opterons for xw9300

Hello,

I want to buy a xw9300. But can I put in opterons not bought by HP.
I think i can, but am I right. (they charge way too much).

Paul

hardprogrammer wrote:
Hello,

I want to buy a xw9300. But can I put in opterons not bought by HP.
I think i can, but am I right. (they charge way too much).

Paul


The xw9300 uses the Tyan S2895 motherboard, so you should have no
special compatibility issues. Go to the Tyan website if you want
to look up CPU compatibility.

However, I don't think HP will sell you an xw9300 without a pair
of Opterons in it, and I think the slowest CPUs they offer in
that system are the Opty 250's.

BTW, the xw9300 has been successfully demoed with 2.2 GHz Opty
26x dual core chips. Today I also saw brand new review of
another system using the S2895 with a pair of Opty 866 dual core
chips. Bodes well for general dual-core compatibility for that
motherboard.

On Thu, 14 Apr 2005 00:06:41 +0000,
lid (hardprogrammer) wrote:

I want to buy a xw9300. But can I put in opterons not bought by HP.
I think i can, but am I right. (they charge way too much).

Yes, it will work with no trouble at all. The only "problem" you
might run into would be with warranties. This isn't likely to void
your warranty, but the very first thing HP tech support will ask you
to do if you have any problems is to remove the extra processor your
bought.

As for HP pricing, I don't think they really expect many people to pay
their prices for most items except for large companies where they MUST
buy all components through a single supplier. Getting a purchase
order to buy a processor though Newegg, for example, would probably
cost the accounting dept. of a large company many hundreds of dollars
vs. buying through HP. As such, the extra ~$250 - $400 that HP sells
for an Opteron vs. Neweggs price isn't so bad. For us mere mortals
though, it's just plain stupid.

ps. if you want to see really obscene pricing, check for their price
on "spare parts"! The Opterons are available as much more reasonable
"option parts". Eg part number 319746-001, an AthlonXP 2600+ selling
for $508!

-------------
Tony Hill
hilla underscore 20 at yahoo dot ca

On Thu, 14 Apr 2005 00:06:41 +0000,
lid (hardprogrammer) wrote:

Hello,

I want to buy a xw9300. But can I put in opterons not bought by HP.
I think i can, but am I right. (they charge way too much).

Paul

HP does, and always has been, stand for High Price. Just look at
their spec, order the same parts from some more reasonable vendor
(Newegg comes to mind first), and save almost half, if not more. Put
them into a case of your liking and enjoy. Well, you'll have to deal
with manufacturer's warranties on separate components, but they are
good enough, and besides that, these days the computer components are
way more reliable than it was last millenium ;-). Don't buy from HP
unless the corporation you work for requires it, and would reimburse
you.