£5k to spend - go nuts

[Micronaut]

Hi, I have used overclockers forum for advice on my home computer builds and have had great results. I have a question about a machine for research work. I require the fastest possible computer to process uncompressed tiff images from a confocal microscope. The images are typically around 40mb each in sets of 50-100. The software I use performs image analysis on these which uses extensive computer time.

I have a budget of around £5k and would like to build a machine that includes a high resolution / quality monitor and as much computing horsepower as possible.

Current build from a colleague using the Apple store (!) was as follows:

16gb (8x2gb ddr3) ram
4x nvidia geforce GT 120 512mb
2x1tb 7200rpm SATA
2x 2.66Ghz quad-core Intel Xeon CPU's
30" Apple flat planel display

I've lost touch with the Intel and nvidia/ati roadmaps and would like to know what the overclockers forum users would build to get the best bang for your buck for £5k. I have no preference on Intel/AMD or nvidia/ati. The system wont be used for gaming or 3D graphics rendering, just the mathematical algorithms to process large image files and some decent fast storage drives and a good screen to view them on.

Thanks for any assistance.

PS, I don't need to fill the £5k. A more cost effective machine would be fine

 

[Micronaut]

And if you dont want to overclock then get the fastest I7 you can afford....

Deffo dont buy that apple spec.

Why do they suggest 4 graphics cards?

Thanks for the responses. Much appreciated.

It was just a first pass costing with the generic "high spec rig" from Apple. I guess the high spec build is aimed at gamers, the gpu's 3D hardware would never be used in our application as the software doesn't use CUDA or any GPGPU type stuff. This is why I thought a more customized inventory from yourselves would be more suitable and cost effective.

 

[Micronaut]

OK well if you can say if you are overclocking or not that will help the choices.....

Maybe. I'm comfortable with overclocking Intel chips. I would prefer to run them at stock speed so they are stable during the data processing (if they crash in the middle of the night.. unlikley.. but they would kill me!) They have the cash so could just buy a fast processor.

 

[Micronaut]

Thanks for the replies. Much appreciated. I had lost track of the Intel road maps (the last chip I bought was an E4500!), particularly the high end stuff. We will be going with a server type machine rather than a desktop, as recommended, and stuffing it with as much ram and storage as possible. We can use an existing NAS for storage as well. The software does use multi-threading and is being developed for CUDA so some kind of high end Quadro graphics card might be worth investing in. We are in communication with the software developers for their recommended chipsets and will have to investigate the graphics hardware. The 1st pass quote of 4x sli geforce cards was not optimum as pointed out by many replies, and was their generic "high end machine". The Apple quote was why I got involved in the purchasing as I could see the system could be optimized towards its particular application than buying an off the shelf "fast computer" and probably save some money (particularly the Geforce 120's). So I headed to overclockers forums for some quick re-training in what was current!

We will probably get a pre-built server from a manufacturer like Dell to get their on-site support and warranty, which means no water cooling or overclocking, but the budget should provide enough room to get sufficiently fast stock processor speeds. I had a look at the Cray CX1 but they start at £24k which is a bit too high!

I'm interested to see what the Gulftown Xeon 5600 or I7 series are like. There might be time to wait until they are released.

I wish a was a rich gaming noob with a £5k budget.... although if they decide to get a Quadro card it might run Crysis....