Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1999 11:08:06 -0700 From: dennisw@nvidia.com To: "Rodney W. Grimes" <freebsd@gndrsh.dnsmgr.net> Cc: dg@root.com, freebsd-smp@freebsd.org, neil@synthcom.com (Neil Bradley) Subject: Re: Quad-PIII...exists? Message-ID: <OFEC716584.47DF31E3-ON882567EE.0062FB95@nvidia.com>
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So, anyone know of a way to squeeze two dual PIII boards in a mid-sized
case? Or know of a company that makes a small case that
would house two motherboards?
"Rodney W. Grimes"
<freebsd@gndrsh.dns To: dg@root.com
mgr.net> cc: neil@synthcom.com (Neil Bradley), freebsd-smp@freebsd.org
Sent by: Subject: Re: Quad-PIII...exists?
owner-freebsd-smp@f
reebsd.org
09/15/99 10:20 PM
> >> >> > ASUS doesn't make a dual-PIII motherboard yet, and IBM has a
> >> >> > Quad-PIII server...but IBM is over-priced, IMHO...
> >> >>
> >> >> For dual PIII, go for the Supermicro. I've found so many marginal
hardware
> >> >> problems with Tyan and Asus that I'd never consider them again.
I've had
> >> >> excellent luck with all of my Supermicro boards. I don't know if
they make
> >> >> quad boards (though they'd be expensive no matter where you get
them
> >> >> from), but they make a line of very solid dual CPU motherboards.
> >> >
> >> >Humm... and my experience here is similiar, but in the opposite
direction,
> >> >I won't touch a Supermicro or Tyan board, but ASUS has been rock
solid
> >> >for us, sans occasional problems with BIOS code.
> >>
> >> ...and while we're all saying conflicting things, I've had *zero*
problems
> >> with SMP Tyan motherboards (and we're talking sample size >50
motherboards).
> >
> >You call $10K worth of returned memory 0 problems.... :-)
>
> It was the wrong type of memory for that amount of chip loading for
> that (Intel) chipset. It had nothing to do with the specific motherboard.
It was a lack of adequate documentation on Tyan's part to not clearly
identify
that you must have registered dimms when the DIMM size is >256MB. I also
seem to recall you saying that even once you got registered DIMMS you still
had problems, though not as often, and only when running with 4 slots
populated.
Not matter how you put it this was a problem, maybe not for you, but
certainly for me.
I also have problems with a motherboard manufacture who says you must
use one of these ``qualified by us'' memory products in our boards
or all beats are off. That is design quality through post product design
testing, not a good model to follow. Component data sheets exists for
a reason.
> I've had no problems with those systems or any others that I've built
> when using the correct memory.
That conflicts with data you have given me in the past. I also will not
use any data that says *zero* problems, it means either the sample size
is too small (50 is a very small sample in this business) or somehow the
data is being filtered so that all the facts are not present. Especially
when data to the contrary is avaliable.
Also I was not talking about post production product problems, if people
like
you and myself do our jobs right those should be religated down to the
``field device failure'' class of reliability issues, something we
classify completely seperately from ``problems''. Things like having
to flash the BIOS because it won't deal with your new fangled PIII chip,
but you can't flash the BIOS because it won't boot properly and you
don't have an old fangled PII chip just laying around handy, that
I consider a ``problem''.
Though we really like ASUS for the high end and Soltek for the low end,
I admit that we have had _some_ problems with both of them, we have even
experienced memory problem very much like the ones you did, though it
did not require going to registered DIMMS to solve it.
Now where was that setting in the Tyan board to cause AC Power Loss
autorestart??? Thats another thing I consider a ``problem'', you
a technical oriented person and even you couldn't find it for a long
time.
Want the funnest one I have had lately with ASUS, well, they went
to this ``jumperFree'' design, well, okay, they call it that, but
there are still 2 jumpers and 10 DIP switches on the board. Anyway,
if you happen to power the system down during POST next time you
power it up it drops you into the BIOS setup as it thinks the CPU
is set wrong. Well, this doesn't go over very well when you have
remote machines on UPS that occasionally have power outages longer
than the UPS can hold things up and then the power bounces a few
times. I've gone to disabling the jumperFree mode and nail the board
settings down. Is this a problem one of our custmers well ever see
again, probobably not, is it a problem for someone else buying
an ASUS board, well, yes, unless they have happend to read this :-).
--
Rod Grimes - KD7CAX - (RWG25) rgrimes@gndrsh.dnsmgr.net
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