Thunder i860

price:$660 bulk - $859.83

Designed for the Intel Xeon processor with Netburst microarchitecture, Tyan's Thunder i860 provides groundbreaking performance for advanced workstation applications. This high-performance system board supports two Intel Xeon processors and is based on their i860 chipset, which supports a 400MHz system bus and up to 4GB of Rambus memory. These features, combined with integrated 10/100 LAN connectivity and optional SCSI support, make our Thunder i860 the ideal platform for digital video editing, CAD, 3D modeling, financial analysis and more.

Processor:
Dual PGA603 ZIF sockets
Supports two Intel Xeon processors
One onboard VRMs
Front-Side Bus support for 400MHz

Thermal Management

Boxed Processor Test Specification Information

Buyer's guide

vendor

Chipset: Intel 860 chipset
82860 North Bridge, 82801BA I/O Controller Hub
82802AB Firmware Hub and 82806AA PCI 64 Hub

System Memory:
Memory Expansion Card (MEC) design
Eight 184-pin RIMM sockets
Supports up to 4GB of PC800 Rambus memory

Memory

the RDRAM* difference

MEC (M2603) 256 x 8 or 512 x 4 = 2,048 mb, memory vendor

512k x $368 x 4 = $1,472

256k x $ 113 x 8 = $904

Expansion Slots:
One AGP Pro 50 slot; also supports 4x mode
Two 64-bit 66MHz (3.3-volt) PCI slots
Three 32-bit 33MHz (5-volt) PCI slots
Total of six usable slots

Integrated I/O:
One floppy connector supports up to two drives
Two 9-pin 16550-based serial ports
One 25-pin SPP/ECP/EPP parallel port
Two USB ports
PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports

IBM 120GB Deskstar 120GXP Hard Disk Drive 7,200 rpm $318 x 2 = $636

wd caviar is just better (32% less noise, 8mb buffer, price) $299 x 2 = $598

With RAID

Adaptec ATA RAID 1200A $89

Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A $349

~$850

Price is, but nobody will see said card during couple years. Probably

Graphic card support

3d Labs always on stock :
Wildcat II 5110 $2,229