anyone runnig 2 cpus?

**perris** · August 4th, 2002

I'm considering running 2 cpus, anyone going with that?...what are the benefits?...is it worth the effort?

thanx

**Grandmaster** · August 4th, 2002

what do u mean? wouldnt that give a significant boost? say I have a 1 GHZ P4, and I add another one of those.. that would give me a significant performance boost, woudlnt it?

**Grandmaster** · August 4th, 2002

ohh now I get it

**perris** · August 4th, 2002

Originally posted by catch23
Theoredically it should...it just doesn't...the second CPU really never gets used.

catch, are you running duals on xp or have you seen it?, I thought xp made better use of duals then previous os's?

August 5th, 2002

Doesnt it depend on what your doing, Im considering going for a dual processor system cause I do alot of dvd video re-encoding using Cinema Craft Encoder and from what ive read its suppose to use both processors and give a big performance boost

**perris** · August 5th, 2002

could you tell us more about what you are told you will get out of this?

August 6th, 2002

I believe the software itself needs to be optimized for 2 cpus or you won't see any benefit.

August 6th, 2002

Dual Cpu's are a benifit depending on what you do with your computer. I do 3D aniamtion and most of my apps are optimized for dual cpu's so I see a major benifit. Unless your doing video, graphics, CAD or running a server I doubt you could justifiy the extra cost. However, I got my last Dual for $2000 CDN so that was only $600 more that the last computer I bought. This one is a dual AMD 1800+ system. There is a lot of heat issues, so get good CPU coolers and a good case with lots of fans if you go dual AMD. Dual Xeon is not really worth the price IMHO. Twice the price for similar performance makes the AMD solutions a better deal.
Cheers
Mike Kennedy

**perris** · August 6th, 2002

kennedy...great first post, welcome to this board...looks like you'll become quite an asset here. Thanx.

I'm so in the dark about this...I didn't see you mention intel...is this not available from an intel chip?

I also noticed some people using durons instead of t birds...any reason for this?

thanx

August 6th, 2002

dealer, to answer your question dual motherboard with CPUs come in Intel & AMD flavors. Usually the AMD route is less expensive. The motherboard is what makes it a 'dual' or 'quad' machine. You just plug the CPUs into the sockets.

Here is a good benchmarking article:
Dual CPUs - Worth The Money?

- jsitke

**Bytes Back** · August 6th, 2002

Just a small point, the Athlon Chips are Called MP's for multirpocessor. So If someone would like to buy me two Athlon MP 2200+ I nwould be most grateful.

**perris** · August 7th, 2002

thanx everybody, and thanx jsitke for that article

August 7th, 2002

Originally posted by jsitke
The motherboard is what makes it a 'dual' or 'quad' machine.

It is more than just the MB. The chips have to be MP compatable also.

August 9th, 2002

I have a dual PIII 1gig (each) on an ABIT VP-6 RAID with XP Professional...........I love it, both processors are used, XP (as 2k) sets the affinity according to load, so both are used as required, and equally. With duals, you have double the CPU cache and double the instruction set. Multitasking is far faster and far more powerfull. This is especially noticable when running disk intensive apps like video encoders. I have yet to slow it down, I can encode, surf, download, watch TV (I have an All-in-Woder Radeon), burn CD's, read and send mail, and play mp3's all at once witjh never any slowdowns...................

August 9th, 2002

Perhaps, but what I failed to mention was that the encoding process was shortened from 16 hours DVD to mpeg to 8..............

August 9th, 2002

Everyone needs to realize that one really fast proc will still out perform two proc's of average speed.

**perris** · August 9th, 2002

Originally posted by open_source
Everyone needs to realize that one really fast proc will still out perform two proc's of average speed.

good mornin' open_source.

ah, this may be true, but if I do set up duals, I'm going to use the latest technology, and put in the fastest chips I can find

August 9th, 2002

Dealer, take a look and you will notice that the MP certified chips are always slower than the high end proc.

August 9th, 2002

If you are gaming, and playing a game that does not use the Quake 3 engine (that is the only gaming engine that is SMP, right?) then when you game, you will only be using one CPU.

However, the load of the OS will equally distributed (most of the time) across both CPUs, therefore, XP uses ~50% of the CPU on a single system or ~25% of each CPU on a dual system.

(Those percentages are presented for illustrative purposes and are not intended to be accurate except when relative to each other)

So, even if the program you choose to use is not SMP, you still might see a benefit in a dual rig. The non-SMP program will not run faster, but you will be able to multi-task much better with a decreased chance of over tasking your CPU.

Besides, Photoshop, Premiere and other programs like that are already SMP enabled.

If you are penny pinching when building a machine, then you should probably opt for a high-end single CPU. But if a few hundred extra (yes, one extra chip and about $100 extra for a dual board) won't break you, then definately consider it.

Also, some people use Durons because some of them are stable in dual rigs and they are cheaper. However, most people just opt for the MP line from AMD.

Hope that helps.

By the way, for more information http://forums.2cpu.com

August 4th, 2002	Top \| #1
perris OSNN Godlike Veteran Joined: January 2002 Location: new york Posts: 12,231 Reputation: 4333 Power: 288	anyone runnig 2 cpus? I'm considering running 2 cpus, anyone going with that?...what are the benefits?...is it worth the effort? thanx IT'S NOT WHAT YOU'VE DONE IT'S WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO

August 4th, 2002	Top \| #4
perris OSNN Godlike Veteran Joined: January 2002 Location: new york Posts: 12,231 Reputation: 4333 Power: 288	Originally posted by catch23 Theoredically it should...it just doesn't...the second CPU really never gets used. catch, are you running duals on xp or have you seen it?, I thought xp made better use of duals then previous os's? IT'S NOT WHAT YOU'VE DONE IT'S WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO

August 5th, 2002	Top \| #6
perris OSNN Godlike Veteran Joined: January 2002 Location: new york Posts: 12,231 Reputation: 4333 Power: 288	could you tell us more about what you are told you will get out of this? IT'S NOT WHAT YOU'VE DONE IT'S WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO

August 6th, 2002	Top \| #9
perris OSNN Godlike Veteran Joined: January 2002 Location: new york Posts: 12,231 Reputation: 4333 Power: 288	kennedy...great first post, welcome to this board...looks like you'll become quite an asset here. Thanx. I'm so in the dark about this...I didn't see you mention intel...is this not available from an intel chip? I also noticed some people using durons instead of t birds...any reason for this? thanx IT'S NOT WHAT YOU'VE DONE IT'S WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO

August 7th, 2002	Top \| #12
perris OSNN Godlike Veteran Joined: January 2002 Location: new york Posts: 12,231 Reputation: 4333 Power: 288	thanx everybody, and thanx jsitke for that article IT'S NOT WHAT YOU'VE DONE IT'S WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO

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August 4th, 2002	Top \| #2
Grandmaster Electronica Addict Joined: February 2002 Location: Santa Clara, CA Posts: 10,574 Reputation: 2960 Power: 257	what do u mean? wouldnt that give a significant boost? say I have a 1 GHZ P4, and I add another one of those.. that would give me a significant performance boost, woudlnt it?

August 4th, 2002	Top \| #3
Grandmaster Electronica Addict Joined: February 2002 Location: Santa Clara, CA Posts: 10,574 Reputation: 2960 Power: 257	ohh now I get it

August 5th, 2002	Top \| #5
Mr Dead Unregistered Posts: n/a	Doesnt it depend on what your doing, Im considering going for a dual processor system cause I do alot of dvd video re-encoding using Cinema Craft Encoder and from what ive read its suppose to use both processors and give a big performance boost

August 6th, 2002	Top \| #7
B~B Unregistered Posts: n/a	I believe the software itself needs to be optimized for 2 cpus or you won't see any benefit.

August 6th, 2002	Top \| #8
mike_kennedy Unregistered Posts: n/a	Dual Cpu's are a benifit depending on what you do with your computer. I do 3D aniamtion and most of my apps are optimized for dual cpu's so I see a major benifit. Unless your doing video, graphics, CAD or running a server I doubt you could justifiy the extra cost. However, I got my last Dual for $2000 CDN so that was only $600 more that the last computer I bought. This one is a dual AMD 1800+ system. There is a lot of heat issues, so get good CPU coolers and a good case with lots of fans if you go dual AMD. Dual Xeon is not really worth the price IMHO. Twice the price for similar performance makes the AMD solutions a better deal. Cheers Mike Kennedy

August 6th, 2002	Top \| #10
jsitke Unregistered Posts: n/a	dealer, to answer your question dual motherboard with CPUs come in Intel & AMD flavors. Usually the AMD route is less expensive. The motherboard is what makes it a 'dual' or 'quad' machine. You just plug the CPUs into the sockets. Here is a good benchmarking article: Dual CPUs - Worth The Money? - jsitke

August 6th, 2002	Top \| #11
Bytes Back Ex Police Chief Joined: June 2004 Location: Kernow Posts: 1,383 Reputation: 40 Power: 107	Just a small point, the Athlon Chips are Called MP's for multirpocessor. So If someone would like to buy me two Athlon MP 2200+ I nwould be most grateful.

August 7th, 2002	Top \| #13
open_source Unregistered Posts: n/a	Originally posted by jsitke The motherboard is what makes it a 'dual' or 'quad' machine. It is more than just the MB. The chips have to be MP compatable also.

August 9th, 2002	Top \| #14
dvblsd Unregistered Posts: n/a	I have a dual PIII 1gig (each) on an ABIT VP-6 RAID with XP Professional...........I love it, both processors are used, XP (as 2k) sets the affinity according to load, so both are used as required, and equally. With duals, you have double the CPU cache and double the instruction set. Multitasking is far faster and far more powerfull. This is especially noticable when running disk intensive apps like video encoders. I have yet to slow it down, I can encode, surf, download, watch TV (I have an All-in-Woder Radeon), burn CD's, read and send mail, and play mp3's all at once witjh never any slowdowns...................

August 9th, 2002	Top \| #15
dvblsd Unregistered Posts: n/a	Perhaps, but what I failed to mention was that the encoding process was shortened from 16 hours DVD to mpeg to 8..............

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August 9th, 2002	Top \| #16
open_source Unregistered Posts: n/a	Everyone needs to realize that one really fast proc will still out perform two proc's of average speed.

August 9th, 2002	Top \| #17
perris OSNN Godlike Veteran Joined: January 2002 Location: new york Posts: 12,231 Reputation: 4333 Power: 288	Originally posted by open_source Everyone needs to realize that one really fast proc will still out perform two proc's of average speed. good mornin' open_source. ah, this may be true, but if I do set up duals, I'm going to use the latest technology, and put in the fastest chips I can find IT'S NOT WHAT YOU'VE DONE IT'S WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO

August 9th, 2002	Top \| #18
open_source Unregistered Posts: n/a	Dealer, take a look and you will notice that the MP certified chips are always slower than the high end proc.

August 9th, 2002	Top \| #19
eye_cue Unregistered Posts: n/a	If you are gaming, and playing a game that does not use the Quake 3 engine (that is the only gaming engine that is SMP, right?) then when you game, you will only be using one CPU. However, the load of the OS will equally distributed (most of the time) across both CPUs, therefore, XP uses ~50% of the CPU on a single system or ~25% of each CPU on a dual system. (Those percentages are presented for illustrative purposes and are not intended to be accurate except when relative to each other) So, even if the program you choose to use is not SMP, you still might see a benefit in a dual rig. The non-SMP program will not run faster, but you will be able to multi-task much better with a decreased chance of over tasking your CPU. Besides, Photoshop, Premiere and other programs like that are already SMP enabled. If you are penny pinching when building a machine, then you should probably opt for a high-end single CPU. But if a few hundred extra (yes, one extra chip and about $100 extra for a dual board) won't break you, then definately consider it. Also, some people use Durons because some of them are stable in dual rigs and they are cheaper. However, most people just opt for the MP line from AMD. Hope that helps. By the way, for more information http://forums.2cpu.com