JDXNC]

My best friend has IBM PC server 325 with Dual P Pro 200's with 512k cache and its actually pretty peppy. There's no overclocking on his board... but P Pro's only went up to 200 anyway. I got the whole rig going for him and I will bet you those 3 4.3GB HD's are scsi, cause the 325 has 2 3GB scsi's which definately help its speed. As well he has 128MB of ECC ram in it. I'd say go for it because with a NT/linux OS on there it will be quite useful, not a gaming rig but for learning about SMP its great.

 

[JDXNC]

Also.... the case... which is the same on the 330 looks awsome painted... check how I did my friends:

Really neat looking rig in the dark with about 10 LED's flashing, 1 for each CPU's activity, the onboad LAN... as well as each HDD has its own activily LED

 

[Skiing Squirrel]

Yea, I actually like the case. If I do get it, I want to paint it like a lime green... Go figure. But, as I said, I couldnt find alot of info on the chipset or anything, but I'll keep looking.

 

[JDXNC]

Check the IBM website (I know its terribly useless and the search is crap ) and download the PDF manual for it, it has all the specs.

 

[cmcquistion]

I've got a dual P2-350 IBM Server at work. It's a decent machine. Nicer to use than my single P4 1.5, sometimes, just because it's a dually.

 

[Skiing Squirrel]

they fastest this thing is going to support is going to be 333s or something like that. I might just get it.

 

[Twinkle]

would the p2 celly's work in a 440FX?

 

[adamtekh]

i play around with intel server. quad pII 450 xeons with 1 meg cache each, with 2,8 gigs of ram. and yeah its pretty fast. but my single amd system has more proformance than it.

i also play with some IBM and HP quad P pro 200s all use ultgra wide scsi hot swapable, not to slow that its a pain to work on.
adn they sound really cool !