[ale] new linux box

[Jeb]

You don't necessarily have to have the same clock speed, just this is a myth
(from what I understand, and I have also practice this theory).  Here is a
good little article about smp (http://2cpu.com/FAQ/2cpusmpfaq.htm)

"There is a myth that in order to run multiple CPU's, they need to be the
same stepping and cache size. This is not true. According to Intel, you must
have the same family of processor, and that's it. In fact, according to
Intel, you can even mix MHz! They say that if you clock the processors to
the clock speed of the slower CPU, you'll be fine. Mixing cache sizes is
also OK by Intel, as long as you're not mixing 1MB or higher cache chips.
You're best off if you have the same speed and cache processors, but if you
have to try an SMP system you can use whatever is available. "  The last
paragraph of the article.




-----Original Message-----
From: jeff hubbs [mailto:hbbs at mediaone.net]
To: ale at ale.org
Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2002 9:43 PM
To: Michael Kachline
Cc: Stephen Turner; ale at ale.org
Subject: Re: [ale] new linux box


 >

> Even still, I would recommend that you purchase a
> dual-CPU board with a single CPU and wait out the CPU prices until you
> purchase the second CPU. The trick here is being patient and buying a
> second (now considered slow) CPU when everyone else is buying a new,
> faster computer.


This is one thing in Michael's response that I disagree with.  From the
first time that I built, bought, inherited, or lucked upon dual-CPU
Intel boxes, I have always come to regret not populating that second
socket or slot.

For one thing, the passage of time makes it progressively less easy to
locate, obtain, and install a second CPU that matches the first exactly.
  They not only need to have the same clock speed, but they need to have
the same bugs (the OS has to incorporate the same workaround for both or
not at all), and any other differences that the time difference may
incur...well, you're going out on a limb, risking getting problems that
no one else will likely be able to reproduce, much less diagnose, much
less correct.  Meanwhile, while you're sitting there with one CPU in
your two-CPU box, you're not getting any returned value for the extra
money you spent on the dual motherboard, and, because of the problem I
mentioned above, you're risking not being able to get any returned value
for the extra money at all.

I recall reading that the dual AMD boards are set up such that one of
the buses the CPUs share don't connect together directly but go through
a kind of hub that lets both buses run at full speed without any
interleaving.  See what Anandtech and Tom's Hardware have to say.

- Jeff




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