Multiprocessor Systems: The More the Merrier?

...and just for comparison's sake, AnandTech conducted benchmarks with 512MB of RAM, however there were absolutely no performance differences what-so-ever between the 384MB and 512MB systems, illustrating that the limit of the benefit of increased memory sizes in these types of applications was reached. This limit will vary according to the nature of your application usage, however for the tests AnandTech conducted, it seems as though anything above 384MB wouldn't produce too great of an improvement in performance for most professional users (web servers excluded).

Can a multiprocessor system be overclocked? Absolutely. However the difficulty of overclocking a system increases when you have a multiprocessor system, since you must take into consideration that not all of the processors in the system may be able to cope with the overclocked speed. Supermicro's dual processor BX boards do allow for overclocking through the use of increased Front Side Bus speeds (112MHz on their BX/GX boards), and the Soyo board that AnandTech used in the tests allowed for overclocking through the use of the 75MHz FSB setting. The Dual Pentium II 300 system overclocked fine to 338MHz using the 75MHz FSB, however if you're planning for your system to be used without a single crash, you may want to avoid the thought of overclocking entirely.

Another consideration to make when dealing with a multiprocessor system is heat. Naturally, both processors must have heatsinks and fans on them, however you also might want to consider improving the ventilation in the case they are stored in. Any multiprocessor system should have a large enough case so that the airflow inside the case isn't obstructed in any way, and as always, the larger the case, the better.

Who would've thought that a multiprocessor system would be considered a "poor-man's upgrade?" In lieu of the price drops on Intel's now discontinued older Pentium II processors, the performance adding a second processor to an older system would offer over buying a faster single CPU (possibly with a new motherboard) depends entirely on the nature of the applications you'll be running on your system. While the improvement in business applications won't be too wonderfully noticeable, graphics artists and development professionals will generally find that multiprocessor systems will end up giving them the most bang for their buck, especially in extending the life of their current systems. The performance improvement AnandTech's tests illustrated under CAD Drafting applications indicates that a single, more powerful CPU is more desirable than two slower processors, however the ideal solution in any of these cases would be an upgrade to a multiprocessor system using the fastest processors available at the time...but then again, the ideal solution isn't always the most practical.