> That would work out well for me.... is this DDR2 supported CPU? If I > bought a high end board now, like the ASUS P5E WS PRO > would it support the new CPU, probably not without a BIOS flash, > which can't be done without a modern CPU, which is kind of a catch 22 > if you have old stuff. >
The CPU doesn't have an integrated memory controller, so it's entirely up to the chipset. Since you're looking at a 3-series or 4-series chipset, and each of them support both DDR2 and DDR3 (and most manufacturers have designs for each or even both on the same board), you're set on the memory. As for the motherboard, I think you're probably fine there too. The P5E WS Pro has supported the 45nm QC's since BIOS 0404, which looks like it was from Dec/Jan. Boards shipping now should have that revision or later. Even if not, you can get a dirt cheap Celeron 420 for $30 for flashing purposes. > > >Understood, but I wouldn't ever spend the money to upgrade a 2.8 to a > >3.06--not only is it not worth the money, it isn't worth the time, > >especially late in the product's life. :) > > I disagree here. If you running a server on a business that is > lagging a bit and you can upgrade your CPU RAM and hard drive and get > results that keep you going for another 2 to 4 years, then that is a > significant savings in all sorts of real world ways. This is why end > model production runs for CPU command a high price in the used market. > > I dunno. Some of the older servers under my control could be upgraded--but we won't spend the time or money to do it when the more logical solution is replace the entire server. I think if a business is so cash strapped that they can't replace an old, overloaded, likely out-of-warranty box with something new, upgrading to a CPU that's 9% faster isn't going to help. If you were going from, say, a 2.6GHz to a 3.6GHz, almost a 40% increase in clock speed, that's one thing. 2.8 to 3.06 is an absolute waste though. Even on a significant upgrade of CPU, RAM, and disk, as you propose, I think I'd rather suffer through it for a while until I can just replace the whole box. I can't think of the last time we did any meaningful server hardware upgrade aside from perhaps a FC HBA or something. Just differences in operating processes, I suppose. We won't use anything not under warranty for production purposes, which means typically a 3 year maximum lifespan for the hardware anyway. Greg
