Crunching farm considerations

[Dirk Broer]

TDP be what is may be, but while comparing TDP values between Intel and AMD CPUs can't reliably be done due to difference in definition used, TDP values between AMD cpu's are at least comparable.

What does AMD offer at the moment?
My 'set and forget' x86-architecture section presently runs on the AM1 platform, three AMD Athlon 5350 quad-core APUs (SOCs really) with a TDP of 25 Watt, so 6.25 Watt TDP per core/thread,
and one Gemini Lake platform Intel J5005 quad-core SOC with a TDP of 10 Watt, so 2.5 Watt TDP per core/thread. All four are iTX systems.
Must they be replaced with something newer? If yes, by what?



CPU/APU
TDP in Watt
Cores
Threads
TDP/Core
TDP/Thread


Bristol Ridge







AMD A6-9500

65

2

2

32.5

32.5


AMD A6-9500E

35

2

2

17.5

17.5


AMD A8-9600

65

4

4

16.25

16.25


AMD A8-9600E

35

4

4

8.75

8.75


AMD A10-9700

65

4

4

16.25

16.25


AMD A10-9700E

35

4

4

8.75

8.75


AMD A12-9800

65

4

4

16.25

16.25


AMD A12-9800E

35

4

4

8.75

8.75


Raven Ridge







Athlon 200GE

35

2

4

17.5

8.75


Ryzen 3 2200G

45-65

4

4

11.25-16.25

11.25-16.25


Ryzen 3 2200GE

35

4

4

8.75

8.75


Ryzen 5 2400G

45-65

4

8

11.25-16.25

5.625-8.125


Ryzen 5 2400GE

35

4

8

8.75

4.375


Picasso







Ryzen 3 3300G

65

6

12

10.83

5.416


Ryzen 5 3600G

95

8

16

11.875

5.937



At the moment the Ryzen 3 2400GE looks like an ideal candidate to replace my aging Athlon 5350's, but I have yet to encounter one in the wild.
The 'set and forget' section only needs a SSD and RAM sticks, so a board with an A320 chipset should be enough. iTX A320 boards do exist (Asrock),
but here too I have yet to encounter one in the wild. The local agent (Asrock Europe) does not stock them, AFAIK.
A MSI B450 iTX board might be a good alternative though -and a well-ventilated iTX case to provide the much needed VRM cooling when you decide
to let go of the -top-down blowing- stock cooler, in favour of a huge cooling tower. Fortunately I have such a case.
To be continued...

[Dirk Broer]

My 2nd tier of x86 machine are APUs too: 65 Watt TDP FM1 and FM2 quad-core/quad thread APUs in μATX boards.
These can be replaced with the Ryzen 5 2400Gs (or, if I hold my breath a little longer: the Ryzen 3 3300G) and B450 chipset μATX boards look ideal for them for now.

The third x86 tier are also APUs: 100 Watt TDP FM1 and FM2 quad-core/quad thread APUs in ATX boards.
These too can be replaced with the Ryzen 5 2400Gs (or, if I hold my breath a little longer: the Ryzen 5 3600G). B450 μATX boards look ideal for those now.

The final x86 tier is at present my Intel i7-3770. This should be replaced at least with a Ryzen 7 1700, and a Ryzen 7 2700 would be better still.
Holding ones breath in this case is waiting for the Ryzen 7 3700 (12-core/24-thread). I am presently thinking of X470 ATX boards for this tier.



CPU/APU
TDP in Watt
Cores
Threads
TDP/Core
TDP/Thread


Bristol Ridge







AMD AthlonX4

65

4

4

16.250

16.250


Summit Ridge







Ryzen 3 1200

65

4

4

16.250

16.250


Ryzen 3 1300X

65

4

4

16.250

16.250


Ryzen 5 1400

65

4

8

16.250

8.125


Ryzen 5 1500X

65

4

8

16.250

8.125


Ryzen 5 1600

65

6

12

10.8333

5.4166


Ryzen 5 1600X

95

6

12

15.8333

7.9166


Ryzen 7 1700

65

8

16

8.1250

4.0625


Ryzen 7 1700X

95

8

16

11.8750

5.9375


Ryzen 7 1800X

95

8

16

11.8750

5.9375


Pinnacle Ridge







Ryzen 3 2300X

65

4

4

16.25000

16.25000


Ryzen 5 2500X

65

4

8

16.25000

8.12500


Ryzen 5 2600E

45

6

12

7.50000

3.75000


Ryzen 5 2600

65

6

12

10.83333

5.41666


Ryzen 5 2600X

95

6

12

15.83333

7.91666


Ryzen 7 2700E

45

8

16

5.62500

2.81250


Ryzen 7 2700

65

8

16

8.12500

4.06250


Ryzen 7 2700X

105

8

16

13.12500

6.56250


Matisse







Ryzen 3 3300

50

6

12

8.33333

4.16666


Ryzen 3 3300X

65

6

12

10.83333

5.41666


Ryzen 5 3600

65

8

16

8.12500

4.06250


Ryzen 5 3600X

95

8

16

11.87500

5.93700


Ryzen 7 3700

95

12

24

7.91600

3.95800


Ryzen 7 3700X

105

12

24

8.75000

4.37500


Ryzen 9 3800X

125

16

32

7.81250

3.90625


Ryzen 9 3850X

135

16

32

8.43750

4.21875



Performance comes at a price, we all know that. Low TDP's comes with lesser performance though, in general.
But be sure that the Ryzen 9 3800X packs enough performance. The Pinnacle Ridge E models might be lacking somewhat though.

[plonk420]

At the moment the Ryzen 3 2400GE looks like an ideal candidate to replace my aging Athlon 3850's, but I have yet to encounter one in the wild.
The 'set and forget' section only needs a SSD and RAM sticks, so a board with an A320 chipset should be enough. iTX A320 boards do exist (Asrock),
but here too I have yet to encounter one in the wild.

you can come close if you set a 2400G to run in 45 watt tdp mode. looks like on ebay, there are full GE system builds for $500-800.

also, for the price premium of ITX boards (especially if you're trying to spend minimally on the setup), IMO i think uATX is the better deal

[Dirk Broer]

you can come close if you set a 2400G to run in 45 watt tdp mode. looks like on ebay, there are full GE system builds for $500-800.

also, for the price premium of ITX boards (especially if you're trying to spend minimally on the setup), IMO i think uATX is the better deal

The main problem with μATX boards for me is that they do not fit in my SFF iTX-only casings.
https://images.anandtech.com/doci/6192/Small%20(3%20of%209).jpg
The latter have -with me- the advantage of an inbuilt 90 Watt PSU, which lowers the power usage (https://www.pcper.com/news/Editorial/AMD-AM1-Retested-60-Watt-Power-Supply).
During the height of the AM1 days AM1 iTX systems costed next to nothing...

[plonk420]

ah. didn't know you already had them

maybe this in the near future?? https://www.anandtech.com/show/13885/the-true-shortest-am4-motherboard-thinitx-comes-to-amd

[Dirk Broer]

And what about Ryzen Threadripper in a crunching farm?

The 32-core/64-thread Threadripper 2990WX is -for me- the only variant that has a good tdp/thread RATIO, due to the much higher tdp of this line of CPUs (180 watt for the eight-core Threadripper 1900X is a bit steep).
If you do have the money for it: Go! More PCIe lanes, room for 128 GB quad-channel RAM, etc.

[Dirk Broer]

ah. didn't know you already had them

maybe this in the near future?? https://www.anandtech.com/show/13885/the-true-shortest-am4-motherboard-thinitx-comes-to-amd

I am thinking of modding old PC's (e.g. IBM PS/2's or Compaq's) to 'sleepers' with thin iTX mobo's.
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/YaP_UQpGEDw/maxresdefault.jpg

[Dirk Broer]

I am currently in the process of moving up one floor (back to the attic) and while disconnecting PC's I will replace my FM1-based machines with AM4 ones.
Tier 2 will from now on be with 35 Watt TDP machines (instead of 65 Watt ones), tier 3 goes back from 100 Watt to 65 Watt TDP.
Hopefully this will lower my powerbill, while the number of active threads actually increases.

[Dirk Broer]

The Threadripper 3990X from an unexpected perspective: cheapest operational costs per thread:
https://z-p3-scontent-amt2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/84568206_1346285262209668_8181030946389098496_n.jp g?_nc_cat=109&_nc_ohc=74jj1tnO_pQAX9kt6Qt&_nc_ht=z-p3-scontent-amt2-1.xx&oh=dbef6a0ec376a07dac8d140443170e85&oe=5ECFB4C0
And the 65 Watt tdp 12-core Ryzen 9 3900 (so without 'X') has the most L3 cache per core/thread, while staying close to the lowest tdp levels per core/thread. The hypothetical 48-core Threadripper 3980X would be of equal level. The 'X' model of course has the same L3 values.
Note that the Intel SOCs and CPUs all have IGPs here, just as the Athlons and the Ryzen 5's (that of the Pentium G2120T isn't useable in BOINC though).