opteron dual core

[Peter Arremann]

On Tuesday 07 June 2005 17:50, Jack Howarth wrote:
>     I am in the process of building a new Linux workstation using the
> Tyan Thunder K8W (S2885) motherboard and a single dual core Model 270
> Opteron. While I know that this motherboard will support the dual
> core Opteron, I am confused about the possibility of adding a second
> Model 270. Although Tyan claims adding a second dual core Model 270
> will work, I am concerned about the 2-way description of the 2xx series
> processors. Does this refer to the 2 physical chips or what? My gut
> instinct is that this notation implies that only a single dual core
> is usable on the motherboard and that a 4-way (8xx series) processor
> would be needed to use both sockets on the motherboard. Thanks in
> advance for any clarifications.
>                     Jack

You'll be fine adding a second 270 as long as the bios supports that (which it 
should if it supports a single core)... The difference between the opteron 
models is the number of cache coherent hyper transport links. Athlon64 and 
Opteron 1xx have none - so they can't be linked with any other chips. Opteron 
2xx have 1 - which allows two physical chips (no matter of single or dual 
core) to be linked together... and then 8xx have 3 - that allows for up to 8 
physical chips... 

Depending on the model you might actually have to run two chips to use all 
available slots and ports on your board. Haven't checked the K8W, but the 
nvidia based K8WE requires 2 cpus to run all its pci express lanes.

Peter.