Ok, I'll give it a shot

Compucase Voyager Black 0.5mm Thickness SECC ATX Mid Tower Steel ATX Tower Computer Case with HD Audio, 8cm Silent Fans and USB 2.0
Model #:Voyager
Item #:N82E16811121128 $24.99

EVGA 02G-P4-3753-KR G-SYNC Support GeForce GTX 750 Ti Superclocked 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 Video Card 2 Cards $319.98

LG Internal Super Multi Drive SATA Model - GH24NSB0B $17.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Desktop Memory Model F3-8500CL7S-4GBRL
Model #:F3-8500CL7S-4GBRL 2 (8 GB total) $75.98

EVGA 110-B2-0750-VR 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Power Supply
Model #:110-B2-0750-VR $99.99

GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+ AMD 990FX + SB950 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
Model #:GA-990FXA-UD3 $128.00

AMD FX-8320E Vishera 8-Core 3.2GHz (4.0GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 95W Desktop Processor FD832EWMHKBOX
Model #:FD832EWMHKBOX $149.99

Western Digital WD Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive
Model #:WD5000AAKX $59.99

Rosewill RK-200 Black USB Wired Standard Keyboard
Model #:RK-200 $7.99

Microsoft Windows Home Premium 64-bit - OEM
Model #:FQC-08289 $99.99

USB LED3 Button 3D Optical Wired Mice Mouse Scroll Wheel For PC Computer Laptop Windows98 SE/ ME/ 2000/ XP / VISTA / Win7 & Mac
Model #:I33e $13.59

Total $1000.48
rebates 48.06
Final cost $952.42



Options
HDMI cable 8 ft (to your tv) $4.41 from Monoprice
PCIe 1x to 16 x Riser $4.00 from Ebay
2 additional GTX 750ti $319.98
Cooler Master Sleeve Bearing 120mm Silent Fan for Computer Cases, CPU Coolers, and Radiators (Value 4-Pack) $15.99 Saving $5 final cost $10.99 ( I'd change out the 8cm fan and put in at least 1-120 mm fan for exhaust. The other 3 can be place around the case as needed.)

With the options (if my math is correct) raised cost to $1291.80 but these can be added later as funds become available, giving
final cruncher with 4 GTX 750 Ti and an 8 core to feed them. No CPU crunching.

Edit..I went with a traditional HD as opposed to SSD drive due to the continual write/rewrite which I believes leads to quicker failure of the SSD drive.(covered in another thread elsewhere)

I,ll keep all this in mind for hopefully my next build but my GF will probably divorce me if I do it. So I'll have to choose.

I,ll keep all this in mind for hopefully my next build but my GF will probably divorce me if I do it. So I'll have to choose.

Ah the life choices we have to make and the decisions we have to take.

Seems like many of you are choosing AMD CPU's instead of Intel's. Is there any specific reason for that? power? better at seti? price? or just a personal preference?

---

Seems like many of you are choosing AMD CPU's instead of Intel's. Is there any specific reason for that? power? better at seti? price? or just a personal preference?

I don't really understand why myself even if they do cost less than Intel to start with, but in the end they don't come close in performance and the cost savings will soon disappear when the power bills arrive.

Cheers.

A system set up for GPU work only doesn't need the fastest CPU. Not only are AMD CPUs cheaper, but the corresponding AMD motherboards are cheaper as well. Plus saving money on the CPU/motherboard allows one to budget that much more for the GPU.

Good idea. Didn't think of that. Don't know about the power though.

A system set up for GPU work only doesn't need the fastest CPU. Not only are AMD CPUs cheaper, but the corresponding AMD motherboards are cheaper as well. Plus saving money on the CPU/motherboard allows one to budget that much more for the GPU.

Completely agreed there.

Also note that the AMD CPUs compare well for data throughput in that you get full-speed cores with the AMD design rather than the Intel cores effectively running at half speed for the Intel two "Hyperthreads" per one real core.

AMD do the "Hyperthread" trick instead for their FPUs where two physical cores share one floating-point unit. For most people, that is a very effective setup.

And then the other variation is the AMD "APU" and their rather interesting heterogeneous computing whereby you have the CPU and a GPGPU on the same chip with equal access to the system RAM. In one respect, that can give a good speedup with added flexibility. However, I do wonder if you lose out on the higher GPU dedicated memory bandwidth available for discrete graphics cards...


From when I looked, going for an AMD CPU and a good general purpose GPU looked to be the optimum fit for cost/performance.


Happy fast crunchin',
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

AMD do the "Hyperthread" trick instead for their FPUs where two physical cores share one floating-point unit. For most people, that is a very effective setup.

The only issue I have had with some of the AMD chips (example 8350) is as follows. As stated above, 2 physical core share 1 floating point unit. This does cause problems when you are stressing that chip (lock up, freezes, reboots). I found that trying to do both CPU crunching (utilizing 8 cores for 8 work units) or doing a half and half with the GPUs (4 work units on 4 of the cores and leaving the other 4 for support 4 GPUs) lead to these issues. However, no CPU crunching and leaving the chip to support and feed the GPUs (and running multiple work units on each of those GPUs) it ran without problems.

Conclusion (for me)...Only do GPU crunching (higher RAC anyway and faster) with these AMD chips. I've not found so much of an issue with higher AMD chips (at least not as often but then I don't do a lot of half/half on them)

Just FYI for any new members who choose to go this route. Sorry for going off topic.

I have no issues running 4 cores on my FX 8350.
Getting good times on CPU and have enough ressources to feed my fast GPU.

---

With each crime and every kindness we birth our future.

If you think only in SETI (and most of the Boinc GPU projects), what is important is the GPU not the CPU itself, practicaly any modern CPU (you need 4 cores and up if you intend to run 2 GPU on the same MB) is capable to feed most of the modern GPUs.

So for SETI, is better spend your money in bigger/faster GPU than CPU. The unwrited roule still valid, if you want more RAC buy the biggest/fastest GPU you could.

Looking NV only actualy the 750Ti it´s a clear winner in SETI but IMHO instead of 2x750Ti you should go for a single 970 and leave the other slot free (2x970 it´s better but cost a lot more), who knows the future? Maybe in some time you could buy a second 970 (or wathever avaiable at that time). Remember the number of PCIe slots is a real bottleneck for furute expansions.

One point is important if you go for the 750Ti, choose one who use the extra 6 pin VGA power connector. Your CPU main power connector will thanks you for that.

Take a look on my hosts all are powered by low end CPU´s (slow & old I5 & Quads) but driving high end GPUs (670/690/780). They don´t even do any CPU crunching, since i keep the cores free to feed the GPU´s for better performance (more crunched WU/hr).

I use only Intel CPU but that´s is for a personal choice, as posted by Wiggo they could cost more but runs cooler and uses less power than their AMD counter fits. But there are a lot of users (like Mike/Zalster) who uses AMD based hosts and are very satisfied with them. So choose one family, any one, and go for it, just keep in mind, 4 cores and up if you will going to run 2 GPU´s on the host, And dont forget for SETI, save your money on the CPU and spend on the GPU.

---

I had a dream build in mind. And this what my current idea is. Or you can call it. "Throw the budget out the window."

This is the list price version.
Motherboard • $399.99 Asus X99-Deluxe Motherboard - LGA 2011-v3 Socket, Intel® Core™ i7 Processors, 8 x DIMM, max. 64GB, DDR4 - X99-DELUXE
Case • $189.99 Corsair Graphite 760T White Full Tower Window Case - 9 x Expansion Slots, 3 x 140mm LED Fans, 2 x Front 3.0 USB Connectors, 2 x Front 2.0 USB Connectors - CC-9011045-WW
CPU • $679.99 Intel Core i7-5930K CPU - Six Cores, 3.5GHz, Unlocked, 15MB Cache, 4 Channels DDR4, 140W, Socket 2011-v3 - BX80648I75930K
CPU Cooler • $119.99 Corsair Hydro Series CW-9060009-WW H100i Extreme Liquid/Water CPU Cooler - 2 x 120mm Fan, Multi-socket Support, built-in Corsair Link
GPU • $479.99 Sapphire Vapor X Radeon R9 280X TRI X Graphic Card - Vapor X Series, PCI Express 3.0, 1 x HDMI, 1 x DVI I, 1 x DVI D - 11221-12-40G
RAM • $129.99 Corsair 16GB (4x4GB) Vengeance LPX Memory Kit - DDR4, 2800MHz, CL16, PC4-22400, 288-Pin, DIMM, Black - CMK16GX4M4A2800C16
PSU • $199.99 Corsair RM Series™ RM1000 Fully Modular Power Supply Unit - 1000W, 80 Plus® Gold, Fully Modular (CP-9020062-NA)
HDD • $249.99 Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD - 2.5" Form Factor, SATA III 6 Gb/s, Up To 540 MB/s Read Speed, Up To 520 MB/s Write Speed, 7mm Thickness, Samsung 3-core MEX Controller - MZ-7TE250BW
Optical drive • $24.99 Asus DRW-24B1ST 24X Internal DVD Burner
OS • $119.99 Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 32BIT Operating System Software - OEM DVD, English

This is the instant savings and rebates version.
Motherboard • $399.99 Asus X99-Deluxe Motherboard - LGA 2011-v3 Socket, Intel® Core™ i7 Processors, 8 x DIMM, max. 64GB, DDR4 - X99-DELUXE
Case • $139.99 Corsair Graphite 760T White Full Tower Window Case - 9 x Expansion Slots, 3 x 140mm LED Fans, 2 x Front 3.0 USB Connectors, 2 x Front 2.0 USB Connectors - CC-9011045-WW
CPU • $579.99 Intel Core i7-5930K CPU - Six Cores, 3.5GHz, Unlocked, 15MB Cache, 4 Channels DDR4, 140W, Socket 2011-v3 - BX80648I75930K
CPU Cooler • $119.99 Corsair Hydro Series CW-9060009-WW H100i Extreme Liquid/Water CPU Cooler - 2 x 120mm Fan, Multi-socket Support, built-in Corsair Link
GPU • $339.99 Sapphire Vapor X Radeon R9 280X TRI X Graphic Card - Vapor X Series, PCI Express 3.0, 1 x HDMI, 1 x DVI I, 1 x DVI D - 11221-12-40G
RAM • $89.99 Corsair 16GB (4x4GB) Vengeance LPX Memory Kit - DDR4, 2800MHz, CL16, PC4-22400, 288-Pin, DIMM, Black - CMK16GX4M4A2800C16
PSU • $199.99 Corsair RM Series™ RM1000 Fully Modular Power Supply Unit - 1000W, 80 Plus® Gold, Fully Modular (CP-9020062-NA)
HDD • $139.99 Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD - 2.5" Form Factor, SATA III 6 Gb/s, Up To 540 MB/s Read Speed, Up To 520 MB/s Write Speed, 7mm Thickness, Samsung 3-core MEX Controller - MZ-7TE250BW
Optical drive • $19.99 Asus DRW-24B1ST 24X Internal DVD Burner
OS • $89.99 Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 32BIT Operating System Software - OEM DVD, English

This is what I use for protection. You may use other units as you wish.
UPS • $199.99 APC BX1300G Back-UPS XS Battery Backup - 10-Outlet, 1300 VA, 780 Watt, 120 V, 355 Joules, USB, LED Indicators

Optional equipment:
Keyboard, mouse combo • $19.99 Logitech 920-002565 MK120 Keyboard and Mouse Combo - USB, Optical Mouse, 1000 DPI, Spill Resistant Design, Black
Monitor • You are on your own.

Basic CPU build cost Total list price version: $2593.98 usd / 2,044.66 euro / 1,597.20 gbp
USD/EURO/GBP for the period ending Sep 29, 2014 22:00 UTC @ +/- 0%

Basic CPU build cost Total savings and rebates price version: $2119.97 usd / 1,671.03 euro / 1,305.34gbp
USD/EURO/GBP for the period ending Sep 29, 2014 22:00 UTC @ +/- 0%

---

My i5 3570K rig runs 2x GTX660's being fed 3 MB tasks each while all 4 cores are usually doing AP's (MB's are only done on the CPU if it runs out of AP's and none are available from the servers). This rig is my everyday hack and certainly doesn't suffer any lag and freeing a core only cuts down production (though CPU tasks do finish slightly faster). The CPU makes around 9.5K of the rig's total RAC while it's doing AP's.

My i5 2500K rig (my backup rig) while just running 2x GTX550Ti's being fed 2 MB tasks each was setup to do the same, but when I added the GTX560 to it I found that I had to reserve a CPU core because of the overhead of running 3 GPU's. The CPU makes around 7.5K of its total RAC while it's doing AP's.

I do realise that doing AP's on GPU's changes things, but MB's must be done by someone so my GPU's just work on doing them.

Cheers.

The only complaint I have with the rig I built and which now has two very nice gpu's is that it is noisy. It was noisy even before I added the gpu's. The case fans are more like jet engines. My older dell and acer are quiet. Maybe I just bought the wrong case?

What if kind of thing here. Looking at GPU cards and saw this one. My wallet screamed and had a massive heart attack.

NVIDIA QUADRO K6000 Video Graphics Card - Dual-Slot, 12GB GDDR5, 384-bit, PCIe 3.0 x16, DirectX 11, OpenGL 4.3, DisplayPort 1.2, Dual DVI-I/DVI-D

CUDA Cores 2880. 225 Watt

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=9176925&CatId=3599

---

A system set up for GPU work only doesn't need the fastest CPU. Not only are AMD CPUs cheaper, but the corresponding AMD motherboards are cheaper as well. Plus saving money on the CPU/motherboard allows one to budget that much more for the GPU.

The CPU can effect how quickly your GPU tasks run. I had a HD5750 in my HTPC with a i5-4750K@3.4GHz. Running only AP 3 CPU + 1 GPU the GPU times were 70-75 minutes. I upgraded the GPU in the HTPC & moved the HD5750 to my older i7-860@3.46GHz. Running only AP 0 CPU + 1 GPU the GPU times are 85-90 minutes.

---

SETI@home classic workunits: 93,865 CPU time: 863,447 hours
Join the [url=http://tinyurl.com/8y46zvu]BP6/VP6 User Group[

NVIDIA QUADRO K6000 Video Graphics Card - Dual-Slot, 12GB GDDR5, 384-bit, PCIe 3.0 x16, DirectX 11, OpenGL 4.3, DisplayPort 1.2, Dual DVI-I/DVI-D

CUDA Cores 2880. 225 Watt

You could get 12 EVGA GTX 980 SC for that price. Each 980 has 2048 Cuda Cores. That Quadro is for professional graphic designers.

I had a dream build in mind. And this what my current idea is. Or you can call it. "Throw the budget out the window."

OS • $119.99 Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64BIT Operating System Software - OEM DVD, English

This is the instant savings and rebates version.

OS • $89.99 Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64BIT Operating System Software - OEM DVD, English

I would change the bolded versions, 32bit can only access 4GB or RAM.

---

NVIDIA QUADRO K6000 Video Graphics Card - Dual-Slot, 12GB GDDR5, 384-bit, PCIe 3.0 x16, DirectX 11, OpenGL 4.3, DisplayPort 1.2, Dual DVI-I/DVI-D

CUDA Cores 2880. 225 Watt

You could get 12 EVGA GTX 980 SC for that price. Each 980 has 2048 Cuda Cores. That Quadro is for professional graphic designers.

QUADRO GPU´s are for bussines aplications, they have a superior DP performance and quality control, something not needed for SETI or home builds.

I have few QUADRO K4200 on my company and could tell you all for sure makes no sense use them on SETI who only uses SP.

Why? Simply they are too expensive, for the price of one you could buy several top GTX´s but some professional apps realy need them to run.

Totaly out-topic but: One interesting feature of the QUADRO series is you could use RDP with them without crashing the video driver like happening with the Gforce drivers, i allways wandering why Nvidia not do the same on the Gforce.

---

Here's my 2 cents, with existing monitor/keyboard/mouse. Not the most ultimate, but could be within my means:

Intel Core i7-5960X 3.0GHz 201-v3 8 core (16 threads) - 899.99
ASUS X99-A LGA 2011-3 motherboard - 279.00
Corsair Dominator Platinum Series 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 26666MHz - 369.00
Corsair H110 280mm Extreme Performance LCS - 129.99
4 x EVGA GTX750Ti FTW GPU - 680.00
Corsair Carbide Series Air540 High Airflow ATX Cube Case - 139.99
2 x Samsung 850 Pro Series 128GB SSD - 259.99
Samsung 850 Pro Series 1TB SSD - 699.99

Total $3,458.93 USD not including tax

---

I don't buy computers, I build them!!

Here's my 2 cents, with existing monitor/keyboard/mouse. Not the most ultimate, but could be within my means:

Intel Core i7-5960X 3.0GHz 201-v3 8 core (16 threads) - 899.99
ASUS X99-A LGA 2011-3 motherboard - 279.00
Corsair Dominator Platinum Series 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 26666MHz - 369.00
Corsair H110 280mm Extreme Performance LCS - 129.99
4 x EVGA GTX750Ti FTW GPU - 680.00
Corsair Carbide Series Air540 High Airflow ATX Cube Case - 139.99
2 x Samsung 850 Pro Series 128GB SSD - 259.99
Samsung 850 Pro Series 1TB SSD - 699.99

Total $3,458.93 USD not including tax

Then add a quality PSU. ;-)

Cheers.