[CentOS] Re: Opteron Mobo Suggestions -- again, get a mainboard with an AMD8131 (it's that simple)

Fri Jun 24 04:37:15 UTC 2005
Bryan J. Smith <b.j.smith at ieee.org>

On Thu, 2005-06-23 at 19:18 -0700, Kirk Bocek wrote:
> Okay, there's the challenge kiddies! Who can come up with an actual in-stock SKU that 
> I can pay real $$$ for? I love Bryan's knowledge and information. Really, I do! But 
> my choices *end* with the motherboards a retailer can put into my UPS driver's hands.
> Bryan, I wish I could force Tyan, Asus and all the rest to make your perfect design. 
> But I can't. I'm sorry. ;)

First off, I _know_, that's why I _dropped_ it!
Give me some credit.  ;->

Secondly, I _then_ said find an _older_, $300 dual-Opteron mainboard
with the AMD8131 dual PCI-X HyperTransport tunnel.  I've yet to see a
mainboard with an AMD8131 that didn't also have dual-DDR channels to
_each_ CPU, so that's the best, single recommendation I can make.

For example, call up Monarch Computer (who sells both components or
complete, tested systems from those components -- your choice) and see
what they have.  It looks like Monarch is selling some older boards re-
branded with their own BIOS that supports dual-core for $300-400.

http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?
Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=M&Category_Code=OMB

Tell them you want:
A)  Mainboard with dual-DDR (128-bit) to _each_ CPU
B)  An AMD8131 for _dual_ PCI-X

Many of the boards at the above link for $300-400 are _exactly_that_!
And several are dual-core supporting.  Again, it looks like Monarch
is taking older/discontinued mainboards of the older AMD8xxx generation
and putting a new, dual-core capable BIOS on them.

>From a server standpoint, you're going to use PCI-X channels, and
whether you have an older AMD8xxx generation or a new, nForce Pro
generation, you're _still_ going to get PCI-X via an AMD8131 -- same
difference.

-- Bryan

P.S.  If you think you're going to get a dual-Opteron mainboard for
under $300, it's near impossible.  The only ones that are under $300
typically lack an AMD8131 -- i.e., _no_ PCI-X channels.  You'd be better
off getting a $100 Athlon64 nForce mainboard with an Athlon64x2 4200+
and a PCIe x4 or PCIe x8 storage controller instead.


-- 
Bryan J. Smith                                     b.j.smith at ieee.org 
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