If your interested in a dual CPU board you should really visit
www.2cpu.com and their forums as well. I haven't heard that many bad things about the MSI board over there as some have indicated here. Furthermore the MSI 694D is based on the same VIA chipset as the VP6. So, I don't really see how the VP6 could be any better than it. Of course the MSI board I mentioned was a new revision of the board which will have to have a new revision of the chipset in order to run the Tualatins. These are probably just hitting the streets now.
As for FCPGA2 to PCPGA adaptors that would allow you to run Tualatins in coppermine boards, that's alot more complicated than it sounds. It's not just a matter of converting from one socket to another. In fact the socket isn't whats changed. It's the input/output signal levels on the bus. That makes it more complicated. I'm not sure we'll ever see such converter sockets and if we do they may be expensive and may not work in a dual configuration.
As for matching the 2 processors all you really need is 2 processors of the same speed and stepping. Their batch numbers don't have to match or even be close together. Processor from the same batch can clock very differently. So, the theory that if they're from the same batch they will overclock the same isn't necessarily true either. I would recommend the same stepping and speed to avoid trouble. Some motherboards can actually run different stepping and different speeds ( as long as the FSB is the same) together but it usually isn't recommended. For one thing some different steppings have different default Voltages. For example a cb0 stepping might run at 1.65v whereas the default voltage for a cc0 steeping is 1.7v. Most boards wouldn't have a problem with that, but some cheap boards like the Abit VP6 have only one voltage regulator module. Consequently, if you mix these 2 on a VP6 it's too stupid to figure out what to set the voltage at and won't boot. Anyway, you'll be best advised to use CPUs of the same stepping and speed. That's all you have to match.
If I were gonna buy a new dual PIII motherboard right now I would definatley take a look at a new Tualatin capable motherboard. These will require new revisions of the chipsets in order for the Tualatins to work in them. After all, your gonna buy a motherboard anyway, So why not get one that will support future processors. The new 1.13Ghz 512K cache Tualatin could be promising in terms of performance as well as the ability to overclock.
The dual AMD platform may be promising as well, but like said before they run hot and suck lots of power and when you double them up this becomes twice as much of a concern. Also, they require a special power supply that has an additional connector on it. I'm not sure but I believe Enermax has a 650W power supply that will work. This would be about what youd need for a dual AMD system as well since they suck lots of power. The 650W enermax cost somewhere around $199 I believe. So, as you can see there are hidden cost if you go the AMD route. Another question about the dual AMD platform is it's long term stability. This is AMDs first venture into the SMP arena and they are doing things a bit differently and with a new untried and true chipset. Designing a stable smp system is a bit more complex that a single processor system and one has to wonder if there won't be a few bugs in it.
