[Beowulf] Re: Re: GPU boards and cluster servers.

[Prentice Bisbal]

Jeff Johnson wrote:
> 
>> A Xeon is a Xeon is a Xeon.
>>   
> This is a very true statement.
> 
> Unfortunately for many, the commonality ends where the processor and
> socket meet. There is a great deal of deviation in motherboard designs.
> Some are much better than others and it is not always based on the
> location of the factory (China versus Japan, USA, etc).
> 
> Intel, as an example, releases a reference design and bios definition
> that is usually the gold standard for a particular type of platform.
> Many companies will take this design and modify it to fit their needs
> and in the process streamline the design. That is usually a cost driven
> exercise.
> 

A few years ago, when the 64-bit Opterons were still relatively new, I
read this article on the HyperTransport (HT) architecture in SysAdmin
magazine.  At the time, according to the article, out of all the
different companies selling Opteron-based systems, the HP Proliant
DL-585 was one of the few that fully implemented the HT architecture.

http://www.samag.com/documents/s=9408/sam0411b/0411b.htm

So yeah, there' s a lot more to computer performance than the type of
processor and socket on the motherboard.

-- 
Prentice