Tom's Hardware > Forum > Motherboards & Memory > General Motherboard > Dual socket 940 - What Chipset???

Dual socket 940 - What Chipset???

Forum Motherboards & Memory : General Motherboard - Dual socket 940 - What Chipset???

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ChrisLudwig   03-06-2006 at 10:20:07 PM

On dual socket 940 motherboards what chipset has the best reputation for performance?

I ask because the dual XEONs are SO lacking in performance, but I’m reluctant to switch to AMD servers because of the chipset. I’ve found that the chipset makes a major difference in stability, and Intel simply focuses more on chipsets and has a better track record than AMD does. If I’m going to give a AMD chipset a try, which is my best bet?

AMD is new to chipsets and doesn’t seem to invest much in it and nVidia is a game card manufacturer that seems to focus more on performance than stability.

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function9   03-07-2006 at 05:50:07 PM
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Quote :

AMD is new to chipsets

Actually, I can't recall a new chipset in the past 2 years or so that AMD has put out. I believe they have everything they need from Nvidia. And boards with the Serverworks chipset supporting AMD are slowly starting to make their way.

Quote :

nVidia is a game card manufacturer that seems to focus more on performance than stability.

That's strange seeing that the Nvidia chipset is the most widely used for AMD servers and workstations from OEMs. The Nvidia chipset for dual socket boards isn't the same Nvidia chipset thats on s939 boards.

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ChrisLudwig   03-07-2006 at 07:59:46 PM
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AMD does have a chipset for the dual Opteron:
North Bridge AMD 8151
South Bridge AMD 8111

My comments on nVidia’s chipset are pure speculation. There are several options which are matched with various other chips. It just seems a bit sloppy, and a bit confusing. I’m sick of the under-performing XEON, but I’m not sure what to go with on the AMD side.

AMD should seriously focus on chipset’s if they want to get into the server market more.

Here’s the chipset combos I’ve seen:

1
North Bridge NVIDIA CrushK8-04 Professional
South Bridge Winbond W83627HF Super I/O

2
North Bridge NVIDIA nForce4 Professional 2200
Other Chipset
AMD 8132 PCI-X Tunnel chip
Winbond W83627THF Super I/O chip
ADM 1026 hardware monitoring IC

3
North Bridge
NVIDIA nForce4 Professional

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function9   03-07-2006 at 09:15:34 PM
- 0 +

Quote :

AMD does have a chipset for the dual Opteron:
North Bridge AMD 8151
South Bridge AMD 8111

That is correct, that chipset is how many years old now? That was the first generation Opteron chipset supporting AGP. They have not made a new chipset since then. I believe the closest they will come to new silicon is reference designs, even then I think Nvidia has taken that over. The only chip still being used from AMD is their AMD 8131 PCI-X Tunnel, for boards that are equipped with PCI-X slots.

Quote :


AMD should seriously focus on chipset’s if they want to get into the server market more.

Really? What platform has been talked about more than the AMD platform for servers and workstations in the past 2 years? AMD has stated since the 760MP/MPX days they have no interest in being in the chipset business.

Quote :

Here’s the chipset combos I’ve seen:


CrushK8-04 Professional, Professional 2200 and "nforce4 Professional" are the same chip, these terms are used interchangeably.

There are 2 chips from Nvidia for the "Professional" chipset the first is the CrushK8-04/Professional 2200/nforce4 Professional. It supplies everything from 20 pcie lanes to usb ports, audio, gigabit ethernet, SATA 3gb/s and 32bit pci support.

The second chip, Professional 2050, offers 20 additional lanes of pcie, 4 more SATA connectors and gigabit ethernet. You'll notice some Opteron workstation boards are able to support 2 full speed 16x slots in SLI mode, this is because they use the 2nd chip (Professional 2050). The only time you will see an AMD chip used on the motherboard with the nforce professional chip(s) is to support PCI-X.

You can also google or go to nVidia's site and read more about the chips.

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