3.2.3 AMD K6

memory capacity
memory type
disk interface
required interface slots
Currently the choice of processor is likely to be the Intel PentiumII or the DEC Alpha 21164. In the near future, the AMD K7, the DEC Alpha 21264, or the Intel Merced may be the likely candidates. In most cases, a different motherboard is required for each choice. Clock speeds for processors of interest range from 350 MHz to over 500 MHz and the selected motherboard must support the desired speed. Motherboards containing multiple processors in symmetric multiprocessor (SMP) configurations are available, adding to the diversity of choices. Nodes for compute intensive problems often require large memory capacity with high bandwidth. Motherboards have a limited number of memory slots, and memory modules have a maximum size. Together, these will determine the memory capacity of your system. Memory bandwidth is a product of the width and speed of the system memory bus. The Intel SE440BX motherboard discussed below has a 64 bit wide, 100 MHz memory bus. In practice, it can deliver about 600 MBytes per second from memory to processors. The Alpha PC164SX and PC164LX motherboards have 128 bit wide, 100 MHz buses. A PCI bus for peripherals is almost universal, but motherboards supporting double speed (66 MHz) PCI and PCI-2 are becoming available.
While there is more than one choice of the type of memory including conventional DRAM, EDO RAM, and SDRAM, SDRAM currently provides the highest bandwidth and motherboards should be selected that support it. The two disk interfaces in common use are EIDE and SCSI. Both are good with the former somewhat cheaper and the latter slightly faster under certain conditions. Most motherboards come with EIDE interfaces built-in and some include a SCSI interface as well, which can be convenient and cost-effective if you choose to use SCSI. On the other hand, separate SCSI controllers may offer more flexibility and options. Motherboards have a fixed number of PCI and ISA slots, and it is important to select one with enough slots to meet your needs. This is rarely a consideration in Beowulf compute nodes, but can become an issue in a system providing I/O services.
3.3.3 Layout of Major Components
Motherboards have evolved in physical shape and layout as hardware integration has improved, clock speeds increased, and resource requirements changed, but the general size and shape, or the form factor, of the motherboard PC cards have

 



How to Build a Beowulf
How to Build a Beowulf: A Guide to the Implementation and Application of PC Clusters (Scientific and Engineering Computation)
ISBN: 026269218X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 1999
Pages: 134

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