8-core monster crunchers

Winterknight
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Think the max cpu skts that

Think the max cpu skts that you can get with pci-e graphics slot is two, therefore 8 processors. Look for skull trail motherboard, that maybe one word in some places.

tng*
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RE: Yeah, I assume you're

Message 80706 in response to message 80696

Quote:

Yeah, I assume you're talking about Intel's "Nehalem" processor line. It's a fairly big change and more than just a small evolution of Core 2, but they're currently forecasting production beginning Q4 '08. I highly doubt that will immediately include the 8 cores though... probably we'll see 2 and 4 core versions out first.

Factoring in that info, the assumption that "nothing ever goes as planned", etc. I'd guess that you'll first start to see 8-core Nelahem (by that time with a spiffy new retail name) available about a year from now.

Most of the architecture changes look like they'll provide an appreciable benefit to E@H (and many other BOINC projects) so it should be interesting. :)

Bikeman's idea works if you have a whole LOTTA cash laying around and really really want those 8 cores in one box. I looked up the Intel "Skulltrail", which is their 'enthusiast' (not professional) motherboard/CPU platform using the Core 2 Extreme QX9775 (5 at the end denotes that it fits the Xeon socket) and for only $660 for the motherboard and (are you sitting down?) ~$1500 each for the processors, you can build one! Oh, have to use fully buffered DIMMS on it though, and 8Gb of that will set you back about $500...

So, for only $4,000+ you can have bare guts ready to add disks, a case, power supply, monitor, etc. etc. (hehe... no thanks, I think I don't need it) ;)

$4,000+? If you mean US$, you can get a dual-quad crunchbox for far less. Maybe the processors can't quite match the QX9775, and I'm not sure how good it would be as a gaming machine (not a gamer myself), but fine for crunching and ready to go, rather than something you have to build.

I almost hate to do this (giving away my own secrets -- now y'all will be snarfing the deals I could have gotten) but I'll tell you where some of my systems have come from: the Dell outlet site.

At this moment, there is a Precision T7400 workstation with dual Xeon 5450s, 4GB RAM, an 80GB SATA drive, and XP Pro for $2,879. It's not quite a match for a dual QX9775, but for 3/4 the price of of mobo, processors, and memory ($500 for 8GB of FB-DIMMS? Got that much for $300 at Newegg a couple of weeks ago!) you get a working system.

Don't have 3 grand? Maybe you'll have to settle for something less than the hottest processors. How about a Precision T5400, dual 5410s, 4GB RAM, 160 GB SATA, and XP Pro for $1,639. Again, available at this moment.

That's just what I could find in a few seconds. The selection changes constantly, and there are some real deals available.

You can also get some good deals in the PowerEdge server line: Poweredge 2900 III, dual 5420s, 4GB RAM, 3x250GB SATA drives, PERC 6/i RAID card, Windows Server 2003 Standard x64 for $1,909. Check the physical specs on these before you order one. The T5400 and T7400 are minitower and full tower cases, respectively. The PowerEdge 2900 III is 26x18x9 inches and weighs about a hundred pounds. It can be a problem to find a place to put one, and to get it there (voice of experience speaking).

One point that applies to *all* of these systems, in contrast to the systems that I have built, is that two people can stand on opposite sides of that 2900 III and *whisper* to each other. They are quiet.

Not all of my machines are on Einstein at the moment, so lest ye doubt, this is a Poweredge 2900 III.

Spankinmonkee
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Dell is the way to

Dell is the way to go....picked up several with v8 setups for 1000-1400 bucks

quiet and easy on electric

Thunder
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RE: $4,000+? If you mean

Message 80708 in response to message 80706

Quote:
$4,000+? If you mean US$, you can get a dual-quad crunchbox for far less.

Yes, I would agree with you if you build/spec the machine as more of a server than a general purpose/gaming/etc. computer.

I was mostly joking around a bit at intel's one and only offering in the 8-core "enthusiast" PC (not server) market. I personally think you'd have to be as nutty as a fruitcake to build a dual quad gaming rig since so few games can utilize more than 2 cores still, but some folks have more money than brains. ;)

As for "$500 for 8GB of FB-DIMMS?" I figued 2x4Gb products. One must leave room to expand afterall! ;) (again tongue in cheek since I think the board has 8 slots)

Winterknight
Winterknight
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The skull trail only has four

The skull trail only has four RAM slots. The owner of this skull trail computer on Seti is part of the Intel team that demonstrated it on its launch.
He was questioned about the fully buffered RAM and only 4 slots, but he doesn't think that it is a problem, we were not convinced.

Paul D. Buck
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RE: Dell is the way to

Message 80710 in response to message 80707

Quote:

Dell is the way to go....picked up several with v8 setups for 1000-1400 bucks

quiet and easy on electric


Which model?

Spankinmonkee
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RE: RE: Dell is the way

Message 80711 in response to message 80710

Quote:
Quote:

Dell is the way to go....picked up several with v8 setups for 1000-1400 bucks

quiet and easy on electric


Which model?

Dell 690's ...all have v8 platforms and some Dell 490 have v8 motherboards. Have picked them off e-bay as cheap as 900.00 with 1 chip . I look for the E5320 @ 1.86 chips and do bsel mod to them to e5320 @ 2.33..or E5340 @ 2.4 mod to X5340 @ 3.00

_Ryle_
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I heard rumours that nehalem

I heard rumours that nehalem will have something similar to "Hyperthreading" that some P4's had, of course possibly in an enhanced function. I have never owned a hyperthreaded P4, so I wonder how it would work with 8 core cpus, that run 16 threads. Will it be efficient, or just a big bottleneck, you think?

Paul D. Buck
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RE: I heard rumours that

Message 80713 in response to message 80712

Quote:
I heard rumours that nehalem will have something similar to "Hyperthreading" that some P4's had, of course possibly in an enhanced function. I have never owned a hyperthreaded P4, so I wonder how it would work with 8 core cpus, that run 16 threads. Will it be efficient, or just a big bottleneck, you think?


THe HT machines I have owned were about 20%-40% more THROUGHPUT with increased runtimes over running as straight non-HT mode.

In other words, if you can run a project that uses lots of integer and another with lots of FP at the same time you can get substantial improvements in processing. This is because the distribution of tasks to execution units is more effective. But, the straight execution speed is slower ... so, if a task takes 2 hours straight on the single core, in HT mode it will take more like 3 hours, but you will be running two, so the EFFECTIVE speed is 1.5 hours per task ...

It just SEEMS slower ...

Later they just built multi-core processors ... now they are likely hitting walls again and now with the limits to how many cores they can fit on a chip they will look to use the extra space on the wafer to add more processing ...

Bikeman (Heinz-Bernd Eggenstein)
Bikeman (Heinz-...
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I'm a bit puzzled by this

I'm a bit puzzled by this Nehalem. According to Intel marketing, it's a brand new microarchitecture and as such the successor to the Core µ-architecture. But .... why??

Are the differences really that big that it's justified to claim it's something new?
And look how long the P6 architecure was around (all the way from Pentium Pro to the Pentium M or even the Yonah core). The core microarchitecure is still quite new and has since its introduction outclassed the competition, so why already proclaim it outdated?

CU
Bikeman

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