single/dual 760MP Athlon4 - when?

[p05esto]

Hello,

I'm building my first super-computer here and am wondering...

Should I wait for another company like ASUS to build a Dual processor board for the AthlonMP chip and also for the MHZ of the chip to go up a little. Or will the Tyan board be all there is for some time?

If I don't go with a MP solution should I at least wait for the Athlon4 (Palamino) desktop version with suporting motherboards to come out or is the 1.4 Thunderbird still alive and kicking? I have a friend who has a Thunderbird and is always complaining about heat problems.

What kind of rumors are out there as to when these new chips and motherboards of different flavors will be available (as in actually buy) to the public? I've heard maybe July or August and but am of course anxious and want to hear sooner dates. Any good leads out there? Who else is dying to get there hands on this stuff?

ALSO - Do you think it will be possible to put a Dual MP board in a standard ATX case using a standard 300 power supply? I know the Tyan board doesn't.

Eric

 

[mpjesse]

Couple of things... AMD has officially stated that all Athlon based chipsets will work fine with the Athlon4- provided the core voltage goes low enough (and all boards do for the Duron). So, you can get a board now and it'll work fine with the Athlon4.

If you want a dual board- I'd wait till all the major manufacturers start pumping them out so there's a price war (making them cheaper). Gigabyte said their dual athlon board will only cost $200- which is pretty damn good.

The TYAN board is a bad option right now- it's REALLY expensive and requires registered DDR SDRAM DIMMs which is a pain in the ass for most ppl who already have DDR. The 760MP doesn't require that the boards have registered DIMMs- TYAN just did to boost performance a little.

Cases: a dual athlon board will fit in a mid size ATX case- however the power supply will probably have to go. Most dual boards require at least 400W P/S.

Cooling isn't a problem with the Athlon4's only with with T-birds. But, if you get a good cooler than cooling isn't a problem. I have a 800mhz t-bird OC'd to 1Ghz and it runs stable at 38C. I have the Alpha PAL6035 w/ arctic silver compound and a 38CFM Delta fan. It's noisy- but it gets the job done.

Hope I helped you out.

-MP Jesse

"Signatures Still Suck"

 

[Kelledin]

Another reason the Tyan board would be a bad option--it requires a special (non-standard) power supply. I'm still looking for pinout details so I can make a converter. :frown:

Plus, the 760MP is really just an introductory chipset. The real deal is the 760MPX, which will allow 66MHz, 64-bit PCI (the 760MP only allows 33MHz PCI, in 32-bit or 64-bit). From what I hear, Tyan is the only company that will ever manufacture a 760MP-based motherboard--everyone else will be manufacturing 760MPX-based motherboards instead.

Kelledin

"/join #hackerz. See the Web. DoS interesting people."

 

[p05esto]

Thanks for the good information guys. have you heard any estimated dates when these new 760MPX boards will be available to the public? There is always something better coming out soon but at some point you just need to buy. However in this situation I'm seeing some good products just around the corner and think I should wait a little bit.

...If I did go with a single processor solution you're saying that I could get a ASUS A7M266 board and a Athlon 4 1.2 chip and I would be living the good life right now?

Eric