Dual-processor dual-graphics motherboard?

Hatake

Hatake

Hatake

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Does anyone know of a motherboard that can support two processors as well as two graphics cards?

I seen the Tyan K8WE after a google and that seems okay but I imagine the heat created by two CPU's and two GPU's make it a cooling nightmare. Also, it has a hefty price tag of over $600 and I don't even know if its avaliable in the UK.

This brings me to my next question, is there much point in looking for a motherboard with both? I mean, should I just look for a motherboard thats SLI/Crossfire ready and just get a dual-core CPU seeing as it's almost as good as 2 seperate processors?

I figure that seeing as graphics cards are ever improving at such a fast rate along with graphical demands from games, getting two fairly decent ones in SLI will last longer (upgrade wise) than just getting a single top of the range one. Is my logic pretty flawed or ballpark agreeable?
 
Just get a Core 2 Duo CPU.

It would be faster than two seperate processors in single threaded apps and in multi-threaded be within 1-2%.

Dual processor boards are a waste of time and money, esp now Kentsfield is coming.
 
as above, all 2 cpu's does if give you a imaginary e-penis :p c2d would be much more beneficial and give you better overclocking prospects and a much more stable motherboard.
 
If you are looking to do overclocking then the dual skt boards should be avoided as they are aimed at the workstation/server market, where reliability is more important then overclocking facility.

As such they are typically E-ATX thus needing a big case, they also are Opteron and thus require ECC memory, they also need EPS-12V PSU, rather then 24 pin ATX.

The Tyan Thunder K8WE is over £300 in the UK, the Tiger K8WE is still in the 150 to 200 area but doesn't say supports SLI, although I am sure mine shipped with an SLI bridge.

As the others have said better to get a Dual Core chip and SLI/Crossfire instead. You can use cheaper non-ECC memory and overclock. Also will be ATX PSU and case.
 
newer intel boards require Fully Buffered memory as well which can be a tad pricey :(
we used a tyan prototype board for woodcrest which had the ability to support dual gfx cards altho quite why you'd want to on what is effectively going to be either a storage server or a computational server i dont know :confused:

stick with dual core chips, from the benchmarks we performed a well clocked dual core chip can just about match a dual processor setup (not clocked) then again most benchies are aimed at single chip setups
 
Yeah, I was thinking that dual CPU motherboards seem pointless now that dual core's are avaliable.

I've heard good things about the Core 2 Duo's but I think they're a little pricey for my liking. I'm thinking of going for one of the Socket 939 AMD X2's. Even though AMD are killing the 939 off, the X2's are still pretty good for a few years at least and prices for them are dropping all the time.

I'll probably spend extra on getting two GFX cards for SLI so they can handle the newer games for a while.

I'm thinking about the ASUS nVidea 7600GS Top Silent GFX Cards for SLI as they seem to be fairly good for their price and most of all, quiet. Come to think of it, would that card be SLI compatable?
 
yes the AMDs may be fine for a few more years, but the E6300 is pretty much the same price as the X2 4200, and once you factor in overclocking ability, the E6300 wins by miles. Thats the retail, as well. The E6300 is probably the best chip to have at the moment, thanks to its ability to clock like crazy.

The 7600GS is not worth it. There is little point to SLi, unless you are playing at stupidly big resolutions, and that requires dual high end cards. Two 7600GS will come in at a similar price to a single X1800XT, which will eat them for breakfast, and will handle pretty much all games at least until DX10 has matured. believe me, its a lovely card for £150, dead chuffed with mine.
 
hatake said:
Yeah, I was thinking that dual CPU motherboards seem pointless now that dual core's are avaliable.

I've heard good things about the Core 2 Duo's but I think they're a little pricey for my liking. I'm thinking of going for one of the Socket 939 AMD X2's. Even though AMD are killing the 939 off, the X2's are still pretty good for a few years at least and prices for them are dropping all the time.

I'll probably spend extra on getting two GFX cards for SLI so they can handle the newer games for a while.

I'm thinking about the ASUS nVidea 7600GS Top Silent GFX Cards for SLI as they seem to be fairly good for their price and most of all, quiet. Come to think of it, would that card be SLI compatable?
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Noooo! ONE card will be much better than two. X1900XT (best idea) or X1900XT-X for that little bit extra overclocking ability.

One card > two slower cards in SLI.

CR.
 
Really? One card is better than two?

Whats the point of SLI and Crossfire then?

I thought having two fairly capable cards in SLI would allow for it to process data faster seeing as the bandwidth is increased so the strain is reduced, thus removing any possible lag time a faster card would remove. Won't that mean that two slower cards can almost make up for one fast one?
 
Two slower cards can make up for it in theory but SLI/Crossfire is not reliable performance (some games it performs better than others) and it never reaches 100% efficiency, closest you'll get is about 80% and that is rare. It also means you have double the power draw and heat generated from graphics cards in your system, not to mention blocking airflow and PCI slots, which just isn't necessary.

Where they were useful was buying one card then buying another when they are cheaper for an easy performance boost, unfortunately it doesn't work like that since when you get round to buying the other card they are either discontinued and no longer available or there are faster, next generation, single cards available which easily beat the performance of your old card in SLI.

For the average user just stick to a single faster card, less hassle and more reliable performance, plus when you come to upgrade you only have one card to sell (and while it is in use one card to worry about failing and RMAs) and generally you get faster performance anyway from a single card of the same price.
 
hmm, so the general advice is that I should spend the money it would cost in getting two cards on one good card and I'd get better performance?

I suppose the heat generated by two graphics cards would be terrible for system temperatures. I thought that SLI would make it better but if it isn't completely efficient, it would be somewhat lacking. Also it would be a royal pain when it comes to upgrading.

Would I be right in saying that PCI-e is the way forward in graphic cards as the AGP slots cannot keep up anymore?

*EDIT*

On a side note, the X1900XT cards are way way outta my budget! I cannot afford to spend £200+ on a graphics card.

What is the consensus for silent GFX Cards, nVidea or ATI?
 
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in each price range? the cards of choice are the Nvidia 7600GT as a mid range, the ATi X1900GT or X1800XT at low high end, the X1900XT at high end, and the Nvidia 7950 GX2 at the ultra high end.

For your budget I would suggest either the X1800XT of the X1900GT, both of them are very good cards, just check out the differences between them. The X1800XT is generally better at most current games, while the X1900GT looks like it will be better in future games.
 
Would I be right in saying that PCI-e is the way forward in graphic cards as the AGP slots cannot keep up anymore?
It isn't so much that AGP can't keep up, cos there still remains few cases where a graphics card is bottlenecked by the slot, but the vast majority of cards are now released on PCI-Express with the odd card ported over to AGP and you undoubtedly get better value on PCI-E than the premium applied to AGP cards.

There is very little potential of having decent upgrades available in the future with AGP so if your buying new yes, get a PCI-Express board.

On a side note, the X1900XT cards are way way outta my budget! I cannot afford to spend £200+ on a graphics card.

What is the consensus for silent GFX Cards, nVidea or ATI?
If you want a silent card I'd suggest the HIS X1900 GT ICEQ3 (approx £150 inc VAT), that cooler is very quiet, I use to have a 6800 Ultra and on replacing that with a card that has the HIS ICEQ3, I can now hear my Seagate hard drives in operation (and they are quiet themselves!) :eek:
 
Cheers tetras, some good advice there. I think the 1900GT sounds like it's the card for me. I'll be using most of my next paycheck to upgrade my mobo and GFX card me thinks :D .
 
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