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EVGA's dual-CPU Classified SR-2 motherboard put to the test: worth the money if you know what you're doing
You know things are changing when cooling units that could once stave off overheating on top-tier graphics cards are starting to show up on motherboards. EVGA's Classified SR-2 is a supersized, dual-socket desktop building block that tries to do it all, and -- unusually for dual-CPU logic boards -- it's targeted at enthusiasts rather than buttoned-down business types. Four PCI-Express x16 slots, room for a dozen memory sticks (up to 48GB of RAM), and two USB 3.0 ports add some spec sheet glamor, but you'll likely be wanting to know how much performance you can wring out of two 3.33GHz Intel Xeon 5680 chips working in tandem. The short answer is a lot. The long answer is, of course, that you'll need to apply those 24 threads of power to applications that can really utilize them, such as the predictable video processing and 3D rendering. That's where the multithreaded, multicore, multiprocessor rig really shone in this review, and the EVGA board underpinning it also acquitted itself with distinction. Hit the source for the benchmark results and more photography of exposed circuitry.
Intel's V8 platform reviewed: are 8-cores for you?
The idea of running your rig with 8-cores working their magic has already been available in various forms, but Intel is apparently hoping to effectively fire back at AMD's Quad FX with the unveiling of the V8 platform. Reviewers found that flexing the muscles of twin Xeon processors provided speed that was simply unparalleled in several testing scenarios, but for common jobs such as 3D gaming and unzipping gigabytes of data, the setup essentially fell flat on its face. Sure, blasting past competition in SiSoft Sandra XI and POV-Ray 3.7 is admirable, but unless you're looking to whisk away your day crunching AutoCAD and 3D Studio Max (read: working), this V8 isn't likely to be worth the investment. Notably, the reviewers were flabbergasted by the peaks and valleys in performance depending on what application was being critiqued, so be sure and hit the read link for the full skinny if you've got this one tabled on your must-have list.
