Hey - am wondering what your advice is on where to buy a CHEAP
dual-processor AMD 64 or opteron system... I'm not a chip genius and
don't build my own computers! So I have to buy one, hopefully from a
reputable company...computer coming with a warranty, etc.

Anyway, I like shuttle, but I don't think they have dual proc systems.
Any advice on where to go?

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>,
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>Hey - am wondering what your advice is on where to buy a CHEAP
>dual-processor AMD 64 or opteron system... I'm not a chip genius and
>don't build my own computers! So I have to buy one, hopefully from a
>reputable company...computer coming with a warranty, etc.
>
>Anyway, I like shuttle, but I don't think they have dual proc systems.
>Any advice on where to go?
>


AMD64 porcessors are specifically designed for single CPU systems. The
Opteron chips are for multiprocessor systems.

Polywell.com makes nice high performance systems.

A friend just put together a dual opteron system system. the parts
came to about $2k on newegg.com.

--
a d y k e s @ p a n i x . c o m

Don't blame me. I voted for Gore.

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> Hey - am wondering what your advice is on where to buy a CHEAP
> dual-processor AMD 64 or opteron system... I'm not a chip genius and
> don't build my own computers! So I have to buy one, hopefully from a
> reputable company...computer coming with a warranty, etc.
>
> Anyway, I like shuttle, but I don't think they have dual proc systems.
> Any advice on where to go?
>

Actually, I think Shuttle recently announced a SFF Opty dualie.

In any case, it is a hard question to answer without knowing your
budget, what you intend to use the computer for, and what you
consider to be an acceptable warranty.

Vendors to consider include:
http://www.hp.com
http://www.polywell.com
http://www.boxxtech.com
http://www.ibm.com
http://www.xicomputer.com
http://www.sun.com

A search for terms like "dual opteron workstation" or "dual
opteron server" should turn up plenty of other vendors.

You might also want to check out the authorized resellers list at
http://www.newisys.com and the "partners" at AMD's site.

thanks guys, I'll check out those sites.

My budget is in the 2k - 3k range... certainly (and I realize this is
not apples-to-apples comparing, pardoning the foreshadowed pun) but I
know apple is selling their dual proc systems for about 2k... am
wondering why a good manufacturer can't construct a dual opteron system
in the same range...

I figured - I must be looking in the wrong places! So I came to this
newsgroup.

Thanks again.

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> thanks guys, I'll check out those sites.
>
> My budget is in the 2k - 3k range... certainly (and I realize this is
> not apples-to-apples comparing, pardoning the foreshadowed pun) but I
> know apple is selling their dual proc systems for about 2k... am
> wondering why a good manufacturer can't construct a dual opteron system
> in the same range...

You mentioned Shuttle in your initial post, so I hope that means
you are interested in a desktop or workstation rather than a server.

You *can* build a basic Opty dualie workstation for $2K - or buy
one from some vendors for about that much. $3K gets you more,
obviously, but don't forget to leave some money for software.

You might also want to consider a more conservative approach and
just get a typical single-processor system built around a Socket
939 motherboard. It would be cheaper, there would be many more
vendors to choose from, and you would have the option of
upgrading to a dual-core processor in the future. A dual-core
CPU would give you most of the benefits of a genuine Opteron
dualie box if at some point you decide that your initial single
core CPU isn't enough for you.

If you are in no hurry, you could also just wait until the
dual-core Socket 939 chips hit the market.

>
> I figured - I must be looking in the wrong places! So I came to this
> newsgroup.
>
> Thanks again.
>

On 3 Apr 2005 13:25:18 -0700, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:

>Hey - am wondering what your advice is on where to buy a CHEAP
>dual-processor AMD 64 or opteron system... I'm not a chip genius and
>don't build my own computers! So I have to buy one, hopefully from a
>reputable company...computer coming with a warranty, etc.
>
>Anyway, I like shuttle, but I don't think they have dual proc systems.
>Any advice on where to go?

If you like the Shuttle style of small-form-factor PCs, you may want
to have a look at IWill's ZMAXdp:

http://www.iwill.com.tw/product_2.asp?p_id=36&sp=Y

It's the same basic idea as a Shuttle design but has a pair of Opteron
chips in it.

Another option, if you're not in a rush, is to wait for a little bit
to see how the dual-core processors are going to pan out. Both AMD
and Intel are planning on releasing dual-core processors (ie two
processors in a single socket) within the next 2-3 months time. This
should provide dual-processor performance at roughly single-processor
prices.

-------------
Tony Hill
hilla <underscore> 20 <at> yahoo <dot> ca

Rob Stow wrote:

> You *can* build a basic Opty dualie workstation for $2K - or buy one
> from some vendors for about that much. $3K gets you more, obviously,
> but don't forget to leave some money for software.

Why? The best he can do with a dual Opteron system is load
it with Linux anyway; that way, he can spend the extra $1K
on more memory :-)

Carlos
--

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In article <d2pjsr$ao9$(E-Mail Removed)>, Al Dykes <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>AMD64 porcessors are specifically designed for single CPU systems. The
>Opteron chips are for multiprocessor systems.

Umm...AMD64 refers to the instruction set and general architecture. Athlon
64s, Opterons, and some Semprons (the Socket 754 Semprons, not the Socket
462 Semprons) are all AMD64 processors of one sort or another. Word is that
Intel has some processors that support the AMD64 instruction set, too.

Semprons, Athlon 64s, and Opteron 1xxs are single-processor (with the
possibility that the Opteron 1xxs might go dual-core in the future).
Opteron 2xxs and 8xxs support multiprocessor operation with up to 2 or 8
processors, respectively.

>Don't blame me. I voted for Gore.

The world is fortunate that you didn't get your way. If Gore won, we'd all
be praying toward Mecca five times a day now, whether we liked it or not.

_/_
/ v \ Scott Alfter (remove the obvious to send mail)
(IIGS( http://alfter.us/ Top-posting!
\_^_/ rm -rf /bin/laden >What's the most annoying thing on Usenet?

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Scott Alfter <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
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:<snip>

:: Don't blame me. I voted for Gore.
:
: The world is fortunate that you didn't get your way. If Gore won,
: we'd all be praying toward Mecca five times a day now, whether we
: liked it or not.

Yeah, that's pretty funny. You're all now praying to "George the Great."
Ain't that swell? Vaya gelipolla.

J.

Scott Alfter wrote:

> The world is fortunate that you didn't get your way. If Gore won,
> we'd all be praying toward Mecca five times a day now, whether we
> liked it or not.

Talk about flamebait... Sheesh!