🚀 go-pugleaf

Zero_G wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I'm using SuSE 8.2 Professional (free magazine DVD version) on an Athlon
> 700MHz and thinking of saving up for a Dual Processor system.
> Is this even slightly worth the comparatively enormous outlay for a home
> user?

Sure.  But I never spend a whole lot on my dual systems.  My wife's
dually cost us $700USD (dual MP2000+ with 512M, onboard SCSI, 36G 10K
drive).  I recently purchased a dual 2.8Ghz Xeon with 1G, onboard
SCSI and a 120G IDE drive for $1225.  My latest purchase, dual 3.2Ghz
Xeons, 2G, 3 x 15K 18G SCSI drives for a little less than $2000.

If you shop for good deals, you can get what you want fairly cheap.

> 
> You see I've read a lot about various software support for this type of
> hardware and it loks like there are competing solutions to implement
> parallel/SPM hardware at the moment.

uhhh... what?  I guess... err... what?

> 
> I understand that gcc has libraries to allow for compiling software to be
> multi threaded but the source needs to be written with multi-threading in
> mind.

Biggest mistake a person can make is to assume that dual processors
require threaded processes.  Realize that EVERY process is assigned
a CPU when run... so on a Linux box, with 20-30 processes (these
are proceses that are started behind your back) will be spread
across CPUs resulting in better performance and a much smoother
feel.

> 
> Is there a list of packages with sources that are optimised for dual
> processors?

Any program that uses threads OR any program that consists of multiple
processes will benefit from multiple CPUs.

> 
> This would be an extremely useful variable in justifying the extra outlay.
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> 

Word of warning, once you experience a dual processor system, you'll
NEVER want to go back.