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 --------------------------------------------------------------------- It is mathematically impossible for someone who makes more than you to be anything but richer than you. Any tax rate that penalizes them will also penalize you similarly (to those below you, and then below them). Linear algebra, let alone differential calculus or even ele- mentary concepts of limits, is mutually exclusive with US journalism. So forget even attempting to explain how tax cuts work. ;->