Something new for Me....

[Terry1953]

I'm going to try and put together an Intel (ich!) rig. I haven't built anything Intel in about 18 years or a new rig for myself since 2005. I think I have the list together but I'd be interested in any comments or suggestions. Keep in mind I pay almost nothing for electricity. Running 6 crunching rigs with 3 6870's, a 6850 and a 6670 last month my bill only went up $20. Here's the list:



Intel Core i7-3820 Sandy Bridge-E 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 2011 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80619i73820
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115229

ASUS Sabertooth X79 LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131801

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B (Total of 16GB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145345

SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series MZ-7PD128BW 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820147192

MSI AMD Radeon HD 7950 3GB GDDR5 DVI/HDMI/2xMini DisplayPort PCI-Express Video Card R7950 TWIN FROZR 3GD5/OC (2 maybe 3 of these)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...on=refurbished

CORSAIR HX Series HX850 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139011

COOLER MASTER Storm Sniper SGC-6000-KXN1-GP Black Steel, ABS Plastic, Mesh bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119194

ASUS DVD Burner 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B3ST/BLK/G/AS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827135240

I ordered the lumber today to build a 16 by 24 shed (split in half, 1/2 for lawn equipment and 1/2 for a computer room with a 200 amp electrical service).

[NeoGen]

Looks like a very nice list of components there Terry!

But what is going to be the main purpose of the machine? If it's a sole crunching machine I would trade in the SSD and get a regular hard drive for half the price (SSD does not give more boinc credits ), and also do away with the DVD Burner (I myself have an external USB one that I use when needed only).

But of course if it is a multi-purpose machine that may also be crunching then I agree with those components, I love my little Samsung 830 SSD, no more waiting forever until windows boots or opening applications. I would still do away with the DVD burner as I said before, my external USB one is more than I need for all my 3 machines. For future upgrade sake I would shoot for a higher wattage PSU... you never now 6 to 12 months down the road you might want to add a second GPU, possibly an 8000 series whenever they come out, and knowing how they are power hungry I do suggest higher wattage PSU for being ready for the future.

On the CPU, for a few more bucks, how about the Core i7-3770K (multiplier unlocked )
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116501
Unfortunately this will not be compatible with the listed motherboard, so you would have to look up a different one.

[Dirk Broer]

Wait a little while and Ivy Bridge-E will come out (Q3 2013, just after Haswell).
Socket 2011 is quad-channel, so you'd better use 4x2GB for 8 GB. I would stick in 4x4Gb to give the hyperthreaded threads enough memory.
If I were to build an Intel system I would either go for a Socket 1155 i7-3770K -as Neogen suggested-, or wait for Socket 1150 Haswell.

[Terry1953]

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B (Total of 16GB)

and

MSI AMD Radeon HD 7950 3GB GDDR5 DVI/HDMI/2xMini DisplayPort PCI-Express Video Card R7950 TWIN FROZR 3GD5/OC (2 maybe 3 of these)

The 2 above I had. And I like the idea of the 3770 and the bigger power supply because you just never know where the future is going. Who thought 10 years ago you would ever need a 750w power supply? I plan on 2 7950's and maybe a third. As for the use this is going to be my personal machine and I'm going to retire the 4800+ to just crunching. It was a $300 CPU new and after 8 years I think I got my moneys worth. I'll keep the 6870 in it and just let it run with Moo. Not sure when I'll build this but it'll probably be when the shed is done and I can move into it. Any more machines in this room and I'll have to run another circuit in here. I pop the breaker on occasion now.


Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116501

ASUS Maximus V FORMULA LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Extended ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131854

ENERMAX Maxrevo EMR1500EWT 1500W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817194106

And thanks for the help guys.

[Terry1953]

The wife just let me know that if I'm going to spend this kind of money on a new system I have to protect it. So she insists that I get a good battery backup. So I'll order one of these:

Tripp Lite SU1500XL Smart Online 1500 VA 1200 Watts 6 Outlets Extended Runtime Tower UPS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16842111148

It'll let the machine go down easy when we get the power bouncing up and down like it tends to do here every so often.

[vaughan]

i5-3570k overclocks easily to 4.2GHz and is approx $100 cheaper than the i7. I like the Gigabyte motherboards, UD3H is adequate for a cruncher but the UD7 has more PCIe 16x lanes but is dearer. I try to put 4x4GB Corsair Vengeance RAM in these days. Try for a Corsair AX modular power supply, platinum rated. A small SSD is good for the operating system, fast bootup etc but they are prone to die unexpectedly. The Samsung 840 you selected is a good choice if you must have SSD. MSI Twin Frozr GPU is good or ASUS Direct Copper but they take 3 slots; also Gigabyte windforce 3s are nice and cool.

Or ... wait a month for the June release of Haswell; supposed to be 10 percent faster

(( I am ))

[Dirk Broer]

i5-3570k overclocks easily to 4.2GHz and is approx $100 cheaper than the i7.

But an i5-3570K will run only 4 WUs, while the i7-3770K will do 8. The i7 is only 80 Euro's more expensive here.
And when you are prepared to buy the previous generation: An i5-2500K is just as expensive as an i5-3570K,
but the i7-2700K is only 40 Euro's more, and rumoured to be a far better overclocker than the i7-3770K due to the better thermal paste under the heatspreader.

But Haswell is indeed said to be even 10% faster than Ivy Bridge (and roughly 20% faster than Sandy Bridge) and has a much more crunching-capable IGP it seems.

[vaughan]

However, SB are unavailable here. The i7 IB are only hyperthreaded 8 cores, so only 4 real cores like the i5. Put a water cooler on and it will clock to 4.5GHz if you get a good chip.

The temperature output between an overclocked i5-3570k and a stock AMD 8350 is amazing. AMD is too hot = inefficient. Have them in side-by-side crunchers back home and the back of the hand test is very telling.

[Dirk Broer]

Hyperthreaded cores may not be real cores, but BOINC does not really seem to notice that.
My own i3-2100 (with only two real cores) is running 4 WU's 24/7.
Compared to my A8-3870K it only has a completely wasted IGP (Intel HD 2000), otherwise they perform pretty equal -on CPU projects-.
(The A8-3870K at the moment keeping Patrick Harnett of Sicituradastra at bay on SLinCA)

[Dirk Broer]

My own musings about someting new give an entirely different system, as electricity here is ten times as expensive as compared to Terry's Tennessee, and I am still without job, so I have to make every penny count.
New Mobo: Gigabyte GA-F2A85X-UP4, praying that upcoming Kaveri will still be compatible with this board. This Gigabyte board will support up to 2666Mhz memory and the IGP within Trinity/Richland knows how to use faster memory. If need be, there can be up to three video cards fitted into this board.
Memory: 4x4Gb G.Skill RipjawsX F3-17000CL9D-8GBXM, both fast and low latencies at an affordable price. And there's already 2x4Gb of it in my present top-Llano system.
New CPU: A10-5700 (Trinity) or A10-6700 (Richland), as they only use 65 Watt.
Discrete Graphics: I'll re-use my Sapphire HD 6670 2Gb DDR3 that consumes around 40 to 45 Watt, but has an SP performance of 1,500 GFlop.
PSU: OCZ ModXStream Pro, 500Watt. I have three of these at the moment and they serve me well.
Casing: Corsair Carbide 200R, a good casing for less than 50 Euro's.

This, plus the re-use of existing HDD and CD-Burner, gives you a modern new system at an affordable price. I hope to be able to build it around my next birthday, coming August.