Thanks for the info! The SGI 540 was an already built pc.

luckybob wrote:

yea a quad slot 2 is something even I would hesitate to build. And I really get my rocks off on these server boards. Mostly because getting all the parts is highly difficult, and would be extremely expensive as these boards require special chassis. Do I WANT a Supermicro S2QR6? Oh hell yes. But unless it comes with memory board, and case LOCALLY I don't think I'll ever own one. Shipping a beast of that size and weight would EASILY be $100+. Something I can spend elsewhere.

Old ibm rack mount slot2 system would be common in places like old schools and work places. I went to night school for a few server and advance networking/sec classes back in 09 and we got to play with a few quad slot 2 systems. I was told it was their old school servers that they repurposed them for classes. I think they ended up giving them away the year after I took the class. I'm sure you could pick up a full system from an ewast site, school or workplace.

There are some cheap IBM Intellistation M Pro (03N2499) dual slot 1 motherboards out there. AGP, PCI and one ISA!

Avoid OEM boards at all costs imho. This was a time where they would use non-standard parts to screw with you.

luckybob wrote:

Avoid OEM boards at all costs imho. This was a time where they would use non-standard parts to screw with you.

Even for 20£ ? PSU for them are cheap if an standard cant be used.

I would never use them. Even for free. Too many bad experiences.

luckybob wrote:

Avoid OEM boards at all costs imho. This was a time where they would use non-standard parts to screw with you.

They still do!!! Cough cough Dell HP

OK, one more reason OEM boards are best avoided: hard to find complete, useful documentation. They're not in the business of making those things public.

Industrial workstation/server boards: Intel/TYAN/SuperMicro/DFI

Well, until I get an SGI 540 Workstation PC, are Slot 2 boards hard to find?

Jupiter-18 wrote:

Well, until I get an SGI 540 Workstation PC, are Slot 2 boards hard to find?

like finding a virgin in a whore house.

I see... Well, back to slot 1.
What is the optimal chipset for a dual slot 1 board?

440BX (or GX if you can find one)

for this build, if you are making a cad machine, get the intel OR840. Otherwise anything with a 440BX.

Scraphoarder wrote:

There are some cheap IBM Intellistation M Pro (03N2499) dual slot 1 motherboards out there. AGP, PCI and one ISA!

IBM_Intellistation.jpg

I have one of those boards. In fact I just got it out to compare with the picture and it looks like an exact match. Mine came out of an old M Pro Type 6889 440BX workstation. I upgraded the owner's system while reusing the IBM case, so I just have the bare board now.
I wrote a longer post about it here:
IBM Intellistation M Pro 440BX dual slot-1 board (03N2499)

The motherboard and case are EATX and it uses an ATX power supply. The quality is excellent, but the main hassle with these boards (like most OEM boards) is that they have nonstandard front panel connections that you'd have to rig up some way of using.

Major limitation - the BIOS refuses to run with anything later than a Katmai. My board supported Coppermine voltages but when I tried using them, the BIOS displays an error message stating that the CPU is unsupported and refuses to boot any further. Maybe it's possible to hack the BIOS to get around that, but the chip is totally not replaceable so that would be a pretty dangerous thing to experiment with.

It's a very well built board but the front panel wiring issue is the main downside. Katmai limitation may suck depending how fast you want it to go.

I haven't really looked but I think the easiest way to get a Slot-2 would be by buying an entire assembled brand name workstation. This adds a lot of shipping cost however unless you get lucky and find somebody nearby. The boards in these machines most likely won't integrate easily with a generic case so you'd probably want the whole assembly.
PCI-only server boards with ServerWorks chipsets are probably easier to find, but it sounds like you'd want an AGP slot and an Intel 440GX.

Back when I bought one it was easy to find Intellistation Z Pro and HP Kayak XW slot-2 machines on eBay, but that was a really long time ago.

I know I said no to OEMs. But a complete HP Kayak system is pretty damn neat. You have to get one complete, and it will have proprietary parts, but they are spiffy looking.

Just be sure to check eBay daily so you don't miss out as build worthy slot 2 boards/systems rarely come along these days and have lube on hand as the price usually isn't cheap unless you get really lucky but who knows you might get it easy. This looks to be a good time to buy as the competition on eBay is dyeing down am but don't know how long that will last.

If an OEM dont scare you away you could get a Compaq Professional Workstation SP700. Its a dual slot 2 with AGP.
I found one on eBay two days ago and got it for £33 included shipping from UK to Norway and thats ok with me.
Dont know anything about whats inside it, so i consider it as an easter egg 😊
Just make an offer to the seller. They want to clear inventory with enterprise grade parts.

Scraphoarder wrote:

If an OEM dont scare you away you could get a Compaq Professional Workstation SP700.

It's based on a double ServerSet II LE chipset with AGP. Intergraph had a similar workstation: the TDZ 2000 GT1, but it's a Slot 1 system.

shamino wrote:

Scraphoarder wrote:

It's a very well built board but the front panel wiring issue is the main downside. Katmai limitation may suck depending how fast you want it to go.

Most server cases from the time will have a front panel like that. I bought a Intel server case not long ago and has to rewire the front panel for a run of the mill mobo. Sucks I can't use the hardware monitoring lights with a run of the mill mobo but wiring is simple.

If you haven't given up on the dual slot2 idea, there is a dual slot2 motherboard (Asus XG-DLS) freshly posted on Amibay in the "other hardware" subforum that nobody has claimed yet.