Supermicro on the cheap

I have a multi-threaded application that I am running on a P4 2.8ghz HT
where I am just about out of CPU resources. Anyone have any particular
recommendations for a dual XEON Supermicro motherboard, including
vendors that are not price gouging for these boards?

The config I am looking for is 2.6 ghz Dual Xeon, 2GB non-ECC (cheaper
than ECC). If I can I would rather not spend hundreds of dollars on a
Supermicro case if possible and just buy a $50 INWIN special and equip
it with a few fans. Anyone else able to get away with a low end case
without having heat dissipation problems with these dual Xeon boards?

Citizen Ed wrote:
> What application are you running. I can make a better recommendation
> with that information.

The application, Mnogosearch is a web based search engine software for
Linux. My configuration uses Mysql 4.0, a cache Word index which is
divided into 8192 files and a compressed storage document database
(several hundred thousand files, 1gb in size). I compile it with gcc on
my Linux 2.4.20 kernel.

My performance bottlenecks are with mysql and cache database index
updates eat all my CPU resources. I also lose a little bit of time in
disk search as it searches the cache database files. Therefore I am
thinking 60gb SCSI likely would be better than the current ATA-100 IDE
controller. I am trying to do this as cheap as possible therefore
single drive and no raid.

No AGP needed, and a simple old 8mb video would suffice.

> Do you need AGP? SCSI? You can't run a dual Xeon Supermicro board
> without ECC Registered memory. They require it for a reason. If you're
> running multi-CPU systems with non-ECC memory there is significant
> potential for conflict and error.

This is good to know.

Thx Ed.

> There isn't really a heat problem with low end cases, but if you're
> looking at a $50 case, I hope you're looking at a $100 power supply to
> stick in it. I rarely recommend anything but Antec for dual CPU
> workstations, and never anything less than their True 430 watt. The CAN
> generate some heat, but if you just fill all the available fan spots in
> your case, it should stay sufficiently cool.
>
> Let me know on the application thing and on the AGP thing, and I can
> recommend a board for you.
>
> Ed
>
> @ac wrote:
>
>> I have a multi-threaded application that I am running on a P4 2.8ghz
>> HT where I am just about out of CPU resources. Anyone have any
>> particular recommendations for a dual XEON Supermicro motherboard,
>> including vendors that are not price gouging for these boards?
>>
>> The config I am looking for is 2.6 ghz Dual Xeon, 2GB non-ECC (cheaper
>> than ECC). If I can I would rather not spend hundreds of dollars on a
>> Supermicro case if possible and just buy a $50 INWIN special and equip
>> it with a few fans. Anyone else able to get away with a low end case
>> without having heat dissipation problems with these dual Xeon boards?
>>
>>
>>
>

Thanks for the info. It looks like Supermicro is going to be out of my
price range even though it seems to be the way to go for a server mb. I
may even take a look at AMD multi processors at this point to open up a
whole new can of worms.

I found Asus to have a new dual XEON PC-DL for $212 but advertises it
for the power user. A dual XEON is a dual XEON so not sure if that makes
much of difference that I am using it as an application server.

If anyone has any recommendations....?

Citizen Ed wrote:
> Thanks for the information. Based on that, I would probably go with the
> Supermicro X5DE8.
> (http://www.mbx.com/specs/spec_adv.cfm?ProductID=16440) That board
> includes a video controller, dual Gigabit Ethernet, and a U320 SCSI
> controller. You can use any Xeon processor with a 533 FSB, and up to 4
> GB of memory.
> As an alternative, since you have a stated preference for something
> inexpensive, you might want to take a look at this:
> Use the X5DEi-GG,
> (http://www.mbx.com/specs/spec_adv.cfm?ProductID=17332) which is the
> same board, just minus the SCSI controller. Then, add a Promise Serial
> ATA RAID controller
> (http://www.mbx.com/specs/spec_adv.cfm?ProductID=18549) and a couple
> Western Digital 36GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA drives
> (http://www.mbx.com/specs/spec_adv.cfm?ProductID=17846) in a striped
> RAID array. You can get better performance out of a RAID array than out
> of a single SCSI drive, and the overall cost will be lower.
> Let me know what you think.
>
> Ed
>
> @ac wrote:
>
>>
>> Citizen Ed wrote:
>>
>>> What application are you running. I can make a better recommendation
>>> with that information.
>>
>>
>>
>> The application, Mnogosearch is a web based search engine software for
>> Linux. My configuration uses Mysql 4.0, a cache Word index which is
>> divided into 8192 files and a compressed storage document database
>> (several hundred thousand files, 1gb in size). I compile it with gcc
>> on my Linux 2.4.20 kernel.
>>
>> My performance bottlenecks are with mysql and cache database index
>> updates eat all my CPU resources. I also lose a little bit of time in
>> disk search as it searches the cache database files. Therefore I am
>> thinking 60gb SCSI likely would be better than the current ATA-100 IDE
>> controller. I am trying to do this as cheap as possible therefore
>> single drive and no raid.
>>
>> No AGP needed, and a simple old 8mb video would suffice.
>>
>>> Do you need AGP? SCSI? You can't run a dual Xeon Supermicro board
>>> without ECC Registered memory. They require it for a reason. If
>>> you're running multi-CPU systems with non-ECC memory there is
>>> significant potential for conflict and error.
>>
>>
>>
>> This is good to know.
>>
>> Thx Ed.
>>
>>> There isn't really a heat problem with low end cases, but if you're
>>> looking at a $50 case, I hope you're looking at a $100 power supply
>>> to stick in it. I rarely recommend anything but Antec for dual CPU
>>> workstations, and never anything less than their True 430 watt. The
>>> CAN generate some heat, but if you just fill all the available fan
>>> spots in your case, it should stay sufficiently cool.
>>>
>>> Let me know on the application thing and on the AGP thing, and I can
>>> recommend a board for you.
>>>
>>> Ed
>>>
>>> @ac wrote:
>>>
>>>> I have a multi-threaded application that I am running on a P4 2.8ghz
>>>> HT where I am just about out of CPU resources. Anyone have any
>>>> particular recommendations for a dual XEON Supermicro motherboard,
>>>> including vendors that are not price gouging for these boards?
>>>>
>>>> The config I am looking for is 2.6 ghz Dual Xeon, 2GB non-ECC
>>>> (cheaper than ECC). If I can I would rather not spend hundreds of
>>>> dollars on a Supermicro case if possible and just buy a $50 INWIN
>>>> special and equip it with a few fans. Anyone else able to get away
>>>> with a low end case without having heat dissipation problems with
>>>> these dual Xeon boards?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>