2006-10-19 10:57:56 · 16 answers · asked by the boss 1 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Add-ons
Yes.
As " some " others state, you just need ROOM in your case, and most cases do not have room - unless you add a new, tiny format all-in-one MB with an equally tiny power supply. I have a server case ready to add
4 motherboards. ( it is like a cube, on wheels ) I am typing on a computer with 3 power supplies, and 12 fans. There is no limit if you have the space.
At my feet, on the floor is a "book" computer I am working on, that has a motherboard with LAN, 56K, USB, Video/S-video/VGA( 3D AGP ), sound ( line, mic, speaker ) , game, mouse, parallel port, and keyboard on the back, in 7 inches. On board it has the standard harddrive and CD/DVD and floppy connections for standard drives.
It will fit in almost ANY standard case, beside the regular motherboard.
The next question is, WHY? - I am playing with UBUNTU and Debian ( Linux ) as servers WITH firewalls, and this would add the features without having to have an entire new pile of computer equipment. ( I have 200 computers or more ). The unit I have, waiting to put in 4 motherboards is to allow me to use 4 operating systems - DOS, 3.11, Win95, and Win98, so that I can run both the programs AND the cards and peripherals that came contemporary with these systems (( there are no drivers or support anymore for many cards or devices that were manufactured back then -- for example, you cannot even plug in a VESA VL-Local Bus card or ISA ( 8 or 16 bit ), or the EISA 8/16/32 bit bus card, let alone use the devices that they controlled )) Putting two or three or more motherboards in a case is a good way to just save the space. If you think that " wanting" to use an old EISA ( most people don't even know what it is... ! ) or wanting to use a VESA card ( again most people don't even know what it is ... ! ) is a silly idea, then talk to NASA who desperately were looking for older computers with the old BUS slots, since, they had custom made cards in older computers that were running for decades, and were irreplaceable... - just because it is " old " doesn't mean that it didn't cost $100,000.00 in the first place, and it doesn't mean that you can buy a new one - they may not even MAKE a " new " one !
Most people just throw out anything old ( win95, win98 etc. ) as soon as the new stuff comes out - but, I have Win98 equipment and cards and programs that I want, and use, and will continue to use, so that putting a win98 motherboard in with a new WinXP/Vista Machine, would be great - the two would be networked so that I could run the whole thing from either, and with a simple KMV switch, one has total control.
I have heard of a few people who have built up to 4 computers in a case just to have all the tools needed to learn NETWORKING, without having to clutter the place up with 4 complete systems. This is typically done for their MCSE ( Microsoft Certified Systems "Engineer" ing certification ).
The average home user would not be technically capable or have that urgent a need for multiple Motherboard computer cases, but networking people, and multiple OS people would find it handy. Even now, my XP machine has a 5 1/4 inch black floppy, so that I can communicate with my 8086, 8088, 80186, stuff. Actually having an 80186 in the case would be far superior... Some people say that you can " JUST " use multiple BOOTs on your single harddrive, but, I have noticed every one of my friends who have done so, eventually quit, since the " easy and secure " multiple boot programs and methodologies ALWAYS ended up turning the entire harddrive into complete mush, and ALL data on ALL Operating Systems was totally lost...
Using a small format motherboard as a SERVER is incredibly desireable - I would add one now, but with 3 power supplies, etc. in my ' typical ' tower, there is no longer any room. ( Someone stated that " you don't need 3 power supplies", but... they don't have an Adaptec Ultra Wide SCSI II card with 15 harddrives on it , either -- or they woudn't say that no one needs 3 power supplies ! ). I am building a separate server now... ( now I am thinking about putting in another MB, since the case I am using is big, .... you have me re-considering the construction - I was just going to have a typical " home" unit - mostly empty space... )
Finally, LINUX, is designed from the start to use over 2000 computers together. There are giant computer gatherings around the world every year where people try to break records for massively parallel processing, and LINUX is the basis used to connect many machines into ' one " computer. If you used Linux in some form or other, you would actually gain massive processing power by having multiple motherboards in one computer case. Some of the answers above state that for all the bother, you might as well just use DUAL core processors or boards with multiple processor sockets - usually 2 CPU's or 4 CPU's on one motherboard. The reports on the web of Benchmark tests, running " real " applications, shows that Dual Cores only give a real increase in about 12% to 15% at best, since the SOFTWARE you are typically running is NOT designed to take advantage of the two CPU cores. Server Computers use 4 CPU's on a regualar basis, and the raw power of the 4 CPU's allowes the unit to keep working at normal speeds when heavily loaded. In a home environment, where there is JUST one computer, and not 500 connected computers, the 4 CPU's on a single motherboard, would gain very little in terms of " INCREASE" in noticeable speed. If you are typing ( as you would be, to ask the Question which you asked, above ), the letter " a ", with a single CPU, and then typed the letter " a " with a 4 CPU computer, the letter " a " would appear on the monitor at exactly the same speed.
However, if you could cram in 8 motherboards, all running Linux, into a case, and configure them as a parallel processor, then in computationally intensive tasks, you would see the difference. Not many people would have the need for this kind of power. A home user, with many Linux motherboards, could easily exceed the speed of the first CRAY computer, in their basement. The biggest server cases I have would only have room for 4 or 5 normal motherboards, and only with a great deal of mechanical work. The new, tiny, computers made in a tiny case the size of a book, would be ideal for this type of construction, and my largest server cube could probably get 32 entire units in it. The server cube has top-to-bottom partitions of fans, so cooling would be no problem. With 32 paralleled Linux computers, the processing speed for number crunching would increase dramatically.
Hope this gives you an idea of what is possible - anything!
robin
2006-10-19 19:19:09 · answer #1 · answered by robin_graves 4 · 5⤊ 1⤋
the closest thing you can do is get an Extended ATX motherboard
it can fit either 2 or 4 cpus pending on what model and company
no, like everyone else answered, you cannot connect 2 motherboards.
and if there was, i would probably say that it just works like a dual core cpu, it just does more things at the same time, no speed increase, and the videocards may improve quality because each has to do half the work it orginally had to
2006-10-21 02:58:41 · answer #2 · answered by Eng 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The other guys are being mean but they are right, as far as i know its not possible yet; but nice idea you should invent a new type of motherboard that can do that, and remember am the one who inspired you to invent it, so you can feel free to give me some of your profits and product.
2006-10-19 11:09:03 · answer #3 · answered by thaj a 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
To answer your question quickly and easily:
1) Yes is is "possible" (with lots of ifs & buts)
2) There is no advantage in real world terms.
2006-10-20 14:00:40 · answer #4 · answered by jhol3368 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Motherboards are merely another way of saying "Circuit board". I see no reason on having more then one circuit board for one computer. If you really wanted a computer with two things, you probably meant processors. Two processors allows for the computer to do several tasks that a single processor would normally lag on.
2006-10-19 11:10:42 · answer #5 · answered by Peter 2 · 0⤊ 4⤋
Absolutely not! A motherbaord requires a cpu in order for a pc to function correctly...think of it as the human heart which pumps blood around the body without the heart there would be nothing.
A motherbaord can only take 1 cpu so therefore 2 motherbaords will require 2 cpu's which is therefore running two seperate computers.
To be realistic i even doubt that there would ever be space to be able to fit 2 motherbaords in one Pc Case.
2006-10-19 12:58:57 · answer #6 · answered by mackavelli786 1 · 0⤊ 5⤋
No. Motherboards don't "connect" to each other. All you'd be doing is running two separate computers.
2006-10-19 10:59:09 · answer #7 · answered by Steven 2 · 2⤊ 3⤋
No! get a motherboard capable of multiple processors if you want more power.
2006-10-19 10:59:53 · answer #8 · answered by thunder2sys 7 · 2⤊ 3⤋
no
but you can connect two computers by network
does the same thing
2006-10-19 22:05:32 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
no, two motherboards = two computers.
2006-10-19 11:08:58 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 3⤋