Date: Wed, 25 Sep 1996 15:57:28 -0700 From: erich@uruk.org To: Dayton Clark <dayton@sci.brooklyn.cuny.edu> Cc: freebsd-smp@freebsd.org Subject: Re: QuadPro Motherboard Message-ID: <199609252257.PAA16923@uruk.org> In-Reply-To: Your message of "Wed, 25 Sep 1996 10:49:00 EDT." <199609251449.KAA17618@robeson.sci.brooklyn.cuny.edu>
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Dayton Clark <dayton@sci.brooklyn.cuny.edu> writes: > We've got an attractive quote on 4CPU systems with QuadPro > motherboards which use the Orion chipset. I plan to try Freebsd-SMP > on one of them, at least for awhile. Uhh... as far as I know, no P6 motherboard will work with FreeBSD-SMP. The problem is that FreeBSD-SMP has a hard-coded value for the local APIC address, and while the Pentium has this same hard-coded limitation, the Pentium Pro does not (and in fact many systems relocate it). The MP spec has an entry for this value. Linux-SMP had the same problem before I started work on it. > o I know the Orion chipset has a bad rap. Does the B0 release fix > the problems? I/O bandwidth is not a major concern for our > applications but interprocessor communication is. Putting aside > the 4MB/sec I/O limit, are the chipset OK? The B0 is *much* nicer. I've gotten some really good performance numbers out of it. Unfortunately, it was tuned for large transactions on the I/O bus, so (I think) small transfers may not do as well as even the high-end Pentium chipsets. Natoma is clearly better for small I/O transactions. > o Any comments/experience/suggestions regarding QuadPro motherboards > in general? I've never talked to anyone who has used one, but the motherboard is probably similar to the Intel Alder motherboard (the AMI Goliath was), and it's a screamer. > o I've been searching Intel web site for their comments on the Orion > chipset. Where are they located? I think you have to get the chipset specs for that. Intel is unfortunately tight-lipped about such information about any of their chips (I think the big-company syndrome has gotten to them pretty bad). -- Erich Stefan Boleyn \_ E-mail (preferred): <erich@uruk.org> Mad Genius wanna-be, CyberMuffin \__ (finger me for other stats) Web: http://www.uruk.org/~erich/ Motto: "I'll live forever or die trying"
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