A few more pics!

Thats a killer system , Athlon XP (or MP in this case) was a great CPU , and 2 CPUs are always better than one 😜

2 suggestions I would make for improvement.

1) get an Audigy2 sound card, that way you get EAX4 and some nice sound quality
2) provided your PSU is good enough , a slightly better graphics card like a GF6800 or Radeon X800 would fit this system very well , you're not going to miss anything compatibility wise , and games like Far Cry or Doom3 for instance will run significantly better (with a single Athlon XP 2800 , a GF6800 GT can achieve 60fps on Doom3 , and thats with high detail at 1600X1200).

Thanks!

I actually do have an hd3850 AGP card that I was contemplating putting in there. I went for the 9700pro as I used to have that card back in the day so it was more for nostalgia reasons. Other than the 2nd CPU, this setup pretty much mirrors my main rig from like 2001-2004 (that was a 2500+ Barton). But also, I thought it may be pushing it with the PSU. It is an antec true 330 which is a quality supply with good 5v ratings (definitely need that with dual athlons). I chose it because it is one of two PSUs I have that include a 6pin power connector that this board needs. The other PSU is a bit beefier but the 4 pin connector's clasp is broken and it comes out of the motherboard connector too easily 🙁

I'll think about it and maybe give the 3850 a whirl!

I'll look into the sound card as well. This is what I had on hand and it works but I'm always up for an upgrade 😊

I'm curious how much that 2nd CPU helps. Is it possible to run any benchmarks with 1 vs 2 CPUs?

Nice build,i can drool on it 🤣

Yep. I'll try to run some benches the next few days. I know there are only a few games that take advantage of SMP. So for most games not much at all. But I do think the system is overall snappier and quicker when multitasking than my other Athlon XP board/CPU combos. One is a mobile 2400+ clocked at 2.3ghz and the other is a 2400+ with a 133 bus clocked at the default 2.0 ghz. I think the 3850 that I mentioned might be the best match with the overclocked mobile chip...as an added bonus that other board has SATA.

rein_ein wrote:

Nice build,i can drool on it 🤣

Thanks!

I really like it as well. Seems rock stable too... I've been running a lot of stress tests and haven't had an issue yet.

petro89 wrote:

Thanks! […]
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Thanks!

I actually do have an hd3850 AGP card that I was contemplating putting in there. I went for the 9700pro as I used to have that card back in the day so it was more for nostalgia reasons. Other than the 2nd CPU, this setup pretty much mirrors my main rig from like 2001-2004 (that was a 2500+ Barton). But also, I thought it may be pushing it with the PSU. It is an antec true 330 which is a quality supply with good 5v ratings (definitely need that with dual athlons). I chose it because it is one of two PSUs I have that include a 6pin power connector that this board needs. The other PSU is a bit beefier but the 4 pin connector's clasp is broken and it comes out of the motherboard connector too easily 🙁

I'll think about it and maybe give the 3850 a whirl!

I'll look into the sound card as well. This is what I had on hand and it works but I'm always up for an upgrade 😊

that hd3850 may well be too much for that power supply, in fact, 330w sounds kind of low for dual athlons (Athlons could be quite demanding in that respect).

for a single Athlon it would be ok , but its cutting it with 330w for SMP.

petro89 wrote:

... It is an antec true 330 which is a quality supply with good 5v ratings ...

I'll just leave this here: PSU - bust the myth.

I remember a popular use for dual CPU systems back in the day was to run the dedicated server in parallel with the game client. Pretty much the only threaded game engines at the time were all Q3 derived.

I only used the 760MPX chipset for compute jobs. Be interesting to see how well it does with graphics.

TELVM wrote:

petro89 wrote:

... It is an antec true 330 which is a quality supply with good 5v ratings ...

I'll just leave this here: PSU - bust the myth.

http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=838
http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=12742
.

Wow. Thanks. I've had a few of these through the years without a single issue but I may have to do some contemplating. Maybe I'll see if I can find a different PSU that has all the connectors I need. That way I can feel a little better about the long-term survival of this setup...and maybe use the 3850 after all. Win-Win!! 🤣

gdjacobs wrote:

I remember a popular use for dual CPU systems back in the day was to run the dedicated server in parallel with the game client. Pretty much the only threaded game engines at the time were all Q3 derived.

I only used the 760MPX chipset for compute jobs. Be interesting to see how well it does with graphics.

So far so good. My goal was to run some of the games from the late 90s through maybe 2002/2003 at 1600x1200 with most/all of the eye candy turned up. Quake 3, UT, Deus EX, Dungeon Siege 2 are all wonderful so far. Gotta try Morrowwind as well. After I get that DVD drive I can try UT2003 and some others, and I'll look into a better PSU and sound card possibly.

Thanks!

Nice build, I'm doing a similar build (slowly) with the same motherboard, 2100 MPs (for now), and an HD3650. Have the same coolers as you though, they are insanely loud - do you find the same? I'm looking for quieter solutions at the moment be good to know if you have any suggestions 😁

JidaiGeki wrote:

Nice build, I'm doing a similar build (slowly) with the same motherboard, 2100 MPs (for now), and an HD3650. Have the same coolers as you though, they are insanely loud - do you find the same? I'm looking for quieter solutions at the moment be good to know if you have any suggestions 😁

Funny you say that. I actually had a different pair originally that we're horrendously loud (startech I believe). I swapped them for these which are much quieter. I also have the system in a cabinet. So it may just be relative since the first ones were much worse, but I don't think these are that bad. Also with that case having two side panels without openings, I can't say that I hear it any more than any other system/fans I've used.

Darkman wrote:

Thats a killer system , Athlon XP (or MP in this case) was a great CPU , and 2 CPUs are always better than one :P […]
Show full quote

Thats a killer system , Athlon XP (or MP in this case) was a great CPU , and 2 CPUs are always better than one 😜

2 suggestions I would make for improvement.

1) get an Audigy2 sound card, that way you get EAX4 and some nice sound quality
2) provided your PSU is good enough , a slightly better graphics card like a GF6800 or Radeon X800 would fit this system very well , you're not going to miss anything compatibility wise , and games like Far Cry or Doom3 for instance will run significantly better (with a single Athlon XP 2800 , a GF6800 GT can achieve 60fps on Doom3 , and thats with high detail at 1600X1200).

I took your advice on the sound card after I realized that although this one worked ok i could hear crackling occasionally. Got a pair of audigy 2 zs cards for cheap and put one in this system and one in my opteron. So far so good! I think I've found my go-to sound card for win2k-Xp builds.

I thought about the 3850 but then realized that there are no win2k drivers. So I'm sticking with the 9700pro in this rig and I'll leave the 3850 aside for the XP-M system I plan on putting XP on.

Thanks again for the reply!

Audigy 2 ZS is a brilliant card. Drivers are much nicer then earlier creative cards and while the Audigy 4 is the last official card with Win9x/2k support there isn't much difference and the 4's are no where as easy to find.

And gotta love those Duel CPU rigs!

The Audigy 2 ZS works in Windows 98?

chinny22 wrote:

Audigy 2 ZS is a brilliant card. Drivers are much nicer then earlier creative cards and while the Audigy 4 is the last official card with Win9x/2k support there isn't much difference and the 4's are no where as easy to find.

And gotta love those Duel CPU rigs!

How's the resampling for 44.1khz PCM playback compared to other cards you know?