Date: Wed, 15 Sep 1999 22:20:38 -0700 (PDT) From: "Rodney W. Grimes" <freebsd@gndrsh.dnsmgr.net> To: dg@root.com Cc: neil@synthcom.com (Neil Bradley), freebsd-smp@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Quad-PIII...exists? Message-ID: <199909160520.WAA42461@gndrsh.dnsmgr.net> In-Reply-To: <199909160119.SAA12057@implode.root.com> from David Greenman at "Sep 15, 1999 06:19:13 pm"
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> >> >> > ASUS doesn't make a dual-PIII motherboard yet, and IBM has a > >> >> > Quad-PIII server...but IBM is over-priced, IMHO... > >> >> > >> >> For dual PIII, go for the Supermicro. I've found so many marginal hardware > >> >> problems with Tyan and Asus that I'd never consider them again. I've had > >> >> excellent luck with all of my Supermicro boards. I don't know if they make > >> >> quad boards (though they'd be expensive no matter where you get them > >> >> from), but they make a line of very solid dual CPU motherboards. > >> > > >> >Humm... and my experience here is similiar, but in the opposite direction, > >> >I won't touch a Supermicro or Tyan board, but ASUS has been rock solid > >> >for us, sans occasional problems with BIOS code. > >> > >> ...and while we're all saying conflicting things, I've had *zero* problems > >> with SMP Tyan motherboards (and we're talking sample size >50 motherboards). > > > >You call $10K worth of returned memory 0 problems.... :-) > > It was the wrong type of memory for that amount of chip loading for > that (Intel) chipset. It had nothing to do with the specific motherboard. It was a lack of adequate documentation on Tyan's part to not clearly identify that you must have registered dimms when the DIMM size is >256MB. I also seem to recall you saying that even once you got registered DIMMS you still had problems, though not as often, and only when running with 4 slots populated. Not matter how you put it this was a problem, maybe not for you, but certainly for me. I also have problems with a motherboard manufacture who says you must use one of these ``qualified by us'' memory products in our boards or all beats are off. That is design quality through post product design testing, not a good model to follow. Component data sheets exists for a reason. > I've had no problems with those systems or any others that I've built > when using the correct memory. That conflicts with data you have given me in the past. I also will not use any data that says *zero* problems, it means either the sample size is too small (50 is a very small sample in this business) or somehow the data is being filtered so that all the facts are not present. Especially when data to the contrary is avaliable. Also I was not talking about post production product problems, if people like you and myself do our jobs right those should be religated down to the ``field device failure'' class of reliability issues, something we classify completely seperately from ``problems''. Things like having to flash the BIOS because it won't deal with your new fangled PIII chip, but you can't flash the BIOS because it won't boot properly and you don't have an old fangled PII chip just laying around handy, that I consider a ``problem''. Though we really like ASUS for the high end and Soltek for the low end, I admit that we have had _some_ problems with both of them, we have even experienced memory problem very much like the ones you did, though it did not require going to registered DIMMS to solve it. Now where was that setting in the Tyan board to cause AC Power Loss autorestart??? Thats another thing I consider a ``problem'', you a technical oriented person and even you couldn't find it for a long time. Want the funnest one I have had lately with ASUS, well, they went to this ``jumperFree'' design, well, okay, they call it that, but there are still 2 jumpers and 10 DIP switches on the board. Anyway, if you happen to power the system down during POST next time you power it up it drops you into the BIOS setup as it thinks the CPU is set wrong. Well, this doesn't go over very well when you have remote machines on UPS that occasionally have power outages longer than the UPS can hold things up and then the power bounces a few times. I've gone to disabling the jumperFree mode and nail the board settings down. Is this a problem one of our custmers well ever see again, probobably not, is it a problem for someone else buying an ASUS board, well, yes, unless they have happend to read this :-). -- Rod Grimes - KD7CAX - (RWG25) rgrimes@gndrsh.dnsmgr.net To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-smp" in the body of the message
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