Thinking about a CPU only cruncher
13 Mar 2016 9:52:19 UTC
Topic 198502
(moderation:
I'm toying with the idea of a CPU cruncher based around a pair of second hand Xeon X5670 hex cores (or similar). The down side with this processor is it doesn't do AVX, but a pair will run 24 SSE2 threads concurrently, and they have 2MB cache per core.
The simple solution is a second hand HP Z600 or Z800, but i'm not adverse to a ATX size mobo build. Finding dual CPU ATX sided CPU motherboards is a challenge.
Budget i guess 500 GBP.
Any comments or ideas?
Thinking about a CPU only cruncher
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I have 3 pc's similar to this, older ones but crank out the credits for me at projects that don't have gpu apps. My pc's are actually a step down from the 5670, mine are dual quad core Xeon's for a total of 16 cores with HT enabled. I buy mine off of Ebay for the $300US range.
RE: I have 3 pc's similar
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Thanks Mikey, I searched around and found you using Xeon E5520s in them. Would those mobos be able to be upgraded to the x5600 series, (they both use LGA1366)?
I wouldn't go 1366 xeons, it
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I wouldn't go 1366 xeons, it is a dead end. If you have not fear of getting ES chips you can get much more for that budget. I would go xeon E5's v2, aka Ivy Bridge, my experience is that they are a significant step ahead of the sandy bridge xeons, i.e. e5 v1. And far superior to any 1366 xeon.
You can find good deals in ebay.
RE: RE: I have 3 pc's
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I don't know I haven't checked, It would depend on the costs for me though, dual cpu machines means I would have to buy two at the same time and that can get expensive. Two of my 16 core, with HT, pc's are HP's and one is a Dell, all are off lease former business machines.
Thanks Mikey and Trotador,
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Thanks Mikey and Trotador, dual LGA 2011 would be nice, but i might struggle to stay within budget.
Search continues.
Check out eBay (USA) prices
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Check out eBay (USA) prices for used LGA 2011 E5-2660 (V1) Xeon CPUs; they are dirt cheap and have a very high price / performance ratio, about 50% faster than the CPUs you proposed.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/INTEL-XEON-SR0GZ-8-CORE-E5-2660-2-20GHz-20M-8GT-s-95W-PROCESSOR-/231855943901?hash=item35fbb0f0dd:g:G6kAAOSwzgRWw5yX
Put them on a motherboard that can handle V2 for later, cheap CPU upgrades when faster used CPUs drop in price and you will have a CPU cruncher that will last for years.
thanks Gamboleer - i checked
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thanks Gamboleer - i checked on ebay and they are practically giving them away (in the US)! 8 Cores for 60USD. That is good value.
with
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with this
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2141725.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.TRS0&_nkw=X9DRL-IF-B&_sacat=0
your preferred DDR3 kit, and your are almost done! :)
RE: with
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One like this is a bit cheaper:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-Precision-490-Dual-Core-Xeon-CPU-2-33GHz-4GB-80GB-FX-1500-Workstation-PC-/230698079051?hash=item35b6ad534b:m:mctRaMonYg4MpxTH2WWRIgA
"The Dell Precision 490 is equipped with up to two Dual or Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5100 and 5300 series 64-bit processors for a total of up to eight execution cores in two sockets." With hyper-threading that would be upto 16 cores.
RE: "The Dell Precision 490
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My host 831490 is a Dell Precision 490, and will be celebrating its tenth birthday as a cruncher later this year (it joined SETI as host 2901600 slightly earlier than it appeared here, and is still active there with an updated GPU - it was built pre-CUDA).
It's running fine, after two OS upgrades (from Windows XP to Vista, and again the Windows 7). Just two comments:
I got the dual quad-core version, but I don't think Xeons of that vintage ever supported HT, so you're probably limited to 8 threads maximum. And the memory - RAMBUS - is quirky and (used to be) expensive. Ideally, get one with RAM in matched sets of four for what they call 'quad channel' operation.