Use for a dual cpu motherboard

kjbits · 2 Feb 2006 at 18:02

I have an ASUS CUR-DLS dual socket 370 motherboard which I think came out of a sever at some point.
I already have a 1G processsor and thinking about getting another to fit it but I need to know what use can I put it to. Will it run a standard version of XP? or do I need a server version?
If so is there any advantage to having 2 processors? like do they share tasks between them? if I was running 2 or more programmes at once.

Sputnik II · 2 Feb 2006 at 21:39

I looked into buying a Dual CPU motherboard some years back (socket A) What I found was that nearly all of them needed registered memory, Most had 64bit PCI slots or a combo of 32bit and 64bit.
It seemed at that time to be dependant on the software if the second CPU got used, some encoding type software was said to support Dual CPU but, not a lot else. Things might have changed by now but, I wouldn't consider it now we have dual core CPU's.
XP would be ok on a Dual CPU as the COA labels seem to all say 1-2 CPU.

Hope some of that helps.

ajgoodfellow · 2 Feb 2006 at 23:33

Hi

Dual CPUs have the same advantages and disadvantages as Dual Core CPUs

If you're running multi-threaded applications then they give a big boost in performance. If you intensively multi-task they are also handy

Windows NT, 2000 and XP Pro all support dual CPUs (XP Home doesn't)

kjbits · 3 Feb 2006 at 17:27

Sputnik II said:
nearly all of them needed registered memory

Hope some of that helps.

Thanks for the replies, might be a bit thick here but what is registered memory?

ajgoodfellow · 3 Feb 2006 at 18:53

Registered memory is just a special type of memory, required by server motherboards

It's very expensive and it won't work in normal motherboards

kjbits · 5 Feb 2006 at 20:10

Right ok.

Phemo · 6 Feb 2006 at 11:06

ajgoodfellow said:
Windows NT, 2000 and XP Pro all support dual CPUs (XP Home doesn't)

Indeed, XP Home doesn't support dual CPUs but it does support dual-core CPUs. Microsoft't class a processor as a socketed chip, regardless of how many cores are on it. I know you never said otherwise, I'm just clarifying

badbob · 6 Feb 2006 at 12:03

ajgoodfellow said:
It's very expensive and it won't work in normal motherboards

Actually some will, it just means paying more for your memory when you might not need to.

A8N32-SLI Deluxe (not a "server" mobo)
"Dual channel memory architecture
4 x DIMM, max. 4GB, DDR 400 / 333 / 266, ECC, non-ECC, un-buffered memory"

Dual CPU machines still useful for server applications. We had a four CPU with a LED display showing PCU activity per CPU. Pretty

ajgoodfellow · 6 Feb 2006 at 12:11

That supports ECC and non-ECC memory, but it only supports un-bufffered memory, not registered memory

badbob · 6 Feb 2006 at 12:14

I thought ECC IS registered memory? (scratches head)

ajgoodfellow · 6 Feb 2006 at 12:18

Nope

You can get ECC un-buffered memory and even non-ECC registered memory. I made that mistake with my Opteron - ECC memory is far cheaper than ECC registered memory so I went for it. It didn't work and thankfully they took it back so I could exchange it for ECC registered memory

Sputnik II · 6 Feb 2006 at 12:28

Will my software run faster if I have a dual processor PC?

Probably not. Yes, that's what we said. PC suppliers will be happier to charge you extra for a dual processor computer whether you are going to benefit from it or not. In fact they may not know that most programs run slightly slower on a dual processor computer.

So why buy a dual processor PC?

The advantage in having a dual processor PC is for programs that have been optimised for multi-processor operation. Programs like Adobe Premiere, other video editing and 3D packages etc. will generally benefit quite substantially. MS Office won't, neither will Outlook/Explorer. If you are unsure whether a particular software program will run any faster on a dual CPU system contact the manufacturer of the software and ask them.

Exerpt taken from the site of a dual CPU specialists FAQ.

Some single CPU motherboards need Registered memory when you exceed 2 DIMM's otherwise the extra memory actually slows the machine down. On the other hand registered memory usually has a CAS of half a clock cycle more. i.e. CAS 3 instead of say CAS 2.5

dual2max · 9 Feb 2006 at 14:04

I bought OCZ 4001024SSER ECC Reg memory. Will only overclock if I drop the speed to 166Mhz (2.5-4-4-10) else (3-3-3-8) Then only slightly. XP64 sees 6144Mb which is 4G on one and 2G on the other. Each CPU seems to control certain parts of the board. Having 2 CPU's means NUMA speed memory, 32x PCI-e, dual SCSI controllers and dual GbE LAN. Therefore dual² machines when running games & video editing are in a league of there own. However single CPU boards are catching up quick....