Kevin Kreamer wrote:
>
> Now, all of the dual processor I've done, though, has been where the
> machine shipped with both processors. I remember hearing from somewhere
> that you want to be careful about adding processors later because if the
> two didn't come from the same batch/revision, that minute differences
> could cause system instability. Now, this was back in the Pentium I
> era, though, and I'm not really sure if it is a myth or not. In any
> case, I don't think it should stop you from installing with the one proc
> now.
>
Back in the early, early days of SMP with Pentium Pros and the early
PIIs, yes you did have to match your CPUs by their "stepping." And if
you were adding a CPU several months after the original, it was often
difficult to match. Having a different stepping on your processor was
hit or miss as to whether it worked or not, so you strived to have the
same stepping...
With the newer chips, like the Pentium IIIs and up, this requirement
seems to have evaporated. I have a pair of PIIIs in my Windows AS box
that aren't matched in their stepping and it runs very well.
The one requirement that still remains, however, is that your CPUs need
to all have the same speed to get the maximum performance. If you
don't match them, the system ends up running the faster processor at the
speed of the slower processor...
Jeremy
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Received on 11/07/04
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