Server MBs

[Federico Voges]

Alma J Wetzker wrote:

> Roger Oberholtzer wrote:
>
>> On Fri, 2005-08-19 at 15:20, Lonni J Friedman wrote:
>>
>>> On Fri, 19 Aug 2005, Roger Oberholtzer wrote:
>>>
>>>> Dumb question here:
>>>>
>>>> I am looking at 19" rack mount chassis that can hold 6, 8 or however
>>>> many more SATA disks. These seem to be common; however, it seems that
>>>> all suppliers list that the systems are for Dual Xeon ATX MB. Well, 
>>>> I do
>>>> not want Dual Xeon. I want a P4 ATX MB (as in an ASUS P4C800-Deluxe).
>>>> Could I expect this to work? Could it be that the Dual Xeon info is 
>>>> just
>>>> letting me know I can put that in, but a P4 MB should work as well?
>>>> These are not coming with the MB. I will be adding that.
>>>>
>>>> I am asking various manufacturers this, but I want to know NOW!!
>>>>
>>>> Anyone know about this sort of thing?
>>>
>>>
>>> Generally speaking i don't think you can run Xeons and P4s in the same
>>> motherboard, as they have different numbers of pins.  The P4C800 you
>>> mentioned certainly can't take Xeons.
>>
>>
>>
>> I am not trying to run them in the same motherboard. I have selected the
>> ATX motherboard and CPU that I want. What confuses me is that the rack
>> chassis info say they are for an ATX with a Dual Xeon. I can see that
>> they can say they support such a thing. But does that mean this is all
>> the rack supports? I thought ATX defined where the connectors are and
>> the types of connectors for power and things. The specific CPU should
>> not really be a concern of the rack chassis. In fact, I have found some
>> manufacturers that say their racks support ATX MB with Xeon, P4 or PIII.
>> I think in the other cases (where only Xeon is listed) the manufacturer
>> is being lazy or assumes their customers know this support (P4 and all)
>> is implied.
>>
>
> I usually run AMD so I am not positive, but, I think the high end 
> Intel processors need a separate power connector from the power 
> supply.  Are those connectors the same for a P4 and a Xeon?  Is it a 
> 2U case so you can replace the PS with one that does have the correct 
> connector if you guess wrong?
>
> ATX does indeed mean that the mechanical connector locations are 
> defined.  It even implies a certain connector for MB power.  With the 
> specialized stuff that showed up in the decade since ATX was defined, 
> some extra stuff is bound to get added.
>
Xeons usually use EPS-12V PSUs that's the power cable with 24 pins 
instead of 20 and also 2 4pin CPU power cables. Some non Xeon boards are 
also starting to use the 24pins power cable.

You should check for the motherboard form factors supported - most dual 
xeon boards are extended ATX (12"x13"). Also, what type of PSU comes with.

I know you can convert an ATX-12V PSU to use a mother which requires 
EPS-12V. All you need is a couple of adapter cables (I'm doing that with 
my dual xeon). Also, most EPS-12V PSUs work as ATX-12V (the extra 4 pins 
is in fact another cable that you can leav unconnected).

My advice is to check those specs and/or send an email asking :)

Just my $0.02

Cheers.

-- 
Federico Voges.

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