recommended mobo for future quad core

[JLCAD]

I am currently looking at a new computer to run CAD/CAM operations and I need the fastest processing available with a budget of $6000.

What is the best mobo available for dual dual-core processors with the ability to upgrade to dual quad-core in the future?
I do not need a lot of extras on the mobo... the computer will be optimized for number crunching and high end graphics.

If dual dual-core processors are not the fastest processing option, I would like to know what would be better.

 

[McParty]

All the motherboards with the new 680i chipset. They just came out this week.

 

[Talon]

The 650i SLI specifically might be your best bet.

I haven't seen any formal reviews of it yet but a preview I read stated it was essentially the same as the 680i but with less "frilly" features to reduce cost. It is supposed to even have the same OC options if that means anything to you.

 

[JLCAD]

Would a 650i board be a better way to go than a dual soket board?

 

[sithscout80]

If you want a dual socket motherboard, you need to go with Intel Xeon, AMD Opteron, or AMD's new 4x4 system. Since Intel has the fastest chips out right now, Xeon would be your best bet. You would have to get FB-DIMM modules instead of the normal consumer DDR2 memory.

If you are doing CAD work, you would want to get an ATI FireGL or an Nvidia Quadro.

If you have programs that can take advantage of multiple threads, the dual processors are good. Also you dual processors are good if the programs are single threaded but you want to run multiple instances of them.


Talon and mcparty, why are you recommending the 650i and 680i chipset? He's not looking into gaming and probably wants stability more than speed.

 

[JLCAD]

This is what was quoted back to me by my comp builder.
I do not see the FB-DIMM RAM... Do I need to request the FB-DIMM RAM?
Is there anyhting else that would enhance CPU performance?

Intel S5000XVNS Dual Xeon Workstation

-Intel S5000VXN Workstation MotherBoard, 2xIntel Dual-Core Xeon 5160 / 3 GHz ( 1333 MHz ) - LGA771 Socket - L2 4
MB, 4G DDR II 667MHz Intel Validated RAM, 2xSeagate 36G Serial Attached SCSI Drives, CD-RW/DVD ROM Drive,
Nvidia Qaudro FX 1500, XP Pro 64 Bit

 

[sithscout80]

FB-DIMM RAM is a type of DDR2 RAM (it is a type of registered RAM). I'm pretty sure what your computer builder quoted was right, "4G DDR II 667MHz Intel Validated RAM." I would verify anyway and ask if the RAM is registered, has ECC (error correction coding), and is FB-DIMM.

You may want to get a big SATA hard drive. 2x36GB hard drives isn't that much storage. I have compiled the list of best $/GB hard drives, check the link in my signature.

Everything looks great though. That computer is gonna be a beast.

 

[RyanMicah]

They recommended the new chipsets because he had asked about quad core. Ideally, if he can wait, he should. New platforms are coming soon. The QX chips are out now, but they're not cheap. He might want to consider dual socket, or a server setup. Whatever he does, he probably wants a board that can support at least 8 or even 16 gigs of RAM, as CAD can be very memory intensive. He'll want ECC-Registered RAM, it'll lower the chance of a system crash. If he's looking to build just one computer and get some good bang for his buck, then he may want to build more of a personal performance machine. Today's ultimate gaming machines can run about any current software just fine. Forget FireGL, go for Dual 8800's For $6000 you can get a LOT of machine. Someone could just teach that boy how to OC an QX6700, it probably has enough power to run his CAD.

 

[JLCAD]

Why would they recommend me 2 hard drives instead of just one larger one? Is it because I will have 2 cpu's?

 

[RyanMicah]

If you're really serious about massive amounts of data storage you should use SCSI or an external storage rack. But for what you're doing, you should probably get a couple of 500gb SATA drives. Seagate is known for it's reliability, but you could take a look at Western Digital too, they're cheaper. Your CPU has little to do with your hard drives. Having another drive in Raid-1, means you mirror your hard drive. Raid-1 makes an exact copy of your hard drive, so if one stops working your system will still work. Not only will your data be saved, but you can still use your computer like normal. No lost productivity. You don't want to work for weeks or months on a project, only to lose everything or not be able to finish before a deadline.

 

[sithscout80]

The 2xSeagate 36G Serial Attached SCSI Drives will be very fast for data transfer, but they will not hold very much data.
Ask your computer builder if these drives are in RAID 1. If they are, then your system will load things very quickly.

RyanMicah and I recommend large hard drives (not Serial Attached SCSI, just SATA) because most of your files and rendered output will take up a lot of space. With the fast hard drives and the ones we recommend, you will get a lot of data storage but also have good speed for loading times for your applications.


Note: RAID 1 is good if you want to be able to keep working when a drive has failed. If the computer can be down for a little while and you don't mind some lost productivity. I recommend each night one hard drive backing up to the other. In this case you are more protected against viruses and user error. If a user accidentally deletes a file on RAID 1, the file is gone, but if you use a backup system, you can retrieve the file from the last backup.

 

[RyanMicah]

True. Even better yet, key in a macro that dual saves. Cept...that requires programming knowledge and I can't tell you how to add macro's to programs. I haven't done it in years. He'll actually probably want Raid0+1, and maybe a 5th drive used with an auto-backup program. The fifth drive would be best served with an external SATA drive. That way he could also grab his work and run out the door in case of an emergency like a fire. :-D

 

[RyanMicah]

I wasn't kidding you know...5 hard drives. Raid0+1 using 4 500gb sata hard drives and a fifth external sata drive, the largest he can find within reasonable value (500+). That should give him almost a terabyte of storage, good performance for large files, and dual backup. He can also take his work with him on the go.

 

[sithscout80]

I've been doing some research and found that RAID 10 (1+0) is actually better than 0+1. I read it on multiple sources, but this one explains it best.

If you went with the 4 hard drive (assume 400GB HD) implementation of RAID 10, the usable size of the array would be 800GB. I'm not sure if it would be easily possible to backup all that data unless you span it across 2 hard drives.

JLCAD, it would be good to hear from you how much hard drive space you will be using. What is the normal size of your projects and how many projects do you usually have?

 

[RyanMicah]

From what I'm understanding Raid-10 is twice as many drives....or something. I guess I just don't understand what 1+0 is? But then, I don't have the patience to read this and try to comprehend it when I'm tired. Wait, does it partition the drives?

 

[sithscout80]

You can do RAID 0+1 or RAID 1+0 with a minimum of 4 hard drives.

RAID 0+1 and RAID 1+0 are a very similar concept, can't explain the differences with words. The main difference is if it stripes first or it mirrors first. Here are links to the pages that explain it.

RAID 1+0 - Wikipedia
RAID 1+0 - Wikipedia
RAID X+Y vs. RAID Y+X - PCGuide
Multiple (Nested) RAID Levels - PCGuide

 

[JLCAD]

The size of my working files are not to terribly large... maybe up to 100MB max. I may have up to 5 of these open at one time... so I am not looking for huge amounts of storage. Besides, I save all of my files on a network server... and that server gets backed up every other day by another server. The workstation that I'm looking for needs to have the best processing performance.
So, this is where I am at now:

-Intel S5000VXN Workstation MotherBoard, 2xIntel Dual-Core Xeon 5160 / 3 GHz ( 1333 MHz ) - LGA771 Socket - L2 4
MB, 4G DDR II 667MHz Intel Validated RAM, 2xSeagate 36G Serial Attached SCSI Drives, CD-RW/DVD ROM Drive,
Nvidia Qaudro FX3500, XP Pro 64 Bit

 

[RyanMicah]

I still have a feeling that a quad core will supply you with about the same as two Xeons. I thought I read that somewhere. As for storage, don't buy it if you don't need it, you can always add some. A 150gig Raptor for system OS might be all you need. The 150 will give you more room to play with and it's a bit faster. If you want processing power, look at getting Vista and more than 4gigs of RAM. RAM is also essential to processing. Vista eats up a lot on it's own. Add files being open, programs being run, background applications like auto-update etc...and you're going to see that 4 gigs fill up. You probably won't need any more than 8 though, at least not that I can see at this point in time. I have a copy of XP Pro x64 Student/Teacher edition I might sell ya. It just means you have to activate it. PM me if you're interested. I'm using it on two systems and it's fine. Gets better all the time. If the size of your files are only 100MB's an 8800 might do the trick too.