Multi-CPU expansion

i just had a random thought and was wondering why they don't do this anymore ......... i remember with the really old computers you could add processor cards via isa bus and types of ram expansion cards via isa bus or it was very new at the time PCI i cant remember which ... why don't they do this any more or is there a way to do this nowadays? Also is there a way to slave a computer via a interface such as a lan connection to utilize all its processing power making a faster pc ... like upping the max limit on ram and such... i know gigabyte tried something like ram boosting cards used pci and sata interface combined with windows virtual memory paging system to allow programs requiring more ram than the mother board had to expand and run fine with just a little speed sacrifice. Or to load windows in to ram to load it i like 6 seconds ... I'm more interested in processor increases thoe... i do a lot of compression of video and other large files and am trying to speed it up. any info on what happened to the processor expansion card would be nice to know also...

Good questions.

Back in the early days of computers, floating-point calculations could be done more quickly with an add-on math co-processor. When Intel developed the 80386 processor, they included provision for an additional 80387 math co-processor that could be added to the motherboard (provided the motherboard manufacturer designed it in). The 486DX processor (80486) had a math co-processor built-in the Floating-point Unit (FPU), but for the 486SX, that section was damaged or disabled; but could be restored by the addition of a so-called 80487 chip, which was actually a 486DX with an extra pin and a jumper that would deactivate the 486SX processor.

Now, supercomputers of yesteryear as well as today are built up from a large number of processors wired in parallel. Some nine years ago, a cluster of off-the-shelf desktop computers were clustered together in the original Beowulf project. These cluster designs use common computers in clusters to form cheap, virtual supercomputers.

In both cases, the programs are written in specialized languages designed to make the most use out of a bunch of processors running in parallel.

More modern processors of the Pentium class (P-II and newer) incorporate multi-threading or hyper-threading, which means the processor has two or more different execution tracks, allowing it to run several instructions at a time in a pseudo-parallel fashion. This method speeds up execution and makes for a faster computer.

Several modern Operating Systems take advantage of this hyper-threading and are capable of handling more than one physical processor, since it can see the several matched processors as more tracks in a multi-threading execution sequence. The problem is-- building a motherboard to adequately support several processors.

These designs are very complex and expensive, which is why multiple processor computers are generally relegated to the corporate server market.

Lately, video gaming console makers have gone to a new processor design and incorporated multiple processors in their machines to handle the heavier computational load required of modern games; one of the reasons why consoles such as the Playstation 3 are so expensive.

that info is good to know a always wondered what happened... does any one know what kind of software/hardware i would need to make a super computer or just to utilize other processors on my network?

It's because of bandwidth of buses.

Of course. It's called clustering. But be aware that it is really complicated thing to do.

Go to Beowulf.org

Or start folding.

its really not worth it IMO... you're better off buying a single desktop computer than to try taking a whole bunch of old computers and making a cluster... its just that much easier to manage and much cheaper on the electricity bill. also less headaches when you have a problem. (you just have one computer to deal with rather than a whole bunch of them on top of the software)

by that i mean, getting one system (most probably core 2 duo with 2-3 gb of ram and overclocking it) > 10 pentium 3s