mixing cache size on xeon4's in smp system

mixing cache size on xeon4's in smp system

[Marty Leisner]

	
I have a 2.4 gig hz xeon (533) with a 512k cache.
Can I use a 2.4 gig xeon  (533) with a 1Mbyte cache in an smp configuration?

Lets say it "works" -- what tools do I use to determine it really 
"works".

I've  heard advice "see if flakey things happen" -- that's not advice I want 
to follow...

Anyone have practical experiene with this?

marty

Re: mixing cache size on xeon4's in smp system

[Brian F. G. Bidulock]

Marty,

On Sun, 04 Jun 2006, Marty Leisner wrote:

> 	
> I have a 2.4 gig hz xeon (533) with a 512k cache.
> Can I use a 2.4 gig xeon  (533) with a 1Mbyte cache in an smp configuration?

For most motherboards the answer is no, regardless of whether you
are running Linux or not.  For some motherboards, Xeons that vary
in lot number will not work with each other.  I suggest your first
consult someone that knows such things about your motherboard.

Re: mixing cache size on xeon4's in smp system

[Chris Wedgwood]

On Sun, Jun 04, 2006 at 05:38:25PM -0600, Brian F. G. Bidulock wrote:

> For most motherboards the answer is no, regardless of whether you
> are running Linux or not.

Actually, I've had a system when the hardware was failing and one CPU
lost it's bottle and thought it had less cache (and maybe was a
different speed, forget).

Anyhow, Linux did work with the exception of timekeeping was screwy
(hence I think the speed of one CPU was wrong and I had to reboot with
notsc or something until I got the CPU replaced).

Re: mixing cache size on xeon4's in smp system

[Chris Wedgwood]

On Sun, Jun 04, 2006 at 11:17:41PM +0000, Marty Leisner wrote:

> I've heard advice "see if flakey things happen" -- that's not advice
> I want to follow...

it might work, i don't think anyone would really recommend it

if it's a non-critical machine try it out, beat it up with kernel
compiles or something to stress test it a bit