Xeon Processors and Multi CPU boards

oki, so here is the lowdown... i have managed to find the perfect motherboard and computer system to build... however its basically a server board with 4 CPU slots for XEON ++++++ type chips and each CPU has up to 8 slots for RAM up to 4Gb each slot.

so, what is the problem here....? the problem is that Windows XP only allows dual CPU motherboards and i beleive the hardware is really only for servers and server OS systems.

yes, i do run more things than just guildwars which include video production and music production. what i need is a full on / off the planet server type machine that i can run desktop applications for. i don;t have a copy of Advanced Server etc. etc to test if my programs or games work on it, but i am pretty sure they don;t. can anyone lead me in the right direction here in terms of kick ass and use-ability.

system requirements;

multi CPU motherboard
up to 64Gb RAM (or more)
multi core chips on each CPU
extreme FSB or no FSB as AMD would have it (i prefer the memory talking directly to the RAM)
ability to use 2-4 SLI GeForce or similar ATI cards.

i am willing to spend anywhere from $5K up to $10K on this computer for my super computer needs.

---- btw--- is this too much?

As far as I know (and checked) there is no server-board out there that supports anything more than a single PCIe x16. Even those who do have one onboard, they only allow x8 cards on it.
So "bye-bye Cansas" on that SLI/Crossfire dream.

You are willing to spend $10K on a machine and you don't want to spend a few $ for an appropriate OS for it ? Weird.

Anyway, good luck on your quest for the ultimate server-desktop PC

"btw - is this too much?"


good gravy, too much of what? too much computer??? heck yes, I can't imagine why you would need that much computing power.... that's not a desktop..... it's a Death Star straight from "The Empire Strikes Back" lol

The Death Star wasn't in "The Empire Strikes Back" Elder... LOL! *slaps sense into Elder*

Aside from that canon blunder!

Yes, that PC is ENTIRELY too much. There are server boards that support SLi, but you don't want a server/workstation setup for gaming. TRUST ME. I operate a workstation for simulations that I utilize for work. My workstation is very powerful, yet... it is not that great at gaming (it can game, don't get me wrong, but not as well as a desktop)


What kind of budget are you dealing with? Most games are not bound to CPU operation, trust me.

With that budget, you can build a balanced machine that will be able to do everything you listed with minimal effort. 64GBs of RAM.... I have never used over 6.9GBs of RAM in my life, as an example.

You do not want the trouble of that ^ type of machine, nor do you need it whatsoever. Besides that, a 10k budget wouldn't cut it; not even close. You need about a 20k budget to pull off the kind of machine you are describing, and that machine wouldn't touch games.

Give me a solid budget, and I will give you a monster machine that will eat anything you can throw at it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert.

Sounds like you want a vehicle that drives like a Corvette but can haul loads like an 18-wheeler. Maybe you just want to build some sort of "uber" computer for the wow factor, but I doubt that you can easily find the hardware and OS(es) to do it. So, like the Corvette-wheeler, you'd have to get into a lot of custom work, which means, as Rahja says, LOTS more money. And, you'd have to consider that it would be behind the curve by the time you got it all built. (The BMWheeler. )

If it really is that you want to be able to play games AND do video/audio production, with that sort of budget, you'd be much better off building 2 machines - 1 for gaming and 1 (or 2) for apps. That way you can do them both at once more efficiently.

I'll give him 1/2 point - they were building the 2nd DS during the time frame of ESB.