help my build new workstation... ( 4 xeons in hands ).

[jeremie]

Ok there is the deal, i have 4 ( socket 604 ) Xeons in hands ( 3.06 and 2.4 ghz ), 4 gig of ram and a quadro fx 4000 agp. what can i do to "recycle" them?
I may want to build a worskstation + a render/server node for a redcode workflow and some compositing jobs, oh and the server/render should be good to work with a Scratch workstation...

Any advice ? should i go tyan ? supermicro? ( have 2 pc-dl deluxe too... ), well you understood me i don't want to throw them in the garbage :) But i m a little noob in the server/rack/raid/ building thing. Are they too old, can i make a fibre Raid 3 server with those ? well any advice is welcome :)

PS : sorry for the crappy english

[Jeff Kilgroe]

How many 3.06GHz and how many 2.4GHz? I wouldn't advise using them in the same system. If they have mis-matched FSBs, then definitely not.

My advice: Sell the CPUs on ebay and start fresh.

Or if you really think you must use them, then I would probably look to doing two separate systems because of the different CPUs. Tyan and SuperMicro are both good and I would recommend either. I've had a bit better reliability over the years with SuperMicro and their server-oriented mainboards. So I would probably steer you in that direction if you intend to build a server that will be on all the time.

[Mike McCarthy]

Those are pretty old, but they might be useful if you plan to convert lots of footage, say from r3d to dpx, or whatever. It will be a bit more difficult to find need parts, because those CPUs are over 4 years old. I don't have any specific motherboard reccommendations for you, but I doubt you will find any PCIe solutions. A 1U or 2U formfactor rackmount case would probably be a good idea. Using them for serving a raid is probably a bad idea if you are looking for fibre level performance. The only output would be gig ethernet, which will be slow. One system might be put to good use as a Metadata controller for a shared SAN if you are leaning that direction. I have a few 1U systems from that same Xeon series and rarely make full use of them.

The only motherboard I can find that should work is this:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...uctCode=241983
No AGP for your Quadro4000, and few slots, but okay for a render station.

One thing you will want to consider is that a single Core2Duo chip at 2.4-2.6GHz will have more power than your 3.06Ghz Xeon Pair, and the motherboard will be MUCH cheaper. The cost of the parts to use the items you have might exceed the cost of building an equivalent system from scratch using newer components. Consumer Core2 system will have equal power for MOST things. Power, heat and noisewill be much lower on newer systems.

Updated: Jeff's ebay idea is my recommendation as well. And never use CPUs together that aren't paired, regardless of speeds.

[jeremie]

ok great advices :) it's actually two 3.06 and two 2.4ghz, i might keep the two pc-dl deluxe and make them only render node for compositing and 3d applications? or as you says render power for converting stuff?

Maybe a new workstation with new cpu and new mobo ( with an agp slot for the quadro ) and the two pairs of xeons as two render node.
Any new advice on this path?

thx :)

[Mike McCarthy]

The there is no way around the fact that AGP is old. It the current motherboard you have supports AGP, great. No newer Xeon motherboard will. The next generation was when they switched to PCIe x16 (800Mhz FSB Nocona Cores) The Quadro 4000 is equivalent to the Geforce 6800 Ultra, and the newer gen-8 series cards (including Quadro 4600 & 5600) cards are at least 10 times faster. If you want to use the VGA card, it will need to be with your current CPUs, but if your MB doesn't have AGP, buying a new one probably not worth it. I know it is rough with all of this old high end equipment, but the speed of new consumer gear makes it difficult to justify paying for the infrastructure to support the older stuff that is now slower.

[jeremie]

ok then well screw the quadro :) so making those xeons render nodes for 3d stuff and converting, can i keep the pc-dl deluxe as motherboards or go the server way? what kind of rack is compatible? Thx and sorry for all those questions but total noob in this area.

thx :)

edit : im not sure but i think the 2.4 are nocona...

[Mike McCarthy]

The PC DL Deluxe is a unique MB, and should work fine for you, and it even has an AGP slot for your Quadro. You just need a full sized ATX case and some RAM and drives. Verify what socket your 2.4's need, since Nocona is a totally different generation, and requires different Chipset etc. Since you have that MB, I would pass on the rackmount case unless you specifically need that formfactor.