Dual Opterons, yup, I am going crazy again...

[DanFraser]

Yep, time for an upgrade! This dual is getting a tad on the not so young side, and I want to get a big upgrade this time.

I want to go dual again, no way am I going single cpu EVER AGAIN! And, I am going to stay AMD.

OK, here's some prices I found:

AMD Opteron 242 S940 at around 780 USD.
Mobo, not too sure of.
Ram, 2GB (4x 512MB) Reg ram around 480 USD.

The mobo is the big factor, I want a mobo that can support most types of ram (I found a spec sheet for the MSI K8T800 and it only shows one type of Samsung ram, which is a little off-putting). I am limited in my options of being in the small fry computing country that is the UK. Options are very limited, and it is even a little hard to find Athlon dual boards. I have seen specs of the Tyan version, intruiging.

I found http://www.dabs.com/uk which has given me all this information. I will be upgrading in the next month (or six weeks) at the most. This site also gives me the option of payment via installments, which would help, as three payments would be easier (my card doesnt go up to the full asking price of my wishlist, lol).

If you want to say anything along the lines of don't bother, or wait, press that back button, not the reply button!

I want this upgrade now, and I will use the power of the upgrade, in Rendering, Distributed Computing, and other cpu intensive applications (like windows explorer, heh). Now remember to add a 64-bit OS if needed, or if I can get away with it, I would prefer to stay with XP Pro.

I am also thinking of a new Video Card. One of those ATI 9800 pro (or whatever the proper name is, not been in the ATI arena for a while) would do nicely.

And before anyone asks, this dual is going to be my server! lol!

So to cap it all, get searching on that dabs site, and recommend items for me to get! Though don't get too rudiculous on the price, something reasonable or this type of upgrade. So remember, cpu's, mobo, ram and video card!

 

[Cjwinnit]

Judging by the weak dollar you might be better off getting someone to buy it in the States for you and sending it over..

How much would a gig stick of RAM be next year?

 

[Arkaine23]

Might want to get a board that has 4 dimms/CPU, like the tyan. Although the good chipsets for Opterons have not come out just yet, so if you're dropping a lot of money now, you might want to consider waiting for SIS 755 or Nforce 3 -250. The current chipsets (Nvidia Nforce3 -150 VIA K8T800somthing or other) do not fully utilize the HT bus. Even waiting six months, you'd see some price drops and better chipset implementation.

That stuff aside, I'd go for the tyan. Just make sure you get teh one that has an AGP slot.

 

[everclock]

what server needs a Radeon 9800 Pro, u never mentioned gaming. And dont run a server on WinXP Pro, I hear Gentoo has a nice 64-bit version of linux that works great.

And I dont care what you will say, if you want to buy an Opteron board NOW, price better not be a big concern, or you will be disappointed. You are easily looking at over $2500 just for cpu mobo and ram, u still need vid card case hdd optical drives, opterons are expensive.

And dont expect much overclocking capabilities, u might find a board or two that will have decent overclocking, but it will lack other features you may want.

 

[DayUSeX]

yes try to run linux as that is really the best server option out there. I was in the same spot as you and i decided to hold off, as there really are no good motherboards out there that support overclocking/features i want. Especially after reading the article onf the front page of ocers.com i am all to happy that i am waiting for the next iteration of hammer. If you wait you can try out those tasty new pcix cards that ATI will be releasing with its new core, as well as a better north bridge.

 

[Skiing Squirrel]

If Dan is going crazy, then so am I. If you think about it the pricing is pretty competitive.
dual Socket A mobo-190
two 2400 mp's-250
registered ram-125 per 512

opteron dual mobo (msi)-195
two 240's- about 400
registered ram-125 per 512

an opteron rig is only about 200 bucks more than a socket a rig, and much faster.

Im just trying to defend dan against the opteron haters

I want to follow this thread because finally someone else is going opteron.

 

[cmcquistion]

You must be referring to the MSI K8T Master2-Far, as that is the only dual Opteron board in that price range (lowest Pricewatch price is $222.)

Keep in mind that MSI board is the lowest end of the Opteron dual boards. It doesn't offfer 66 MHz or 64 bit PCI slots. It has non-standard heatsink mounts, so I'm not sure what heatsinks you can use with it, other than the heatsinks that come with the motherboard and it has less memory capacity than every other dual Opteron board that I've seen.

Almost every other dual Opteron board costs over $400.

 

[DaveB]

You're not dealing with the fact that Skiing Squirrel is comparing to a dual socket A setup.

 

[DanFraser]

what server needs a Radeon 9800 Pro, u never mentioned gaming. And dont run a server on WinXP Pro, I hear Gentoo has a nice 64-bit version of linux that works great.

It's not going to be a server, this dual (in my sig) shall take that role. I have been running a server with XP Pro for 1 and a half years, with uptimes of 3 months, don't slate what works. I may think about Linux though (anyone says Mandrake and I'll kill ya!)

And I dont care what you will say, if you want to buy an Opteron board NOW, price better not be a big concern, or you will be disappointed. You are easily looking at over $2500 just for cpu mobo and ram, u still need vid card case hdd optical drives, opterons are expensive.

I dearly hope you mean canadian dollars there my friend, as this will only cost me around 1600 USD after tax and delivery. I already have all the other parts, this is an internal UPGRADE.

And dont expect much overclocking capabilities, u might find a board or two that will have decent overclocking, but it will lack other features you may want.

Who said anything about overclocking?

Not to flame you, but take more time to read posts, and don't hit that reply button before thinking about what you are going to say.

You must be referring to the MSI K8T Master2-Far, as that is the only dual Opteron board in that price range (lowest Pricewatch price is $222.)

To be honest, I have struggled to find anything else available in the UK. I am looking towards this or the Tyan if I can find it. The MSI, why? I like the solidness of the K7D, and am thinking that surely its not going to absolutely dire.

Keep in mind that MSI board is the lowest end of the Opteron dual boards. It doesn't offfer 66 MHz or 64 bit PCI slots. It has non-standard heatsink mounts, so I'm not sure what heatsinks you can use with it, other than the heatsinks that come with the motherboard and it has less memory capacity than every other dual Opteron board that I've seen.

I dont actually have anything that needs 66MHz or 64bit slots, and at this rate, may not for a while. It appears that There are a few heatsinks that can be used. I was expecting to have to get new heatsinks with a new socket design.

Almost every other dual Opteron board costs over $400.

Ya, I know, makes it darn hard shopping, lol.

Thanks for all your posts. And that was one heck of a quoting session, lol.

 

[Skiing Squirrel]

You're not dealing with the fact that Skiing Squirrel is comparing to a dual socket A setup.

Right. I am comparing two enthusist motherboards. Not a highend socket A vs a lowend opteron, but just two regular mainstream motherboards. And who said anything about using 66mhz pci slots? To be honest, I don't ever use any of those. Frankly, people who would be buying a cheap motherboard probably don't have the cash to spend 500 dollars on a scsi raid settup. That is the only thing where 66mhz slots would come in handy (but correct me if I'm wrong). Dan, from what I am getting at is you're just using this rig for an assortment of things, right?

 

[everclock]

Who said anything about overclocking?

Not to flame you, but take more time to read posts, and don't hit that reply button before thinking about what you are going to say.

Last I heard this was still the overclockers forum, so I doubt anyone has a problem with me assuming u might want overclocking features. Just because I included the extra info, doesnt mean u need to critisize me for it.

Second of all, in my opinion, you DID flame me. Maybe next time you try NOT to flame someone, "don't hit that reply button before thinking about what you are going to say." Don't criticize people for trying to help. Thats a great way to get ignored, and in this case, lose respect. Good luck finding a decent dual opteron system for $1600, I don't think I could do that. More power to you if you can.

Next time you don't like a post, just ignore it. I didnt say anything derogatory towards you, I was just trying to help.

 

[cmcquistion]

Let's watch our words here, folks.

I don't think anyone intended to flame anyone else, but let's all be more careful with our wording, ok?

 

[everclock]

ok

 

[Mr.Guvernment]

the MSI cuts the memory banwidth in HALF because CPU1 has to go through CPU0 to access raw memory - this kind of defeats one of the greatest features of the opteron! MSi has good boards - but this is not one of them.

deinfetly go Tyan if you are truely being serious about a dual opteron.

i myself will be buying a dual opteron system - but am going to wait till Q1 next year to see what new things come out and to see if they will come out with 2.4op's and higher.

 

[Xtc4u]

Tyan Thunder K8W is an awesome board. I've had one since October and its been a great performer and has been solid. I do a lot of video editing some graphics and other various things with it. Running Windows XP SP1 and I've only had to reboot after installing new programs. It can also take various ram chips and even supports PC3200. I've started dabbllin with Linux just to learn it and I ran Gentoo with only slight issues. Not sure if I help or not but figured I'd put up the Option.

 

[DanFraser]

Thanks guys, though you must have dredged a few pages to find this one!

This will have to be put off for about a month longer than I planned. Some lowlife pain in the backside nicked my bike on friday (19th) and now I have no transport to work. I need to replace it as walking 8 miles a day is killing me.

 

[Surfeit00]

Thats going to be a really nice rig whenever you get it.

Hope you crunch SETI or fold

 

[Mr.Guvernment]

that sucks! dam crooks!


well - bets to wait in my opinion anyways too see what new stuff will be out to drop the prices of current stuff

 

[Xtc4u]

^^^ Yep

 

[mateo]

I'd save up just enough for 244s, they seem to be the best in terms of price/performance, and they're the newer C stepping, so you can use PC3200. Corsair's Reg XMS3200 is sorta cheap now, too. I'd definitely go w/ a board w/ 64bit PCI, either the IWill or Tyan (melikes the IWill)- if you're this far, you might as well go the distance.