Hi everybody,

I have finally decided to abandon my slow Quadcore workstation and managed to get hold of a reliable hardware supplier with really cheap prices. I just wanted to know if someone already has experience with similar hardware. I plan to buy the following System:

• ECS Dual processor mainboard PVT-M3 775
• 2 Intel Q8200 Quadcore with standard fan/cooler
• 4 GB Kingston DDR2 PC800 RAM

the Intel Q8200 Quadcore has 2.33 Ghz for each core, so the nominal parallel speed would be like 18.6 GHz, compared to the 8.8 GHz my current AMD Phenom has, so in theory it should have more than double the speed.

The whole system with Case would cost me 312,60 Euro including Taxes which would be around 398 USD.

Unfortunately i have barely any knowledge at all regarding hardware. The shop assured me that the mainboard works fine with 2 of these Intel Q8200 Quadcore processors. Still i would like to have some experienced members oppinions on it and have some questions:

• Will Vue 6 infinite work well with TWO quadcore, meaning will Vue use all 8 cores at once, so i have a good rendering speed?

• Will the cooling (standard boxed fan/cooler) be sufficient for the system? I thought maybe someone has experience with this? I got an AMD Phenom with the boxed cooler and having permanent 100% CPU load it tends to overheat.

• Any thoughts about the Q8200? I have read that it does not have much seond level cache, but i dont know if that's bad for Vue...

Hello
I dont know much about it but I thought I read something about a new Intel I7 8 core model. I think I would look into that also.

You would also need the top of the line operating system to use more than 4 cores.

AMD recently came out with 2.7 ghz Phenom also 130w. Yuo would need a new motherboard/ram probably.

 I think the PVT-M3 is a single CPU motherboard with a Via chipset and also, if you want to run two CPUs then you would need to use XEON processors. 

 Yeah, it is a single CPU mainboard, not sure why they told you it would work together, also the hardware might not be the only issue, make sure your Operating System can support multiple physical CPU's and that your licence allows for it.

Jon

For a dual processor system, you will need to use either Intel Xeon processors or AMD Opteron processors.  You cannot use Intel or AMD single CPU processors in dual processor motherboards.  Processors made for dual core mobos are made to 'talk' to each other - that is why they are so much more expensive.

Windows XP PRO will support dual processor systems, no limit on the number of cores.  Windows XP PRO is limited to 2 CPUs. So is Vista Business, Vista Enteprise and Vista Ultimate.  Any more, and you need to step up to a MS server OS.

Either way - you are not looking at a low cost system.  For quality components you're looking at at least $2000 or Euro for a basic dual processor system.

Your best bet is to just upgrade your system with quality components - more memory, faster CPU, faster hard drives.  Also optimise your OS for a faster operation - you can get that information from searching the internet.  Vista can be slower than XP and takes up more resources... XP can be easier to tweak for performance.

Best advice I can give you... Don't cheap out - If you try to go 'cheap' you will regret it because it will not change the performance of your system.

Um vista ultimate is not limited to # cores, since my quad works a ok, dunno on actual CPU s though:)

I think surveyman was saying that vista Ultimate is limited to 2 CPU's, as in actual physical CPU's not the amount of cores. 

2 physical CPU's are the limit unless you are using server software.

Jon

Ah! ok sorry :)

No probs mate, and while you reply didn't need me to reply, my post count is on 666 so need to move it off that lol :)

Jon

Thank you everybody so much, without your help i would have bought so much Junk. Now i have bought a ASUS KFN5-Q/SAS which has 4 Socket F for Opteron 8000 Class processors.

How is that called when i fill it with 8XXX Quadcore opterons? HexaDeka Core?

I will try to get 4 Opteron processors at 2.5 GHz, so i have a 40 GHz parralel computing power. I have read i hsould go for paired (matched) pprocessors. I think it will be just fine when i look the revision numbers printed on the processor will be the same, right?

Also i have read that the board needs DDR2 667 Reg. ECC RAM, well the DDR2 667 is quite obvious, but whats Reg ECC RAM, anything special to look for? Also what power supply do i need? I think with 4 opteron, fans, discs and stuff i will need a bit more than the usual 350 Watts?

Thanks again everyone for your input, you guys and gals really saved me!!!

 ECC ram is more expensive mate. Its ram with error checking basically. 

Get the highest wattage you can afford certainly something above 500W, and thats real watts for a reputable manufacturer. 

To give you an idea of memory prices :-

2GB DDR 667 - £18.97
2GB ECC DDR - £43.00

Jon

Okay i checked the RAM, its not that bad... I found a seller where i can get the ECC Ram for around 20 EUro per 2 GB bar, so thats 320 Euro for the RAM which is imho affordable, i think Apples holy RAM is more expensive (But they always had odd points of view regarding RAM prices, i think if you buy RAM from apple you are really rich.). I think its good to have fault checking because with 16 RAM bars you raise the chances to have a faulty one. I already spent too much time with RAM related faults, i already  have a boot CD with a RAM Test out of my experience.

I plan to use Windows 2003 enterprise server, i got a 64 Bit version, i assume it will run fine with opterons?

I hope the boxed fans will be well enough to cool them enough for a permanent 100% CPU loads, i am unsure about this as no normal server in a business has 100% CPU load, i dont think they really are MADE for that, but i could be wrong.

Well, you certainly have got more money than I thought from your first post.  And the commitment to go for the best.

Congrats on getting a 4 CPU board, Windows 2003 Server and on planning to get 4 Opterons.  That's more than I could ever afford.  When you get the system up and running, let us know your VUE score and how the system runs.

Boxed fans should be fine.  Those opterons are tested for stability at max loads, much more so than the consumer CPUs since they are an 'enteprise' class product.  I'd pay a little more and have a quality shop assemble the system for you - the parts you are getting are too pricey to take a chance at screwing something up.

I, for one, will be very envious.  Enjoy the journey.