#Dual Pentium M/B – OK?
18 messages in this thread
dear all,
anybody out there know a brand of pentium motherboard (with dual pentium
capability, but only 1 CPU installed) that works fine with 3d Studio? I'm
looking at a system with an ASUS brand motherboard and want to know whether it
works or not. It's PCI and EISA.
I emphasize the 2nd CPU slot is just for future expandability and I don't
expect any speed improvement at this point. I'm just worried about
compatibility problems, unexpected crashes, heat problems etc.
TIA,
Martin
Martin,
There's also a 10-slot Dual Pentium (Titan II manufactured by American
Megatrends 800/828-9264), w/4 PCI/6 EISA slots, up to 512M & 512K cache, and,
of course, AMI BIOS.
Sorry, no data as to compatibility, but their boards have been pretty solid in
the past.
Kevin Krell – Computer Support Associates
Kevin,
>> 10-slot Dual Pentium (Titan II manufactured by American Megatrends
800/828-9264) <<
interesting. I think they'll all have one out soon, but compatability is a big
issue. I'd like to be just one step removed from the bleeding edge – in other
words, get a testimonial from someone on it's 3ds compatability first.
>> w/4 PCI/6 EISA slots, up to 512M & 512k cache… <<
Woa! That sounds like a hummer. I wonder how it'll do with a MAX.
Thanks for the info.
John
Martin:
I would look CAREFULLY at any dual pentium motherboards before buying.
There's an article in the latest PCWEEK about some design flaws in
the Pentiums that can cause errors in dual-processor systems (even
when only one proc is installed), under multi-proc OS's. It seems to
indicate that these bugs are all fixed in the latest C2 stepping
batch of Pentiums, so just make sure the chip(s) are new, AND, make
sure the MB supports the Pentium's "Virtual Wire Mode" — apparently
some mfg's didn't implement this mode, but both NT and the upcoming
multi-proc Netware both require it.
David,
>> C2 stepping batch of Pentiums….AND, make sure the MB supports the
Pentium's "Virtual Wire Mode" <<
thanks. that's good info to know. I'll try calling a couple of m/b
manufacturers to confirm this stuff.
Martin
Martin, since september '94 we use a Asus dual pent Eisa/PCI motherboard for
3DS jobs. Works fine with one processor. Dual processor 3DS has to wait until
the NT-version is shipping . (And lets hope Yost does some smart threading; not
all NT-apps are accelerated by using two processors, f.i. Photoshop).
Fremer,
>> Martin, since september '94 we use a Asus dual pent Eisa/PCI motherboard for
3DS jobs. Works fine with one processor. <<
excellent information, Fremer. That's what I wanted to hear. I'm going to check
on availability of these systems.
Fremer,
are you using the ASUS motherboard on any kind of network? Is so, what type of
network?
Wfw connected to NT server. Also for some jobs Lantastic peer to peer.
Fremer,
any problems with the ASUS motherboard "forgetting" it's EISA settings when you
power it off and then back on. Cornell is trying to convince me to go with
Everex dual pentium motherboards because of that problem with ASUS. They sell
both but are saying the Everex is better for use on a network.
Martin,
never experienced such troubles with the Asus.
Only weak spot is the lack of onboard I/O and IDE. Lack of free slots bothers
us on all machines, but our 'normal' Asus boards do have integrated
I/O/IDE/Flop.
BTW, I recall one problem with our dual Pent machine: sometimes when powering
on it doesn't recognize the PAR-board. Fixable by flip of the powerswitch.
However we suspect the PAR board as we experienced identical problems in other
Asus and Intel P90's with the PAR. Looks like some timing/initializing problem.
Fremer,
thanks again for your valuable insights here. I do believe the latest batch of
ASUS dual-pentium motherboards have on board i/o and IDE.
Could be. However don't get mixed up: there is a second ASUS dual-pent board
out. The new one has ISA slots instead of EISA's. Both have PCI slots. We
didn't test the ISA version so far.
Hi Martin,
Congrats on the position..
On the aside.. I just saw the following data not too related but ….
An Intel tech has identified a timing problem running 3DS on a Plato 90 (Intel
Pentium) machine. If the computer has 128 megs of RAM, 3DS will lock up, or
reboot the machine, when paging to disk while caching is enabled. However, if
the cache is disabled, it renders fine (but takes 17 times longer).
The work around:
During the boot up, access the CMOS setup with the F1 key.
The Advanced Chipset option has a setting for the ISA BUS SPEED. Change the ISA
Bus Speed from the default "Compatible" to "Enhanced".
This seems to be a timing issue. The Intel tech said it would not slow
rendering speed.
Jonas,
>> An Intel tech has identified a timing problem running 3DS on a Plato 90
(Intel Pentium) machine. If the computer has 128 megs of RAM, 3DS will lock
up, or reboot the machine, when paging to disk while caching is enabled. <<
thanks for the tech info. Most of the motherboards are now Nepture chipset so
maybe that's not happening anymore with the newer chipset.
Hey Martin,
I didn't know you were putting a system together. Please read my message about
the new DEC multiprocessor systems (featuring the same Intel->Alpha path of
current single processor XLs).
Maybe that will help,
ana /krazy images
Ana,
>> Please read my message about the new DEC multiprocessor systems (featuring
the same Intel->Alpha path of current single processor XLs) <<
I will 🙂