Is it a good idea? Where am i wrong?

[Feänor]

Hi everyone. I just came across some huge deal, an amd opteron 4122, for 110$. That's six core running at 2,2 ghz. I just wanted to know if there's any affordable way to assemble a 2 or 4 socket motherboard with 2 or 4 of those and a few gpu's. A 12 core system,even running at 2,2 ghz should do quite some ppd.

I think the problem is choosing the right motherboard and memory. I'm open to any suggestion or offer on that.

Other than that, i already have a corsair tx850 power supply (70A), hard drive, and gpus (gtx 470 or gtx 460 or gtx 275 co-op). I know my case can take e-atx motherboard (stacker 830).

And finally, could it run windows 7 or must it be dedicated? Could i use normal software and run games on it, or will it be only useable by an advance computer tech (which i'm not)?

Could it be better than my i7 rig in ppd performance?

 

[erocker]

Don't bother. The 4122 is not a six core to begin with, it's a quad. Retail seems to be about $110 dollars on them as well.

 

[Feänor]

You're right for the spec, i didn't realized that the ad title had an error in it. Sorry.

But even as a 8/16 core setup, would it cost me a kidney to fold on that kind of rig? trading my 8 HT core system to 16 real ones seems a gain, at least on paper, no?

 

[digibucc]

You're right for the spec, i didn't realized that the ad title had an error in it. Sorry.

But even as a 8/16 core setup, would it cost me a kidney to fold on that kind of rig? trading my 8 HT core system to 16 real ones seems a gain, at least on paper, no?

well you have time to do the research, as erocker said - that is the going price, not some huge deal.

 

[deathmore]

looks like the 4000 series only support a max of 2 processors and the 6000 is up to 4 processors. super micro might have a dual socket board.

 

[Feänor]

If i understand you all, the project, while it could be done, is not worth the time/$ i would spend in it? I mean i'll have to sell my cpu/mobo/ram, then find the server cpu/mobo/ram in canada or on ebay. I tough that multi socket would be more ppd/$, but maybe not...

 

[BUCK NASTY]

If i understand you all, the project, while it could be done, is not worth the time/$ i would spend in it? I mean i'll have to sell my cpu/mobo/ram, then find the server cpu/mobo/ram in canada or on ebay. I tough that multi socket would be more ppd/$, but maybe not...

I would stick with the i7. I have priced multi-CPU server builds and it gets expensive and the power draw will be more. What kind of TPF/WU's is the i7 doing now?

 

[bogmali]

I'm loading Windows right now on my 16-core (4) quad core Opteron 8346HE. Once that is done it will be a dedicated folder for -bigadv. Pics to follow later.

This is my motherboard........

TYAN S4985G3NR Thunder n4250QE Quad 1207(F) NVIDIA...

 

[Feänor]

That's quite a motherboard, with a hell of a special!

Is it possible to use the computer normally, or does it require a special version of windows 7, and other special software. I'm asking this because i can't have many system at home, and i'll have to be able to do day-to-day computing and fold at the same time, so no dual boot or anything.

Also, is 1gb of ram per cpu enough?. I'm usind a hair under 1gb for the a3_core.exe now, so will the opteron use more?

 

[bogmali]

I'm finding out that in order to get all four CPU's to show and utilized is you have to use a server OS. I have 2GB per CPU on mine so it should be more than enough.

 

[Feänor]

Could you tell me what the difference between windows server 2008 and 7 ?

 

[mstenholm]

Win 7 only support 2 CPU´s

 

[mstenholm]

I'm loading Windows right now on my 16-core (4) quad core Opteron 8346HE. Once that is done it will be a dedicated folder for -bigadv. Pics to follow later.

This is my motherboard........

TYAN S4985G3NR Thunder n4250QE Quad 1207(F) NVIDIA...

I'm looking forward to some results from that rig. 16x1.8 GHz might be as good as "8"*3.8 GHz (standard i7 OC). I guess that you can't OC them?

 

[BUCK NASTY]

I'm looking forward to some results from that rig. 16x1.8 GHz might be as good as "8"*3.8 GHz (standard i7 OC). I guess that you can't OC them?

While the scalability and stability will be nice for that platform, I'm curious of the power consumption. My i7-870's @3.9ghz/no GPU consume 230watts while folding.

Bog, those CPU are similar to Phenom x4's with a lower clock, correct? Definitely want to see how it scales with SMP2 and -bigadv.

 

[Feänor]

If i'm following, i will not tell easily the difference between the sr2 and standard 7, other than in the supported devices. There is only more possibilities than 7, it's not a different one?

And i must admit i'll follow closely your rig bogmali, as i really think i would go pretty much like you. It'll be very interesting to see the way many slow cores fold and how much power will they use...

 

[bogmali]

Ran into an issue, might have to RMA the board since I cannot run all four CPU's without having random reboots. Have 2 CPU's installed right now and she's running fine. I have Windows Storage Server 2008 installed right now, will run some initial figures later on. More to follow.

 

[bogmali]

Well, project stalled at the moment. Will have to RMA the board back to Tyan. I won't complete boot on 4p config and not stable on 2p when I put some load on the cpu. As a consolation, here is a screenie of my dual Opteron 2350 server that I folded for a short while just so you folks have an idea: