On Wed, 08 Mar 2000, you wrote:
> This probably isn't, strictly speaking, the right place to post this, but
> I trust the opinions and expertise of the people on this list more than
> the collective wisdom of most of Usenet.
>
> Now, having got your attention in the nicest possible way... :-)
>
> I'm planning to upgrade my machine at home this summer. It's currently
> running mdk-6.1 without any problems at all. My plan is to install an ABIT
> BP-6 motherboard and 2 Celeron 500 processors. I'm sure I've read
> somewhere that if I were to do this with (for example) dual Pentium II
> CPU's, I'd have to be careful to buy processors with the same stepping
> level (whatever that is - I just read it, I don't necessarily understand
> it!!) Does this apply to Celeron CPU's?
>
> Is anybody in here using a BP-6 motherboard? Any horror stories to tell,
> or even any praises to sing?
>
> As a relative 'newbie' as far as SMP is concerned, is there anything
> lurking in the shadows which might trip up the unwary?
>
> Thanks for your indulgence!
>
> --
> Phil Edwards
> Technical Specialist
> ==========================================================================
> Travellog Systems Phone +44 (0)1444 459016
> The Priory, Haywards Heath Fax +44 (0)1444 456655
> West Sussex, RH16 3LB mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> United Kingdom http://www.travellog.co.uk
> ==========================================================================
Well, recently manufactured Celeron Processors have the multiprocessor pins
disconnected instead of disabled. So they will not work in a multiprocessor
configuration despite ABIT's ingenious workaround of the disabling.
I would suggest you look at www.computernerd.com. They sell kits with ABIT BP6
and dual Celerons that actually work. Most of theirs are the 66MHz bus type.
As you know the earlier Celerons were all rated for 66MHz bus and the internal
clock multiplier was locked. In other words, if you ran a Celeron 300A on a
66MHz bus, you ran at 4.5x bus speed or 300MHz. If you ran it on a 100MHz
front-side bus, you ran at 4.5x bus speed or 450MHz.
www.computernerd.com tests Celerons for bus-based overclocking and warranties
their processors for 3 years (using their coolers). For example you can buy
366 dual Celerons rated to run on 66, 75, 83 or 100MHz front side buses. The
100MHz version of course produces a dual running at 550MHz for each processor.
The Celeron with its 128K Cache running at full processor speed matches, for all
practical purposes, the speed of the Pentium II with its 512K Cache which
clocks at half processor speed, provided the bus speeds are the same. So an
overclocked Celeron 300A duplicates the performance of a Pentium II 450 on a
100MHz bus. Moreover, the number of 300As that could be reliably overclocked
in this manner was amazingly high. I never found one that wouldn't. 366 to
550 was a bit more of a leap and not all will do it.
It is unsurprising that Intel sought other ways of artificailly
crippling something they had produced as a "downgrade, entry-level, el cheapo
to compete with the K6" which could actually match their flagship. First the
multiprocessor pins were produced "disabled" then they were removed altogether,
because ABIT and some others proved too clever in working around the original
scheme.
Before Mandrake7.0-2 there would have been some configuration fun for the ide
buses on the BP6. It had the Ultra-ATA 66 on the second IDE channel, IIRC.
With Mandrake 7, though, that is no problem. I have a rig booting from the MBR
of /dev/hdc running Mandrake 7.
Now the only other issue is the SMP kernel. That issue is another story and can still
be considered one of the blacker
arts, like configuring sendmail with no accessory tools to help you. Almost
always, it can be accomplished with perseverence and BIOS upgrades, on machines
more recent than Pentium Pros, at least, but it is sufficiently challenging in
some circumstances to give you a warm sense of achievement when you see the
login prompt.
Civileme
