|
Symmetric MultiProcessing (SMP) systems are becoming more and more mainstream. Aside from dual core processors, there is still the
entire genre of true multiprocessor platforms geared primarily towards the server and workstation market. In the Intel camp, this field is dominated by Xeon processsors, however, there are some design and functional limitations stemming from a single core design and its adaptation to SMP functionality.
One of the major forte's of the Athlon64 CPU family has been from the beginning that the entire CPU was designed with clustering in mind. Interconnects between multiple processors using lightning fast data transport for the exchange of Bytes and a combined memory space with individual subdivisions into nodes are the architectural basis of a design not adapted to but optimized from the very beginning for SMP.
It still appears that one of the main problems AMD has been facing in the past, that is, great processors hampered by the lack of chipset support still rears its head, existing platforms are somewhat stale, bordering on obsolete technology. This is where nVidia's nForce4 Professional core logic aims to fill the void. Currently, less than a handful of boards are out there but we have secured one of them, namely the ASUS K8N-DL and run it through the paces. Several BIOS revisions later, we are still not quite where we want to be ...
|
RSS Newsletter