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SMP is Symmetric Multi Processing -
using two or more processors in one computer. In order to take
advantage of dual processors, you need an operating system (OS) which is
SMP capable; these include Windows NT or 2000, and UNIX (also BEOS if I
remember correctly). Earlier versions of Windows are not SMP
aware, and so they will only use one of your CPUs.
An SMP aware OS will utilise both
processors by sharing processes and threads between both CPUs. If
you're just running one application you will see virtually no change in
a dual-processor machine. But if you are running CPU intensive
multi-tasking apps (more of which later) you will see a considerable
improvement in performance.
You don't need to be running intensive
3D rendering apps to see the benefits either. Put very simply a
dual processor machine can run a greater number of open applications at
any one time. For example you could listen to mp3s, burn a CD, run
two SETI work units and surf the Net all at once. Try that on a
single CPU machine and see how long it takes for things to bog down!
Finally a couple of definitions - multi
processing: if you have 2, 3 or 4 CPUs you can process 2, 3 or 4
tasks at the same time. Multi tasking: a single CPU can
appear to run several tasks at the same time, but it's actually sharing
processor time between the different tasks. Computers being what
they are though it's still usually quite hard to see the join!
Why would I want to dual process?
Well
hopefully the opening section has given you the idea. Even if you
aren't rendering massive 3D images or running a network server a dual
processor PC will still give you a performance edge (not that I'm at all
biased you understand). Also they are just great toys to have....
If you still aren't convinced here are
some benchmarks from my system, which runs a pair of Celeron 466s,
overclocked to 595MHz, in an Abit BP6 (under Windows 2000 Pro).
The figures show results for my old machine, a Pentium II 400, and then
the new chips running at various speeds between the stock 466MHz and
their peak of 595MHz. The figures for a single Celeron were taken
under Windows 98 - although both CPUs were in place the OS will only
recognise and use one of them.
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Some
interesting figures here. Windows 98 is reportedly better for
games (and so by implication 3D) than Windows 2000, and you can see that
the single Celeron running at 575MHz under Win98 actually performs
marginally better that the pair of Celerons at 595MHz under Win2K.
Having dual processors appears to give very little gain here, if
any. Shame...
Another key
factor is that the Mendocino Celerons (any of 533MHz or less built with
the 0.25 micron process) have no SSE instructions. SSE being
Streaming SIMD Extensions, basically an instruction set built into the
chip for 3D operations, SIMD being Single Instruction Multiple
Data. Acronyms inside acronyms, urgh. The diabolical scores
for the dual 466 and 588 Celerons were down to problems with getting a
decent video driver for Windows 2000. I'm now using a 3Dfx Voodoo
Banshee driver, the 1.02.02 beta, which seems to work fine.
In the not
too distant future I'm hoping to update my graphics card. At the
moment I'm using a Creative 3D Blaster Banshee PCI, with 16MB of
RAM. Could most kindly be called prehistoric. Watch out for
an update when I get the new card!
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Which chip supports SMP?
Which OS?
On the Intel front all
Pentium IIIs should be SMP capable, as are all Mendocino Celerons
(although Intel always said they weren't - seem to work fine in this
here machine thanks). Sadly the new Coppermine Celerons are not
dual capable.
As for AMD all Athlons
are SMP friendly. AMD don't list the Duron as being capable but if
you know differently please drop
me a line The only problem with Athlon has been finding a
motherboard that will house two CPUs, but that looks set to change now
that Athlon have showcased their 760MP (multi-processor) system. Expect
this one to hit the streets early next year, closely followed by a rash
of dual 1 Gig Athlon hyper PCs I'd imagine.
As mentioned above if you
want to go dual you have to use an OS that recognises multi
processors. These include Windows 2000, Unix and BEOS.
Windows 98 and Millennium will NOT support dual CPUs.
Chipsets – Intel and VIA
Still researching this
one. From what I've read so far the VIA chipset seems pretty
unpopular due to rumoured stability issues; but the Abit VP6 uses it and
if that follows on in the tradition of the BP6 is should be a great
motherboard. Intel 820 chipset fine if you don't mind shelling out
for RDRAM!
Which apps?
Not
many applications are written to make use of multi processors; mostly
they are high end imaging progs that are somewhat out of my field!
Applications that can make use of SMP include 3D Studio Max, Lightwave,
and Photoshop. So too can Quake 3 but don't get too excited by
this, you'll only get about a 10% performance boost by all accounts.
You
should bear in mind that having two 600MHz processors in your PC doesn't
mean it will run like a 1.2GHz CPU. But as I mentioned earlier you
will find that if you
want smooth performance whilst running CPU-intensive programs, use
any application that employs multiple threads, or just run lots of apps
at the same time (any apps, it doesn't really matter what) you will see
a performance gain from using a dual processor machine.
Boards available + specs
There is a surprisingly
wide choice of dual processor motherboards out there at the moment, and
new ones are being released all the time. Here is a (far from
exhaustive) selection.
Iwill
DBD100
| CPUs supported |
Pentium
II/III up to 550 Mhz or higher, Celeron with IWILL Slocket |
| Chipset |
Intel
440BX AGPset |
| FSB speed(s) |
66/68/75/83/100/103/112/133
Mhz |
| Memory |
4 x 168
pin SDRAM or EDO RAM
Supports ECC DRAM from 8MB up to 1GB |
| IDE |
Dual
Ultra DMA 33 IDE Ports |
| Expansion slots |
1 x AGP
slot, AGP 2X Mode
4 x PCI, 33Mhz
2 x ISA
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Manufacturers
site
Asus
P2B-D
| CPUs supported |
Pentium III
450MHz~600+MHz |
| Chipset |
Intel 440BX AGPset |
| FSB speed(s) |
100MHz |
| Memory |
Four 168-pin DIMMs
Support 8MB to 1024MB 100MHz PC100 SDRAM, ECC |
| IDE |
Dual Ultra DMA/33 |
| Expansion slots |
4xPCI, 1xAGP, 2xISA |
Manufacturers
site
Abit VP6
| CPUs supported |
Pentium
III Coppermine FC-PGA 370 |
| Chipset |
VIA
(VT82C694X and VT82C686B) |
| FSB speed(s) |
66/100/133MHz |
| Memory |
Four
168-pin DIMMs support SDRAM up to 2 GB, ECC
|
| IDE |
Ultra
DMA 100
RAID 0, 1, 0 +1 |
| Expansion slots |
1 AGP
slot, 5 PCI slots |
Manufacturers
site
Abit BP6
| CPUs supported |
Dual
Socket 370 |
| Chipset |
Intel
440BX AGPset |
| FSB speed(s) |
66/100MHz |
| Memory |
Three
168-pin DIMMs support SDRAM up to 768MB, ECC
|
| IDE |
Two
Channel IDE supporting up to four Ultra DMA 33/66 devices
Two Channels IDE supporting up to four Ultra DMA 33 devices |
| Expansion slots |
One AGP
slot, Five PCI slots and Two ISA slots |
This is a great board - trust me!!!
Manufacturers
site
Supermicro
PIIIDR3
| CPUs supported |
Intel
Pentium III 450 ~ 933 MHz |
| Chipset |
Intel
840 Carmel Chipset |
| FSB speed(s) |
133 /100
MHz |
| Memory |
Up to 2
GB RAMBUS RIMMs (not too expensive then) |
| IDE |
Two UDMA/66 |
| Expansion slots |
1xAGP
Pro (4xAGP), 6xPCI |
Manufacturers
site
MSI 6321 (694D)
| CPUs supported |
Pentium
III 500~933MHz or faster |
| Chipset |
VIA
694XDP / VT82C686A |
| FSB speed(s) |
66 / 100
/ 133MHz |
| Memory |
168-pin
SDRAM DIMM x4, maximum 2.0GB |
| IDE |
4 Ultra
DMA 100 + 4 Ultra DMA 33 / 66 |
| Expansion slots |
AGP x1,
CNR x1, PCI x5 |
Manufacturers
site
Tyan Tiger 133
| CPUs supported |
Pentium
II / III processors 450 MHz to 1 GHz |
| Chipset |
VIA
Apollo Pro 133A |
| FSB speed(s) |
100 /
133 MHz |
| Memory |
Four
168-pin DIMMs support up to 2 GB PC100, 1.5 GB PC133 |
| IDE |
Support
four EIDE devices, UDMA/66 |
| Expansion slots |
One 4X
AGPt
Six PCI slots, one optional ISA slot (shared with one PCI) |
Manufacturers
site
Gigabyte
6BXD 
| CPUs supported |
Pentium
II / III Processor 350MHz-550MHz |
| Chipset |
Intel
440BX AGPset |
| FSB speed(s) |
66MHz/100MHz |
| Memory |
4
x 168-pin DIMMs support 8MB to 1GB DRAM |
| IDE |
Dual
Ultra DMA/33 |
| Expansion slots |
5
x PCI, 2 x ISA, 1 x AGP |
Manufacturers
site
Sockets and Slots
This will shortly be
updated to give a brief guide to the various Slot and Socket factors.
How to sites
Will point you to a
number of guides on how to build and configure your dual processor dream
machine (apart from this site I mean!)
Got some news for RipNet? Send
it in!
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