The Xeon Thread

[larva]

You are generally going to be able to run at least the 206 you are now at 2-2-2-5 at 2.73V with BH5 on i875. It is possible that you could get BH5 and only be able to run 2-2-2-6 also, and further possible that your TCCD might manage 2-2-2-5 on another board. Chance still plays a tiny role in exactly how tight you can go. I do feel BH5 is essentially ideal for your application, with TCCD just being a very good substitute.

 

[{PMS}fishy]

Well, I have TCCD that will run 240 2-2-2-5 @ 2.8v so thats not an issue.

1.6v might be an issue though, as 1.65v would be so much better.

What needs to be done to the MB to hit 1.65v ?

 

[dustybyrd]

Well, I have TCCD that will run 240 2-2-2-5 @ 2.8v so thats not an issue.

1.6v might be an issue though, as 1.65v would be so much better.

What needs to be done to the MB to hit 1.65v ?

on the >1.6v mod...here is a link provided by DaveB:

http://www.datamine.tk/overclocking/voidwarranty/james_bzx8's_mods.htm

he has said that it can be risky and kill a mobo...


on the TCCD hitting 240mhz fsb at 2,2,2,5...

while it's possible that you have really good TCCD, it could also be that using dual channel and using dual channel on a dual xeon board makes it quite a bit tougher to get such high fsb's with tight timings

the mushkin ram i use has been reviewed (although each stick of ram has it's own max specs) to ~220fsb with 2,2,2,5 and ~1.8v...but that wasn't in a dual xeon and i believe that was not in dual channel...

 

[{PMS}fishy]

on the TCCD hitting 240mhz fsb at 2,2,2,5...

while it's possible that you have really good TCCD, it could also be that using dual channel and using dual channel on a dual xeon board makes it quite a bit tougher to get such high fsb's with tight timings

the mushkin ram i use has been reviewed (although each stick of ram has it's own max specs) to ~220fsb with 2,2,2,5 and ~1.8v...but that wasn't in a dual xeon and i believe that was not in dual channel...

Thats on an AI7 with GAT auto, normal, auto, disable, disable.

 

[DaveB]

if you do a vdimm mod, which from what i've read, is not the hardest of mods, then you could really crank that BH5 up...with tighter timings at the higher speeds...something tccd usually can't do

The VDIMM mod is a simple clip on using a Pomona SMD Grabber connected to a 47K or 50K pot. I still have the one I used to get my old BH-5 up to 250 MHz on the PC-DL at 3.4V. I accidently set it at 4V once, but quickly turned the pot back. I may hook it up again when my Patriot TCCD comes in but that's really slated for my new 939 SLi setup.

With the 6800 I've got now in the PC-DL, I hit 10,000 in 3DMark03 and Doom3 runs real nice at 1280 x 1024 in High Quality. So the dual Xeon is no slouch in gaming either.

 

[Albigger]

I haven't found a way to run the RAM faster than the fsb (really making me mad as well as I bought some good ram and these chips only will do 166 fsb).

At least, maybe there is a way through clockgen or similar but I can't get that to work and the only options in BIOS (for NCCH-DL) are 200,266,333, and 400 (if the fsb jumper is at 200).

**EDIT: about a full page has been posted since this reply was inteded for the last posts at the bottom of pg. 3 of this thread. Note for future: even though you refresh the thread page check to see if it went to another page.

 

[larva]

Thats on an AI7 with GAT auto, normal, auto, disable, disable.

Yes, and my remarks were centered around dusty's SMP Xeon application.

On the AI7 you are turning off GAT by setting that first setting to auto, which sacrifices more application performance than big numbers on the memory clock generate. BH5 with GAT of SR at the top clock speed it can hold it will produce better results than anything else w/o GAT.

 

[larva]

With the 6800 I've got now in the PC-DL, I hit 10,000 in 3DMark03 and Doom3 runs real nice at 1280 x 1024 in High Quality. So the dual Xeon is no slouch in gaming either.

Certainly not. SMP is great in all respects when it doesn't mean running a crap chipset and sacrificing first-tier memory performance to get it. These spiffy 3GHz+ dual Xeons on i875 that have become popular have had my full attention for some time, and I will probably have one before they are obsolete.

 

[{PMS}fishy]

Yes, and my remarks were centered around dusty's SMP Xeon application.

On the AI7 you are turning off GAT by setting that first setting to auto, which sacrifices more application performance than big numbers on the memory clock generate. BH5 with GAT of SR at the top clock speed it can hold it will produce better results than anything else w/o GAT.

In that case I will try to enable GAT, and still run my current best of 265 1:1 with this RAM.

I reboot, and give it a shot. Ill let you know.

 

[Graphicism]

What sorta scores do dual xeons get on Super-PI and Sandra? Are they similar to their P4 cousin with or without HT.

 

[Seven]

Hmm, something just flew over my head, I think it was the thread...

So I guess I'm looking at:

$430 for 2x Refurb 2.8 Noconas with EMT64 off Newegg
~$240 for NCCH-DL Mobo
$150 for a 74GB Raptor off Newegg (w/ rebates)
$119 for an Antec 550W EPS12V PSU
$50-62 for either a MX1000 or Razer Diamondback
$XXX on case/mods/etc.

Any suggestions?

 

[{PMS}fishy]

Hmm, something just flew over my head, I think it was the thread...

So I guess I'm looking at:

$430 for 2x Refurb 2.8 Noconas with EMT64 off Newegg
~$240 for NCCH-DL Mobo
$150 for a 74GB Raptor off Newegg (w/ rebates)
$119 for an Antec 550W EPS12V PSU
$50-62 for either a MX1000 or Razer Diamondback
$XXX on case/mods/etc.

Any suggestions?

Well Im going to pick up some 1.6ghz LV XEONs on tuesday. Let me know if you want a pair.

It will be my cost + shipping.

They are going to cost me about $100 for the pair.

 

[Audioaficionado]

Certainly not. SMP is great in all respects when it doesn't mean running a crap chipset and sacrificing first-tier memory performance to get it. These spiffy 3GHz+ dual Xeons on i875 that have become popular have had my full attention for some time, and I will probably have one before they are obsolete.

I have one running at 3400MHz and I think I'll keep it for a while. Maybe until it turns to rust. My PPro200 still works and was my main rig until early 2003. Moore's law left it in the dust however. Since Moore's law seems to be broken now, I don't see anything newer beating my system by much in real world apps for a long time either.

I think the i875 dual Xeon platform is the best bang for the buck duallie right now. You can build one that hits 3+GHz for only ~$600 if you shop hard.

 

[{PMS}fishy]

I think the i875 dual Xeon platform is the best bang for the buck duallie right now. You can build one that hits 3+GHz for only ~$600 if you shop hard.

I plan on doing so for $350.

 

[Seven]

Well Im going to pick up some 1.6ghz LV XEONs on tuesday. Let me know if you want a pair.

It will be my cost + shipping.

They are going to cost me about $100 for the pair.

No thanks. Don't have the money for those right now, but hopefully in a few months, I'll be able to afford whatever I need for the system I described.

Logitech's DiNovo is awesome too. *me tacks on $150 to total price*

 

[dustybyrd]

What sorta scores do dual xeons get on Super-PI and Sandra? Are they similar to their P4 cousin with or without HT.

sandra scores are through the roof...but who cares about those anyway since they are not very reflective of real world performance...

on the other hand, superpi is a decent benchmark of overall, non-SMP enabled program performance...

my p4 3.5ghz does 1M in 40 sec

and my dual 3.5ghz does 1M in 40 sec

but, my p4 3.5ghz encodes a 30 minute home video in about 20 minutes

and my dual 3.5ghz does this same 30 minute file in about 11 minutes

my old dual 2.4ghz amd xp did the same file in about 25 minutes...even though the software is multithreaded...

 

[Graphicism]

my p4 3.5ghz does 1M in 40 sec

and my dual 3.5ghz does 1M in 40 sec

Oh my goodness!... I know like you said it doesn't matter, speed else where etc but it has to meen something? I run superPI at 32 seconds... I'm wanting to go Xeon but finding it hard.

 

[DaveB]

An AMD 64 will run SuperPi faster, so what? My last A64 2800+ @ 2.5 GHz did it in 34 seconds. The best time for my 4 GHz P4 was 31 seconds. But you need to remember that SuperPi does nothing useful, but having a dual does wonders for multitasking and multi-threaded applications. Duals always feel about 33% faster than they actually are anyway.

 

[Graphicism]

Hey that's good to know DaveB - would you say your dual xeon is your most responsive system? And apart from this being a hobby, what is the need for having a couple of P4s as well as the Xeon? (I am also going 1.6 LV D1 Xeon route w/NCCH shortly)

 

[larva]

Well Im going to pick up some 1.6ghz LV XEONs on tuesday. Let me know if you want a pair.

It will be my cost + shipping.

They are going to cost me about $100 for the pair.

Wow, that's cheap. I wish I had some mad money.

Definitely give the GAT a shot, Clevor was telling me he was able to get it to work on his AI7 w/TCCD at fsb's as high as 270 (!). Even the 'Turbo' setting is good for quite a bit of performance over 'auto'.