Re: tlug: 6-way P-Pro boards

[Adrian Havill <havill@example.com>]

Jonathan Byrne wrote:

> Yesterday we noticed somebody was selling six-way Pentium Pro
> motherboards on Yahoo auctions.  I realize the odds of finding
> a matched set of six P-Pros, but if that could be done, do you
> think a Linux SMP kernel (or *BSD) would be happy with such a thing?

I didn't know that hardware wise this was even possible. The P-Pro chip is
hardwired to support SMP up to a tops of four CPUs (that is, the cache logic
and sync logic to cooperate with the other chips) I guess with motherboard
black magic anythings possible, though.

Finding six P-Pros with the same step spec (when I added a second P-Pro to my
motherboard, I had a heck of a time finding ONE with a compatible stepping
rate-- something you gotta worry about with SMP and the P-Pro) will be next to
impossible.

Because they're so hard to get now that the chip has been discontinued, I keep
GOL's old P-Pro (tested it, it works) as a spare should one CPU die. :)


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