New Potential Build for Workstation.

ajsz

Reputable
Jun 19, 2014
11
0
4,510
Hello everyone, I recently started a Post-doc in Chemistry and got a small stipend for a computer (about 2,000) but I want to keep the build cost efficient.

I'll mainly be using:


  • Office Suite
    Matlab
    Mathematica
    ChemDraw
    ChemCAD
    MathCAD
    Spartan
    Avogadro
    R
    Python

I had the same two monitors during my graduate work, but it was just borrowed from the department. I am mainly concerned that the GPU won't be able to handle two of those at once. I'm not really good with all the technical spec's and stuff. Thanks!


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($163.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus H97M-E/CSM Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($78.30 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($77.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: PNY CS1211 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($40.50 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card ($189.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1500 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($69.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($34.00 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus PB278Q 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($399.99 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Asus PB278Q 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($399.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1534.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-28 20:51 EDT-0400
 
Solution
A build like this would be great (and then add the monitors of your choice):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($232.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI H97M-E35 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($96.49 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($40.50 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($299.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Xion XON-560...

Geekwad

Admirable
A build like this would be great (and then add the monitors of your choice):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($232.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI H97M-E35 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($96.49 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($40.50 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($299.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Xion XON-560 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($48.60 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.20 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($89.88 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1007.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
 
Solution
ajsz,

When considering a workstation specification, the most demanding application should be the performance target. The applications used on the proposed workstations are all calculation-intensive and in the case of Matlab, can be completely multi-threaded. The multi-threading means that the Matlab algorithms can be run in parallel using every available processing thread and in hardware terms means have all the CPU cores/ threads- highest calculation density you can. An i5 is not practical in this use as that series is non-hyperthreading and limited to 4 cores /4 threads. An LGA1150 or LGA1151 CPU system has a maximum of 4 cores /8 threads.

A friend doing some flight dynamics problems on Matlab (vonKarman turbulence transforms) ran single problem sets that required more than two days continuous running time on a dual 6-core Dell Precision. Precision is also essential as long calculations can seriously extrapolate errors- meaning ECC error-correcting RAM and in large amounts to prevent a bottleneck in swapping is desirable. Datasets can be large, and a good disk system with a RAID mirroring to back everything up is also useful. The GPU in this use may be required to produce high resolution 3D graphs, and possibly navigable model such as molecules, but the GPU need not be at the highest level.

The following system idea is based on a Supermicro Superworkstation, that provides a case, dual Xeon motherboard, ample power supply, and cooling solution. The components are of server quality, designed to run continuously under full load with complete reliability, and are rated to be very quiet. The value of this approach is principally that it allows the use of depreciated processors so as to have 12 cores /24 threads with high clock speeds not possible within the budget if new. The other factor is that, the system can be prepared and configured simply by plug in the CPUs, RAM, GPU, drives, and loading the OS. It's ready to use in less time as compared to researching, ordering, assembling, and configuring every component.

BambiBoom CalcuCannon Chemocadasimulicious iWork TurboSignature Extreme 4S)-2-(6-hydroxy-1,3-benzothiazol-2-yl)-4,5-dihydrothiazole-4-carboxylic acid ModelBlast 9800 ®©$$™®£™©™_6.28.15 / 10.29.15

"The Killer Firefly"

1. Supermicro SuperWorkstation SYS-7036A-T Dual LGA1366 Xeon Mid-Tower Workstation Barebone System (Black) > $658 (Includes case, motherboard, power supply, heatsink, fans)

http://www.supermicro.com/products/system/tower/7036/SYS-7036A-T.cfm

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=SY-736AT

2. CPU: 2X Xeon X5690 (6-core @ 3.47 / 3.73GHz) > used about $500 ($250 each)

http://ark.intel.com/products/52576/Intel-Xeon-Processor-X5690-12M-Cache-3_46-GHz-6_40-GTs-Intel-QPI

3. Memory: 48GB (6X 8GB) DDR3 1333 ECC Registered > about $200

4. GPU: PNY Quadro K620 VCQK620-PB 2GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Plug-in Card Workstation Video Card > $160

5. RAID Controller : LSI MegaRAID SAS 9341-4i (LSI00419) PCI-Express 3.0 x8 Low Profile SATA / SAS High Performance Four-Port 12Gb/s RAID Controller (Single Pack)--Avago Technologies > $200

6. Disk 1: SAMSUNG 850 EVO 250GB 2.5" 512GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) > $100.

7. Drive 2, 3: Western Digital Black 2 TB SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive, Black, WD2003FZEX> $246 ($123 each (Files, Backup, System Image)

8. Optical Disk: SAMSUNG DVD Burner 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM SATA Model SH-224DB/BEBE - OEM > $18

9. Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit - OEM > $140

TOTAL = about $2,250

Notice that the X5690 CPU's proposed cost $1,660 each when new.

This system can be initially assembled without the RAID controller and using a single mech'l drive for about $1,900. The disk system will be SATA II or 3GB/s, but the Samsung 850 will still have very good performance and no 7200RPM mech'l drive can approach the limits of SATA II anyway.

Another useful later addition to this system could be a NVIDIA Tesla coprocessor. These are GPU's - though without display connection- designed for exactly this kind of use and in effect adds a high degree of double precision. Used ones are not expensive and they are often upgraded to higher capability models:

NVIDIA Tesla M2090 6GB GDDR5 PCIe x16 GPU Computing Processor VIDEO CARD > sold for $99- probably $2,500+ new.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NVIDIA-Tesla-M2090-6GB-GDDR5-PCIe-x16-GPU-Computing-Processor-VIDEO-CARD-/281723734547?hash=item41980b0a13:g:2loAAOSwYHxWH9j3

To have this level of capability- core/thread count and clock speed in a new proprietary workstation would cost in the region of $10,000-12,000.

If this general idea is interesting, if I knew something more about your projects- scale, complexity, and priority of programs. I could look into a Superworkstation version using dual Xeon E5-2600 series, allowing higher speed RAM, more PCIe lane, and possibly even dual 8-core CPU's at a lower clock speed would be a benefit.

Another approach that would be less expensive but require more time and effort would be to buy a used Dell Precision T7500 or HP z800 with a low specification, for example:

Dell Precision T7500 Dual Xeon E5607@2.27GHz 27GB 500GB GEForce 9500GT > sold for $214

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Precision-T7500-Dual-Xeon-E5607-2-27GHz-27GB-500GB-GEForce-9500GT-/381412971235?hash=item58cdfc12e3%3Ag%3AgxsAAOSwEetWAZ80&nma=true&si=SYpayxQJ1z%252F7l%252BYAZmJX4OjwAOQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

And the low initial cost allows adding the two Xeon X5960 processors, 96GB of RAM, a Quadro K1200 or used K2200 (4GB), about $350, or for the adventurous (it's 225W) perhaps a used Quadro 6000 (6GB) - $5,000 new, now $400, Tesla co-processor, RAID controller, a RAID 1+0 (mirroring + performance ) of some kind, a good external backup drive, and two very good 24" monitors. I use dual 27" monitors on my main system, a single 27" on the second and dual 19" on the third level system and the dual 19" monitors are preferable to the single 27".

I've had five used workstations in the last seven years- three Dell Precisions (390, T5400, T5500) and two HP z420's and all using used GPU's and have never had a failure resulting in data loss.

Cheers,

BambiBoom


1. HP z420 (2015) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 six-core @ 3.7 / 4.0GHz > 32GB DDR3 ECC 1866 RAM > Quadro K4200 (4GB) > Intel 730 480GB (9SSDSC2BP480G4R5) > Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > 600W PSU> Logitech z2300 > Linksys AE3000 USB WiFi > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440) > Windows 7 Professional 64 >
[ Passmark Rating = 5064 > CPU= 13989 / 2D= 819 / 3D= 4596 / Mem= 2772 / Disk= 4555] [Cinebench R15 > CPU = 1014 OpenGL= 126.59 FPS] 7.8.15

Pending upgrade: HP /LSI 9212-4i PCIe SAS /SATA HBA RAID controller, 2X Seagate Constellation ES.3 1TB (RAID 1)

2. Dell Precision T5500 (2011) > Xeon X5680 six -core @ 3.33 / 3.6GHz, 24GB DDR3 ECC 1333 > Quadro K2200 (4GB ) > Samsung 840 250GB / WD RE4 Enterprise 1TB > M-Audio 192 sound card 875W PSU > Logitech z313> Linksys WMP600N PCI WiFi > Windows 7 Professional 64> HP 2711x (1920 X 1080)
[ Passmark system rating = 3490 / CPU = 9178 / 2D= 685 / 3D= 3566 / Mem= 1865 / Disk= 2122] [Cinebench 15 > CPU = 772 OpenGL= 99.72 FPS] 7.8.15

Network: Netgear GS108-400NAS Gigabit Ethernet