I also had to ask this question when my PC locked up
during video capture trying to use two CPUs and an ATI TV
Wonder PCI card. It made no difference which MPS revision
I used, I still had the lockup problem unless I removed
the second CPU. The problem with the ATI card and dual
CPU lockup has existed for a couple years now with no
solution or update. (problem link=
http://www.ati.com/support/infobase/3775.html )
How long? I'm running a Tyan Tiger 100 S1832DL dual cpu
motherboard with slots for two 850Mhz PIII Coppermine
cpus with 100fsb. Look what you're running and they still
haven't fixed the problems with multiple CPU's? I suppose
that Microsoft, Intel, and the video card manufacturers
just can't figure out how to get multiple CPUs to do
really intense time-critical computing (such as video
capture) without disrupting it. When I upgrade my PC, it
will be a much faster, but single CPU system. I've tried
both MPS revisions and also tried running with the
applications "affinity" set to one CPU or the other and
it still hangs. The only solution I found was to
completely remove the second CPU. What a waste of money-
but I had to do it because I use my PC a lot as a digital
VCR with my favorite programs scheduled for capture.
Cheaper than TiVo (because I already owned the PC) and
much more flexible (I can burn VCD's from the shows and
watch them anywhere.) I suspect the MPS problem won'tbe
fixed until someone comes out with a BIOS update with MPS
2.0 (which I don't know exists yet.) Maybe MPS 2.0 will
be the first WORKING version of the multi-preocessor
specifications, if it ever arrives.
If you want to know whether using MPS 1.1 or 1.4 makes
any difference in YOUR case, trying doing some video
capture with one setting then the other setting. My PC
hung in both cases and I had to remove the second CPU.
Maybe your PC will work in both cases, which would mean
you don't need to worry about which to choose. Maybe your
PC will only hang if you choose one setting, then you'll
know to use the other setting. If I were you, I'd be
thrilled to discover I could do video capture with two or
more CPUs with even one MPS setting. I can't do it with
either. Video capture seems to me to be the only
application intense enough AND critically dependent on
timing enough to care about multi-processors.
Oh! By the way, I discovered that if you SWAP the CPUs 1
and 2 in each others slots, Windows XP's activation
hardware key will think you have a new PC! Just put them
back where they belong and you will be O.K. I had thought
that maybe one of my CPUs was possibly flaky so I swapped
them and discovered I'd deactivated XP (until I put them
back in the slots where they were when XP was installed.)
