Mutant SMP. Is it impossible?

[Positiv]

I'm thinking of buying a P3 550e socket processor.
I thought of selling my current P3 500Katmai slot 1 processor but have a question.

According to 2cpu.com , intel says that different speeds of processors are OK, but NT would unclock one processor to match the other.
They also said that different stepping numbers are not a real problem for SMP.
To finish they said that different cache architectures would be also OK.

So I though of buying a Iwill Socket II Slot 1 to socket converter and use the P3 550e with my current slot 1 P3 500 katmai.

Is it possible???
Thanks.

[PaulS]

People have got it working. Personally, I use processors with identical batch numbers as well as steppings, this is what Intel recommends. Timing faults in SMP machines are really hard to track down, problems with cache coherency can make an SMP machine slower than a single processor. If you read the Pentium errata, you'll get an idea about the sorts of SMP problems Intel has had to fix - I would certainly want my processors matched.

Paul

[Raptor^]

It is possible, as described above, but the question is 'would you want to anyway?'

If you do lots of 3D design work, or compiling large amounts of code then yes, you would see a benefit, but if not then the 550e by itself would probably be quicker than a dual 500.

[Kruzin]

Transferred to the General Hardware form...

[Positiv]

I thought of doing the dual set-up because:
-Most of applications I use can benefit like: Photoshop and Premiere.
-The only game I play is QuakeIII (not so good yet because the w2k drivers..)
-I multitask a lot. I have always a least Photoshop and Illustrator openned at the same time. Sometimes Mp3player, internet....

I just want to know if the processors are totally different (coppermine socket and katmai slot 1), my system will became totally unstable......possible??

FRED

[noackjr]

I'm gonna hazard a guess here:

It may work or may not.

Unless we have someone here the an identical setup to yours, we'll never know. When I bought my 2 processors from an OEM dealer, they had sequential serial numbers or whatever on them. This means they probably came from the same silicon wafer. This is ideal and I haven't had any problems with them. As stated above, you could run into all sorts of timing and cache problems. I've dealt with SMP related problems, and they are not fun to try to work out. They generally are very inconsistent, with the exact same sequence of things sometimes causing a failure and sometimes not. However, If you're not going to be spending a whole lot more you might as well go for it. If it works you get better performance. If not, you're not out a whole lot of money (assuming you don't have to spend much). Definitely benchmark with all 3 configurations (current 500, new 550e, and dual) to see what works the best.

Good Luck!
Jon

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QDI Brilliant IV - Bios 2.0 Beta (Win2000 updates - email me if you want it!)
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All more or less running on Windows 2000...

[Positiv]

Thanks for the feedback.
I'm gonna get the system working by the end of the week and let's see what happens.

On the other hand, I was browsing Intel's web page and found out that the 500e and 550e coppermine sockets are not SMP compatible??
Is that possible??
Is there anyone running dual coppermine sockets on dual bx boards???? (of course with the adapter)...

FRED

[PaulS]

I haven't heard that. Intel also said the Celerons where not SMP capable, but maybe they have delibrately knobbled them this time.

Paul

[Positiv]

This was stripped form a Intel Support page:

"Dual Processor System Considerations
Currently the Pentium III processor in the FC-PGA package does not support dual-processing. The processor has been hardware disabled for such functionality. Future versions of this processor may include this feature.

However, the Pentium III processor in the S.E.C.C.2 package is designed for dual processor (DP) operation. The following information pertains only to the Pentium III processor in the S.E.C.C.2 package.

Intel tests dual processor configurations with different steppings of the Pentium III processor as new processor steppings are introduced. Certain Pentium III processors of the same speed but different steppings can be mixed in dual processor configurations, provided that the motherboard's BIOS supports both steppings. For more information, see Mixing Processor Steppings below. Intel still recommends using processors of the same stepping when integrating dual processor systems."

Does anybody thinks that they would hardware disable SMP support? Even a celeron processor is capable of SMP, why not a P!!!?

Does anybody has a system with dual 500e FC-PGA working??

FRED

[jeepman]

I wish I knew where I read it but I believe the FC-PGA 600E's are SMP capable. I might have read it on Tom's Hardware page. Anyways, I don't have any to try out on my BP6, and the Power Leap SL-S370 FC-PGA convertors are not available yet. Plus, the BP6 would need a BIOS update.

Anyways, in terms of current stuff, www.pga370.com is reporting that he has received E-mails from people using the FC-PGA Slokets with (CORRECTION! page does not mention 500E's, just PIII's) PIII's on dual Slot 1 boards. Just rumor at this point...

[This message has been edited by jeepman (edited 10 February 2000).]

[Positiv]

I just got (2) Iwill Slocket II Socket-370 to Slot-1 Adapter from e-bay for $17,00/each(new).

I also happen to have a DBL Iwill dual processor with Ultra2scsi onboard.
Right now I'm running 2 P3500 katmai (different steps without any problems). The only problem I got so far was a Log on Win2k final saying that the steps are different and problems may occour.

I already bought 1 P3550e, and I will buy the second one tomorrow.
By friday I will have a post saying if dual P3 550e with the adapters run well on a BX Slot1 dual motherboard....
FRED

[jeepman]

Positiv,

Are the IWILL Slokets compatible with the FC-PGA processors? I ask because you write "Iwill Slocket II Socket-370 to Slot-1 Adapters." I look at "II" and it almost reads like they are PII adapters...

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ABIT BP6, 192MB PC100 RAM, dual 366->>550MHz, 3DFXCool GlobalWin FEP32 'Lil Mofo' h/s fans. G400 DH, 3COM 905B NIC, Buslogic FlashPoint LW Ultra-Wide SCSI, SBLive PCI 1024. Segate Medalist PRO 9.1 GB UW SCSI 7200RPM, Maxtor 20.4GB ATA66 7200RPM 2MB Cache, 8GB tape b/u, IDE 32x CDROM, SCSI 4xwrite/8xread Panasonic CD writer, 4 more various 2GB SCSI drives.

[Positiv]

I got this information from the specification of the IWill Slocket II:

Convert PPGA Celeron to be used on Slot1
Platform Supports FC-PGA processor (128K,256K Coppermine) and Cyrix Socket370 processor
Supports 66MHz, 100MHz, 133MHz bus speed Supports Dual PPGA Processor

PS: It does not say that support Dual FC-PGA processor. This is what I'm trying to see if it's possible....
FRED

[jeepman]

Positiv,

Any results yet on dual 550E's?

Thanks...

[Taz]

Just for your information I have had both a dual setup with 1 x PII 300 and 1 x Celeron 300A and another with 1 x PII 450 and 1 x Celeron 300A o/c to 450Mhz, working fine under WinNT 4.0.

The BIOS on my Iwill DBD100 sometimes reports it as 2 x PII and on other occasions 2 x Celeron neither makes a difference.

As long as they both have the same multiplier and support whatever bus speed you choose the system will work, I won't guarantee how stable it will be but it will work!