New workstation for heavy number crunching

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Guest

Guest
Hi everyone,
I must admit I'm a little bit out of my league for building a computer like this, so I am curious on any 'expert' opinions on the build I have created:

2x Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533

1x EVGA 01G-P3-N959-TR GeForce 9500 GT 1GB 128-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130395

1x ASUS Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DVD-E818A6T/BLK/B/G
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135202

1x CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009

1x Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007

1x Intel S5520SCR Dual LGA 1366 Intel 5520 SSI EEB Dual Intel Xeon 5500 and Quad-Core/Six-Core 5600 Series Server Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121409

1x LOGISYS AD202 12V Molex to 8pin P8 Adapter
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812887002

1x CHENBRO SR10769-BK-T 1.0mm SECC Pedestal High-End Server/Workstation Chassis
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811123131

2x Crucial 12GB (3 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) ECC Registered Server Memory Model CT3KIT51272BB1339
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148356

2x Intel BXSTS100A Active heat sink with fixed fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835203002

2x Intel Xeon E5620 Westmere 2.4GHz LGA 1366 80W Quad-Core Server Processor BX80614E5620
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117234

Total cost: ~$3,000 after tax and shipping


APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within the next month.

BUDGET RANGE: around $3,000 - $3,500

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: number crunching, high concurrency and high memory, email

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: monitor, keyboard, mouse

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: don't care.

OVERCLOCKING: No.

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: N/a

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Our requirements are general. The system will be running high-memory and multi-core applications, so we are attempting to maximize those. We might add more memory later, but 24GB to start seems reasonable. We are willing to flex the budget slightly.

Thoughts? Have we missed anything obvious?

Thank you!
 

goalguy876

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May 29, 2010
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A 9500gt is old techonology. If you can spend 3k on a computer, I would get at LEAST a 5770 or better, or a gtx 460 or better. If your using multiple monitors it can help with that. Also, switch out your hard drives for Samsung Spinpoint f3s. A lot cheaper and basically just as fast.
 

sp12

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Aug 15, 2010
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This is for number crunching. Assuming you have no GPGPU offload capability in software yet, a GT210 or something would be more than fine for outputting to a monitor.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Hi all,
Great, thanks for the feedback. We were planning to attach 2 monitors to this computer, so perhaps I should upgrade the video card. We currently have no capability of using the GPU, but we are starting to explore GPGPU offload, especially CUDA.

Do you guys have any thoughts on the power supply? I assume 850 watts should be plenty.
 

blackhawk1928

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Seeing how your computer uses require a powerful CPU. You should consider changing your hardware to provide more power and higher upgradability. If you buy the Intel Xeon Westmere X5680, you get a hex-cored CPU at 3.33Ghz with plenty overclocking potential as its 32nm. It will be extremely powerful. And if paired with an EVGA SR2 dual motherboard, it will allow you to upgrade by putting another 5680 in the other socket for the future. This motherboard supports 48GB of ram and has 12 ram slots. It supports tons of add-on cards with its numurous PCI slots. I would sacrifice some other parts to go cheaper and get this MB/CPU combo.
 
G

Guest

Guest
I took at those components blackhawk and unfortunately they might be a little out of our price range, but I will certainly investigate faster 6 score alternatives.
 

blackhawk1928

Distinguished
Okay, I put together this build, just trying, you might like so i'll give it a go:

CPU: 2x Intel Xeon X5650 Westmere
GPU:ATI Radeon HD 5450
PSU:Corsair 850TX
RAM: 2x Crucial Triple Channel 12GB ECC
HDD: 2x Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB
ODD:Asus DVD Drive
Case:Chenbro SR20969
MB:Asus Z8NA-D6C

Now, if you add these exact parts to a wish list on newegg, the totaling cost $3479.33. This leaves $20 to order that molex adapter you wanted and is just under your budget limit. This build gives you pretty much everything the one you have except I added a cheaper and faster hard drive, a cheaper case, a cheaper motherboard, and maybe a few other things. However, you get 2 six cored CPU's. It isn't the 5680 but its one a little weaker with a lower clock. But you will get 24 Virtual Cores in this system as there are two six-cored processors and 24GB of ram. If this build is pushing it, fine, the build you offered in your opening post was fine, but still worth a try.
 
G

Guest

Guest
blackhawk, that build is very tempting. Thanks very much for your help. We'll be making the purchase shortly -- hopefully it will be the 12 core!
 
G

Guest

Guest
Also, while I have you guys / gals: can you recommend a PSU that actually has 2 8pin plugs? The 4 to 8pin adapter seems like a hard hack.