2CPU.com » News » September 2002 » Slow day? Why not some site stuff.

I haven't noticed anything of interest on the news front for today so I thought I'd take some time to update you on a couple of things I've been working on, and what we have planned for the future.

You've all heard mention of the massive video card article we have cooking here at 2CPU.com. Well, this week I finally wrapped up all of the trimmings of my i860 test machine. Through the gracious donations of several readers and contributions from hardware manufacturers, I'll now be able to run my plethora of benchmarks (games and professional applications) on both the Athlon MP and P4 Xeon platforms. We have a few tricks up our sleeve and will be testing things that have never been looked at before.

Let's briefly talk about the video cards. While we currently have six cards on my test bench we're eagerly trying to add more to make this as beneficial to everyone as possible. I would like to see more ATI and Matrox representation (we'll have a Parhelia eventually, we're not sure if it'll be in time for this article, though) as right now I'm a little NVIDIA top-heavy. With respect to ATI, I still want to add a Radeon 9700, 9000, and an 8500(LE). On the NVIDIA side of things, I'm still pursuing a Geforce4 Ti4600. If you work for ATI or another video card manufacturer please drop me a line. This will definitely be valuable and worth contributing to. We're pouring hundreds of hours into this in an effort to produce something actually worth reading.

Once this is behind me, I'll be delving into some alternative operating system-related content. MalHavoc and I will be taking a look at Apache and MySQL performance in Linux, FreeBSD and Win32 on both the Athlon MP and P4 Xeon platforms. Among other things...

We're getting there.

corrsfan Unregistered

#18383 Posted on: 09/07/2002 02:24 AM Once this is behind me, I'll be delving into some alternative operating system-related content. MalHavoc and I will be taking a look at Apache and MySQL performance in Linux, FreeBSD and Win32 on both the Athlon MP and P4 Xeon platforms. Among other things... You got me hanging on for that stuff, since that sort of content is rare, and is the sort of thing im beginning to look at

questionlp the Cowardly Tech Posts: 323 Joined: 2002-02-14

#18384 Posted on: 09/07/2002 02:33 AM Yay!!! It's been quite a while since I have seen a decent FreeBSD/SMP article... I'll definitely be waiting for that. Will you be testing the latest 4.x-RELEASE or possibly dabble in some 5.0-CURRENT/-RELEASE/-RC goodness? [http://closedsrc.org/] My Rig: 2x 2.4GHz Xeon, 1GB PC2700, Supermicro X5DAL-TG2, ATI AIW 9000, SB Audigy 2 Plat/EX, 2x 80GB 7200.7's, Plextor 40x and 8/20, Pioneer 106D, Antec 1000AMG, Enermax 460W EPS-12V

rmn oh my, it's huge! Posts: 6013 Joined: 2002-01-26

#18385 Posted on: 09/07/2002 03:18 AM Any Wildcats / Creative P10s / Xabres...? RMN ~~~

Jim_ Administrator Posts: 3464 Joined: 2000-03-15

#18386 Posted on: 09/07/2002 03:21 AM Originally posted by questionlp Will you be testing the latest 4.x-RELEASE or possibly dabble in some 5.0-CURRENT/-RELEASE/-RC goodness? I wouldn't touch anything in a release candidate form for this sort of testing. [url="http://www.2cpu.com"][size=1]2CPU.com[/url] - Because two are always better than one! [url="http://www.jimkirk.org"]jimkirk.org[/url] - Not a Myth any Longer. Just a Dad.[/size]

Didier Registered User Posts: 303 Joined: 2002-03-02

#18387 Posted on: 09/07/2002 03:41 AM A true SMP Video Card review, sounds really nice to me. a look at Apache and MySQL performance in Linux, FreeBSD and Win32 on both the Athlon MP and P4 Xeon platforms Wow, really really interesting. I can't wait to see some true Daemonic power in action. For FreeBSD, 4.6.2 will certainly be used, as Jim_ says, FreeBSD 5 is still beta, and 4.7 is not released yet (should come soon, source tree is frozen). Note: FreeBSD is announced for 1st October, certainly a little too late for the review. On the Win32 side, will IIS be included for comparaison ?

ThelvynD Twice the fun! Posts: 904 Joined: 2002-07-30

#18388 Posted on: 09/07/2002 03:47 AM Are you like gonna add in some CPU scaling tests in there too to show how much of an improvement you'd get with your videocard by upgrading your processor? Dual LV Xeon 1.6@3.2|Athlon2500|Athlon1800@2000| Heatware

Jim_ Administrator Posts: 3464 Joined: 2000-03-15

#18389 Posted on: 09/07/2002 03:49 AM Originally posted by ThelvynD Are you like gonna add in some CPU scaling tests in there too to show how much of an improvement you'd get with your videocard by upgrading your processor? Dude, it was hard enough getting me one set of Athlon MPs and Prestonias, let alone multiple sets. We don't have the money or hook-ups for that kind of thing. [url="http://www.2cpu.com"][size=1]2CPU.com[/url] - Because two are always better than one! [url="http://www.jimkirk.org"]jimkirk.org[/url] - Not a Myth any Longer. Just a Dad.[/size]

ThelvynD Twice the fun! Posts: 904 Joined: 2002-07-30

#18390 Posted on: 09/07/2002 03:53 AM Originally posted by Jim_ Dude, it was hard enough getting me one set of Athlon MPs and Prestonias, let alone multiple sets. We don't have the money or hook-ups for that kind of thing. Well, it was worth a try. :P Dual LV Xeon 1.6@3.2|Athlon2500|Athlon1800@2000| Heatware

Athemeus SMP Decepticon Posts: 576 Joined: 2002-03-02

#18391 Posted on: 09/07/2002 07:17 AM Oh wow, the alternative OS and Apache performance numbers, *THAT* is what I'm talking about! One thing to keep in mind is that gcc will be getting some real SSE2 optimizations supposedly in the future. An update comparison would be nice 2 x 2.8 Xeons on a PC-DL I am an out of control, hardware junkie.

Brad 30105 in 3dmark 03 Posts: 3646 Joined: 2000-12-06

#18392 Posted on: 09/07/2002 09:14 AM when the dual athlon absolutely trashes the xeon system we can tell you that cpu(s) do matter Clevo D870P Notebook, P4 3.4ghz NW, 1gb DDR400, Intel 865PE, ATI 9700 Pro 256mb, 60gb, 80gb, DVDRW, 17" LCD, TV Tuner, 1 hour battery life Athlon 64 3700 Sandy @ 9x315 with XP-120, Asus A8N32-SLI, 2x 512mb PC3200 @ 315mhz 2.5/3/4/8, 2x 7800GTX @ 490/1325, 1x 74gb Raptor, 3x 160gb SATA, Audigy 2 ZS, Silverstone TJ-03, Zippy 700w. P4 3.46 Gallatin EE at 12x300, Supermicro PDSGE, 2gb DDR2 @ 600, 6x 250gb, 6x 200gb, Promise SX6000, Adaptec 2610SA, Acbel 550w 7800GTX 512mb's on their way

Acronym B.O.Y. Unregistered

#18393 Posted on: 09/07/2002 10:15 AM Originally posted by Brad when the dual athlon absolutely trashes the xeon system we can tell you that cpu(s) do matter Yeah, but can you run Athlons on ServerWorks boards?

Brad 30105 in 3dmark 03 Posts: 3646 Joined: 2000-12-06

#18394 Posted on: 09/07/2002 10:30 AM but can you overclock xeons? Clevo D870P Notebook, P4 3.4ghz NW, 1gb DDR400, Intel 865PE, ATI 9700 Pro 256mb, 60gb, 80gb, DVDRW, 17" LCD, TV Tuner, 1 hour battery life Athlon 64 3700 Sandy @ 9x315 with XP-120, Asus A8N32-SLI, 2x 512mb PC3200 @ 315mhz 2.5/3/4/8, 2x 7800GTX @ 490/1325, 1x 74gb Raptor, 3x 160gb SATA, Audigy 2 ZS, Silverstone TJ-03, Zippy 700w. P4 3.46 Gallatin EE at 12x300, Supermicro PDSGE, 2gb DDR2 @ 600, 6x 250gb, 6x 200gb, Promise SX6000, Adaptec 2610SA, Acbel 550w 7800GTX 512mb's on their way

Dark Registered User Posts: 687 Joined: 2000-02-05

#18395 Posted on: 09/07/2002 11:29 AM Originally posted by Brad but can you overclock xeons? I could careless about the overclocking when i want stability :cool:

Paladyyn mmmmmMaya Posts: 119 Joined: 2002-05-05

#18396 Posted on: 09/07/2002 12:15 PM Are you going to do a cross benchmark like comparing a Geforce 4 to a Quadro or Wildcat to see how they compare at workstation apps? Basically... I would just like to see gaming cards benchmarked against workstation cards in both games and apps like Maya or 3ds Max... I know a lot of people would be very interested in seeing those kinds of results. Just a thought though...

Brad 30105 in 3dmark 03 Posts: 3646 Joined: 2000-12-06

#18397 Posted on: 09/07/2002 01:39 PM my athlons at 2ghz are stable - only 3 weeks uptime Clevo D870P Notebook, P4 3.4ghz NW, 1gb DDR400, Intel 865PE, ATI 9700 Pro 256mb, 60gb, 80gb, DVDRW, 17" LCD, TV Tuner, 1 hour battery life Athlon 64 3700 Sandy @ 9x315 with XP-120, Asus A8N32-SLI, 2x 512mb PC3200 @ 315mhz 2.5/3/4/8, 2x 7800GTX @ 490/1325, 1x 74gb Raptor, 3x 160gb SATA, Audigy 2 ZS, Silverstone TJ-03, Zippy 700w. P4 3.46 Gallatin EE at 12x300, Supermicro PDSGE, 2gb DDR2 @ 600, 6x 250gb, 6x 200gb, Promise SX6000, Adaptec 2610SA, Acbel 550w 7800GTX 512mb's on their way

Hooz Administrator Posts: 2337 Joined: 2000-03-29

#18398 Posted on: 09/07/2002 04:06 PM Jim has GeForce4's and Quadro's, yes. We'd like to get some 3DLabs and FireGL stuff in there too, but it probably won't happen this time around [size=1][url="http://www.2cpu.com"]2CPU.com[/url] - Because two are always better than one! Are you folding? [url="http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/team_summary.php?s=&t=3074"]2CPU.com Folding@Home Team[/url] [url="http://www.heatware.com/eval.php?id=19979"]My Heatware[/url][/size]

Vuke69 Bitpimp Posts: 377 Joined: 2001-03-16

#18399 Posted on: 09/07/2002 05:42 PM Originally posted by Brad my athlons at 2ghz are stable - only 3 weeks uptime Thats pretty good for dual athlons, too bad people dont get impressed about xeon uptime until you break the 3 year mark. If you would probably get fired if your server had more than twelve minutes of downtime in a year, do you still think you would go with athlons? My next workstation may be a dual athlon, but my next server will never be anything but xeons. Each has their place. And its really not the fault of the athlons, its the boards that are out right now. Is there anyone out there that hasent had a problem with their MP, or MPX? Now look again, but this time look for people who have problems with their serverworks boards. Now uniprocessor boards are a whole different story, there are many great boards out there for the athlon.

rmn oh my, it's huge! Posts: 6013 Joined: 2002-01-26

#18400 Posted on: 09/07/2002 06:20 PM Originally posted by Vuke69 Is there anyone out there that hasent had a problem with their MP? At least one person, yes. RMN ~~~

PinkDaisy Registered User Posts: 143 Joined: 2002-01-11

#18401 Posted on: 09/07/2002 06:31 PM Originally posted by Jim_ Once this is behind me, I'll be delving into some alternative operating system-related content. MalHavoc and I will be taking a look at Apache and MySQL performance in Linux, FreeBSD and Win32 on both the Athlon MP and P4 Xeon platforms. Among other things... If you want help with FreeBSD and MySql drop me a line, I have worked professionally with this combination for over 5years. I also have some nice FreeBSD boxes to do performance tests on if that is needed. old SMP fart

Athemeus SMP Decepticon Posts: 576 Joined: 2002-03-02

#18402 Posted on: 09/07/2002 08:55 PM Please don't devolve this thread into AMD vs Intel... I'm just happy that now someone is committed to doing the tests, the only tests, that can cause a significant change of opinion about Netburst. So let's put down the rivalry and be happy about these tests that no one else seems to be doing... 2 x 2.8 Xeons on a PC-DL I am an out of control, hardware junkie.

Hooz Administrator Posts: 2337 Joined: 2000-03-29

#18403 Posted on: 09/07/2002 09:37 PM Originally posted by Vuke69 If you would probably get fired if your server had more than twelve minutes of downtime in a year, do you still think you would go with athlons? I've been in that situation before and in that situation, I wouldn't trust my job to any single server. That is what clustering is for my friend. The point is that anyone looking for 99.9% or better uptime needs to be looking at multiple redundant servers. Three 9's (99.9%) is roughly 9 hours of downtime per year, four 9's (99.99%) is about 53 minutes of downtime per year, or about one reboot every two weeks for a server level machine. 99.999%, or five 9's is only five minutes of downtime per year... I wouldn't trust that to a single Xeon or Athlon machine [size=1][url="http://www.2cpu.com"]2CPU.com[/url] - Because two are always better than one! Are you folding? [url="http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/team_summary.php?s=&t=3074"]2CPU.com Folding@Home Team[/url] [url="http://www.heatware.com/eval.php?id=19979"]My Heatware[/url][/size]

PinkDaisy Registered User Posts: 143 Joined: 2002-01-11

#18404 Posted on: 09/07/2002 10:02 PM Three 9's (99.9%) is roughly 9 days of downtime per year. hours not days! old SMP fart

Hooz Administrator Posts: 2337 Joined: 2000-03-29

#18405 Posted on: 09/07/2002 11:40 PM Sorry, you are correct. My mistake [size=1][url="http://www.2cpu.com"]2CPU.com[/url] - Because two are always better than one! Are you folding? [url="http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/team_summary.php?s=&t=3074"]2CPU.com Folding@Home Team[/url] [url="http://www.heatware.com/eval.php?id=19979"]My Heatware[/url][/size]

Vuke69 Bitpimp Posts: 377 Joined: 2001-03-16

#18406 Posted on: 09/08/2002 12:08 AM I meant to say hours, not minutes. But you get my point. Any admin worth anything should be able to get three 9's while standing on his head. That is a minimum standard. If you couldn't maintain that, you would be expected to quit out of shame. You could have an array take a total crap, one other major incident, lets say exploded PS, and still have time for patches, and upgrades. And still make three 9's. I dont think AMD is really ready for the high availability server market. Just like any Sun guy would think that Intel isn't really ready for high availability servers. I would also put Microsoft in that same category. They have security patches on average of what like two a week. Granted you dont have to reboot for all of them, but still. It may seem that I am cutting down AMD, but I really am not. I will be getting my first MPX board in probably a month or so (unless the Rioworks PDPEA, and 2.8 Xeons come out first), but is it a hard decision to make about what board to get. They seem to all have serious issues. I am sort of fond of MSI as a whole, so I will probably go with them.

Vuke69 Bitpimp Posts: 377 Joined: 2001-03-16

#18407 Posted on: 09/08/2002 12:10 AM Originally posted by Athemeus Please don't devolve this thread into AMD vs Intel... I'm just happy that now someone is committed to doing the tests, the only tests, that can cause a significant change of opinion about Netburst. So let's put down the rivalry and be happy about these tests that no one else seems to be doing... Sorry I agree. Why do I always open my big fat mouth. From now on I'll try to let the trolls be.

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