2 CPU's in one computer?

[DanielTheBest]

Hi. My friend said that you can have two CPU's in one motherboard. 

Is this true?

[Glenwing]

Yes.  Dual CPU motherboards are usually for server usage.

[Izaya Orihara]

Yeah. You will need a dual socket motherboard. Also this is no consumer electronics anymore. This is prosumer-Pro. 

[ariceneo]

Yes xeons server boards are duel CPUs some of them

[DanielTheBest]

My friend wants to get it..

How much do you think it would cost?

[Enderman]

you can have two and four cpus on the same board too

[Enderman]

My friend wants to get it..

How much do you think it would cost?

at least $800

the processors for it will cost at least $1k-3k each

really bad for gaming

this is server/workstation grade stuff only

[helping]

really bad for gaming

[EpicGeekonFire]

For desktop use no one really uses them. For servers they are just double the CPU power basically. Nothing too special. 

[WinNut]

Very possible, but it works better for workstation stuff and server usage, mainly it is for applications that need to do many things at once. Hence why CPUs for these boards tend to have a lower clock speed but shitloads of cores.

32 RAM slots. Wow.

 

You can't do this with just any CPU too, it needs to support HyperTransport, which is basically a protocol for inter-CPU communications. Do note that you can't just mount this in ANY case, it needs a balls-to-the-walls HUGE case to mount in. Notice that it only has 1 SATA connector because if you are going to spend THIS MUCH on a board you should be going for a balls-to-the-walls RAID card *cough*LSI*cough*.

 

Overall it is HORRIBLE for gaming because games aren't really optimized for that many cores but rather for fewer cores and a higher clock speed. Tell your friend that he/she would be making a grave mistake by doing this for a gaming system.Not to mention it takes up a lot of space and needs a balls-to-the-walls PSU, and every time he turns it on the lights in his house will dim slightly. 

[Ryan Leech]

My friend wants to get it..

How much do you think it would cost?

The gaming performance would be the same as a $100 i3...

[alpenwasser]

Yes, as said there do exist boards which have multiple sockets for using

several CPUs on the same board. For example, this is mine:

However, these boards are usually intended for serious workstations (say,

CAD/CAM, rendering, simulations, etc.), or for servers, and as such come

with a corresponding price tag (several hundred dollars for most of the

current-gen boards).

Also, you cannot use normal consumer CPUs in these boards, you need special

CPUs that are built to be run together on one board. These CPUs can be very

expensive (up to and beyond USD 2000 per piece).

You will only really see any benefits over a single-socket setup in software

that us heavily threaded and can make serious use of parallel-processing.

Things like games and most consumer applications will not be faster, so in

most cases a setup like this is an utter (albeit awesome ) waste of money.

So, the primary question your friend needs to answer is: What will the

machine be used for?

[RubyRoks]

if all he's doing is gaming, there's no point...
just get an I5 on a decent board

[WinNut]

That bare SB tho...

 

I think I have OCD because that bare SB is driving me batshit crazy. It requires a heatsink and must be covered NOW.

[Enderman]

That bare SB tho...

 

I think I have OCD because that bare SB is driving me batshit crazy. It requires a heatsink and must be covered NOW.

hes probably liquid cooling it

thats why its missing the heatsink

[Glenwing]

$500 for one of the more basic boards.  The CPUs must be identical and start at $200 each for the lowest end ones but there is no point unless you are going to get the $1K+ CPUs.  With the cheaper ones, a single more powerful processor will give much better performance and efficiency, and reliability.  And even then, it is only good for certain tasks (see: enterprise-grade server).  Even if you get a $700 board and 2x $3000 CPUs, it will give worse performance than a $250 single-CPU board and a $500 i7-4930K in gaming for example.

[LifesCompanion]

Let's be realistic while having some fun: 
There's this: 

ASUS LGA2011 Intel C602 DDR3 1600 SATA III Motherboard Z9PE-D8 WS - which costs $600 MSRP. 

Intel Xeon E5-2687W - which costs $3500 MSRP (total price would be $7000 since you're buying 2) 

 

Now for the RAM and GPU:

I can't seem to find and good ECC RAM (I'll edit it in later) 

For the GPU, since you seem to be not giving a fuck, let's go with dual Titan Z's - $3000 a piece, so $7000 subtotal.

 

So, in conclusion, you'll be spending around $30K; good luck

 

[smokincola]

Yeah better to go dual (or quad) core (effectively 2 or 4 cpus in one socket), than going dual socket with two physical cpus.

[alpenwasser]

That bare SB tho...

 

I think I have OCD because that bare SB is driving me batshit crazy. It requires a heatsink and must be covered NOW.

 

 

hes probably liquid cooling it

thats why its missing the heatsink

 

Yes indeed. It was dismantled for painting the PCIe slots, RAM slots, the caps and some

other bits, and then it was equipped with some MIPS waterblocks:

 

Here's a link to the build log #shamelessselfpromotion

And yes, this build is turning out to be not at all cheap, and it certainly

won't be used for gaming.

 

EDIT:

Small side note: It would be absolutely impossible to run this baby without

active cooling, the NF200 chips and the 5520 chipset all get very hot.

/EDIT

 

$500 for one of the more basic boards.  The CPUs must be identical and start at $200 each for the lowest end ones but there is no point unless you are going to get the $1K+ CPUs.  With the cheaper ones, a single more powerful processor will give much better performance and efficiency, and reliability.  And even then, it is only good for certain tasks (see: enterprise-grade server).  Even if you get a $700 board and 2x $3000 CPUs, it will give worse performance than a $250 single-CPU board and a $500 i7-4930K in gaming for example.

^This.

Edited March 30, 2014 by alpenwasser

[Createinator]

The only known Dual CPU configuration great for gaming would be the Legendary Intel Skulltrail ~ now if you could find an Intel D5400XS Desktop Board, an E-ATX ready Cabinet with two LGA 771 Core 2 Extreme QX975, 800 Mhz FBDIMM and a pair of cool PCIe Gen 2.0 x16 graphic cards ~ you could make a smoking hot dual cpu gaming rig which will be ahead of its time in 2008 and still perform worse than an i5 4670K running on integrated graphics at more than 4 times the price! Go for it mate!

[LifesCompanion]

 

 

 

Yes indeed. It was dismantled for painting the PCIe slots, RAM slots, the caps and some

other bits, and then it was equipped with some MIPS waterblocks:

 

Here's a link to the build log #shamelessselfpromotion

-snip/notreallyimportant- 

 

I think I peed myself a little #NOTEVENJELLY

[alpenwasser]

I think I peed myself a little #NOTEVENJELLY

Well, it's still not done yet, so you still have more to look forward to should you

feel so inclined.

Anyway, ontopic: One more thing: Most of the dual-CPU boards I'm aware of do not

support SLI, so you couldn't run a multi-GPU setup on them. Supermicro makes one

board which does support SLI if I recall correctly, but only dual SLI I think (and again,

cost/performance for gaming would be miserable).

 

Multi-CPU setups do have their uses and justifications, no doubt, but just be aware

that most of those applications are not things a normal consumer would ever do.

If your friend really does have a use for it, then great, but I don't recommend getting

a dual-CPU setup just because it looks awesome (unless your friend is like a

millionaire or something like that, then he should feel free to stimulate the economy

a bit ).

[piggykid1]

Yes on a dual or quad (I don't know if it goes higher than that) socket mother board. Not a typical consumer motherboard they are mostly used for servers. 

Not sure how much they cost, but I can tell you they are more expensive than regular motherboard.

[Enderman]

 

 

 

Yes indeed. It was dismantled for painting the PCIe slots, RAM slots, the caps and some

other bits, and then it was equipped with some MIPS waterblocks:

 

Here's a link to the build log #shamelessselfpromotion

And yes, this build is turning out to be not at all cheap, and it certainly

won't be used for gaming.

 

EDIT:

Small side note: It would be absolutely impossible to run this baby without

active cooling, the NF200 chips and the 5520 chipset all get very hot.

/EDIT

 

^This.

nice

i wish i could afford something like that

even if it sucks for gaming

 

im a pc enthusiast, not a gamer, which not too many people understand

[alpenwasser]

nice

i wish i could afford something like that

even if it sucks for gaming

 

im a pc enthusiast, not a gamer, which not too many people understand

Well, it's not so much that it sucks for gaming (the Westmere hexacores are still

pretty powerful CPUs, at least the higher-clocked ones such as mine), it's just that

they're

a ) not the best solution for gaming and

b ) way too expensive compared to things that are going to perform better.

But the machine would still be a pretty nice gaming system if I wanted to use it for

that. As for the money: Yeah, I've been saving up for and working on this for about

three years now, patience and persistence are absolutely necessary for me. I still

go to college and can't really work much, so getting the money is always a bit of a

mix between being patient, frugal in other aspects of my life and doing the odd small

job here and there to get some income (and being on the lookout for some good deals).

And very valid point: A PC enthusiast is not necessarily a gamer, and vice versa.

Many people kinda forget about that often and just lump the two groups into one,

since most of the high-end setups we see around on forums are probable gaming-oriented

at least to some degree. But it's not the same. I'm also not really a gamer anymore,

have found other things I can do with PCs that interest me.