Should I Buy This Multiprocessor AMD system?

Marik_Steele

<div class="IPBDescription">Question pointed to MonsE and others</div> A friend of mine who just finished his summer job was given one of their computers they were replacing. Over the phone he told me some of the stats, but he's no computer junkie like I am, so the most I know is from his less-than-full descriptions. 40 gig hard drive, 4 slots for ram with at least 256 megs already in (most likely PC100) a Diamond Viper AGP video card, a network card, Windows 2000 Server edition, and the usual other stuff.

Then things get interesting. He tells me he hasn't seen any brand name or logo on the motherboard other than "AMD." He's also telling me the motherboard is orange instead of green, and that the CPU "slides in sideways" almost like a card. When I told him to look around some more, it turns out that the CPU in there has markings that say something like "AMDK7MP850B," and there's <i>three more</i> empty slots on the motherboard that look just like the CPU slot.

Multiprocessor system. These guys just gave my barely-computer-literate friend a server.

I'm about to go to his house tomorrow to see if what I think is true, and to buy it from him if his price is right. Assuming all of the above is accurate, what price range should I be thinking? What could I use it for? (I've been thinking HL server, print server, or firewall, or possibly even linux box for any of the above.)

SoulSkorpion

Use it to play HL2. You'll need it :/

KeitaroSempai

The mobo being orange isn't unusual. My mobo is platinum colored and I've seen black and purple. So the CPU slides in sideways? Haven't seen those processors in a while. I remember Intel doing such a thing a while back. I refered to them as card CPUs as I don't know the technical name for it. I would suspect this system to be a bit old. To bring out the power of this thing (and one would probably require it to utilize some of the hardware demanding software of today) would require more processors like it, and at the same speed, but I don't think they're sold anymore (or at least as a mainstream product...might have to find someone who has them and most likely they'll be used).

I can't give you a price range, but I think you should hold back on buying this thing. You're better off building your own system for around $600.

NumbersNotFound

if they are cheap pick one up... multiCPU machines can be fun... just make a map compile bot out of it <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->

Sycophant

Most likely SlotA Athlons. Those SlotA processors are cheap nowadays (probably less than $75US each), and are usually available up to a max speed of maybe 900MHz (looks like the proc already there is an 850MHz).

While it's not a high-end server, quad 900MHz Athlons is definetly worthy of the powerhouse bragging rights. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->


As for a price range, try and haggle for under $200. The board itself would probably still retail for at least $150-$200 because of that nice four-processor feature. A used board with a processor, 256mb ram, and a 40gb drive is probably worth well over $300.