£5k to spend - go nuts

Micronaut

Micronaut

Micronaut

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Joined
5 Oct 2003
Posts
54
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 :)
 
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This will do the job nicely
i7 920 OEM x 1
Corsair H50 x 1
Patriot Viper 6GB (3x2GB) x 2
Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7
Intel X-25m 80gb x 1
Samsung F3 1tb x 2
Coolermaster ATCS 840 x 1
Corsair HX750w x 1
Sapphire 5770 x 1
Dell Ultrasharp 24'' or 30'' depending on what size you want x 1
 
As above but I'd up the SSD to the 160gb version, get a modular psu to save yourself heartache and then choose whatever case you like the best :)

Though I'm not sure if you can match dual Xeons and 16gb ram....
 
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?
 
littlepuppy said:
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?
Click to expand...

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. :)
 
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littlepuppy said:
OK well if you can say if you are overclocking or not that will help the choices.....
Click to expand...

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 said:
I don't need to fill the £5k. A more cost effective machine would be fine :)
Click to expand...

I went as the title says go nuts.....so i did xD

and i didnt even use the whole budget £100 left :D



Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i7 975 3.33Ghz (Nehalem) Extreme Edition (Socket LGA1366) - Retail £786.99

OCZ Vertex Series 250GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (OCZSSD2-1VTX250G) 2x £628.99 = £1,257.98

XFX ATI Radeon HD 5970 Black Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £571.99

Dell UltraSharp U2410 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor £446.99

EVGA Classified 4-Way SLI Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard (170-BL-E762-A1) £417.99

Corsair 12GB (6X2GB) 1600MHz 8-8-8-24 Dominator with DHX+, Supports Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition £357.99

Zalman GT1000 Z-Machine Case - Black £316.73

Seagate Barracuda XT 2TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST32000641AS) £255.99

Pioneer BDR-S03XLB 8x BD-ReWriter / 16x DVD±RW Drive - Black (Retail) £188.99

Corsair HX 1000W ATX Modular SLI Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-1000HXUK) £180.99

Coolermaster V10 TEC Hybrid CPU Cooler (Socket 940/AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1366) £96.98

Sub Total : £4,152.86
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £17.60
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £729.83
Total : £4,900.29
 
w1llyg said:
I went as the title says go nuts.....so i did xD

and i didnt even use the whole budget £100 left :D



Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i7 975 3.33Ghz (Nehalem) Extreme Edition (Socket LGA1366) - Retail £786.99

OCZ Vertex Series 250GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (OCZSSD2-1VTX250G) 2x £628.99 = £1,257.98

XFX ATI Radeon HD 5970 Black Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £571.99

Dell UltraSharp U2410 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor £446.99

EVGA Classified 4-Way SLI Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard (170-BL-E762-A1) £417.99

Corsair 12GB (6X2GB) 1600MHz 8-8-8-24 Dominator with DHX+, Supports Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition £357.99

Zalman GT1000 Z-Machine Case - Black £316.73

Seagate Barracuda XT 2TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST32000641AS) £255.99

Pioneer BDR-S03XLB 8x BD-ReWriter / 16x DVD±RW Drive - Black (Retail) £188.99

Corsair HX 1000W ATX Modular SLI Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-1000HXUK) £180.99

Coolermaster V10 TEC Hybrid CPU Cooler (Socket 940/AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1366) £96.98

Sub Total : £4,152.86
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £17.60
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £729.83
Total : £4,900.29
Click to expand...

Although that is in budget and is very tasty it is a big overkill for him :D
 
Is the software multithreaded, you could spend a fortune on the best specced system around but if the application doing the image analysis is a single threaded 32 bit application you would be no better off spending 5k than you would with a Pentium 4 with 4GB of ram.

And speccing a £600 graphics card??????

How is that possibly needed? (also applies to much of the rest of the system specs most people are posting)

Oh and you generally don't void you warranty by overclocking a company owned machine, if this went badly wrong you could end up in a lot of trouble.

Im also guessing the application is windows based, if so don't buy a mac, as thats just another pointless waste of money.
 
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w1llyg said:
I went as the title says go nuts.....so i did xD

and i didnt even use the whole budget £100 left :D



Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i7 975 3.33Ghz (Nehalem) Extreme Edition (Socket LGA1366) - Retail £786.99

OCZ Vertex Series 250GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (OCZSSD2-1VTX250G) 2x £628.99 = £1,257.98

XFX ATI Radeon HD 5970 Black Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £571.99

Dell UltraSharp U2410 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor £446.99

EVGA Classified 4-Way SLI Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard (170-BL-E762-A1) £417.99

Corsair 12GB (6X2GB) 1600MHz 8-8-8-24 Dominator with DHX+, Supports Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition £357.99

Zalman GT1000 Z-Machine Case - Black £316.73

Seagate Barracuda XT 2TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST32000641AS) £255.99

Pioneer BDR-S03XLB 8x BD-ReWriter / 16x DVD±RW Drive - Black (Retail) £188.99

Corsair HX 1000W ATX Modular SLI Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-1000HXUK) £180.99

Coolermaster V10 TEC Hybrid CPU Cooler (Socket 940/AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1366) £96.98

Sub Total : £4,152.86
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £17.60
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £729.83
Total : £4,900.29
Click to expand...



that case =fail terrible airflow through the case
cpu cooler = fail looks horrible,not very good and to expensive,may aswell go with the cosiar as it's a lot better
 
all depends on the software, surely?

I mean, if it can use CUDA, then that would be the way to go.
Else if it's multithreaded, 64bit etc etc.
 
lol, i love how every1 is criticising my build. I was just making a quick build and showing what £5,000 gets you. If im honest if any1 spends £5,000 on a PC is stupid IMO (unless your rich :D )

Tht system is overkill for most things.
 
With that amount of money to spend, then I think your original choice is much better than other suggestion here. I have a similar comp like this at work and they just work fantastic.

I dont understand much about the technical behind it, but for work (coding, rendering) and not gamming, Xeon seem to perform much better; and with dual Xeon, who can beat it ?

About graphic, Nvidia seem to offer wider range of graphic card for work station than ATI. However it depend on your work to choose the right card. I suggest to contact their support, they may give you some good advice. I have a friend who work in a media company, she mention about a card from Canopus. I have never tried and it seem to be really expensive (around 1K ...)

Monitor is important for your task, my friend use Aple monitor as well, she said it give much realiable color than other monitor.
 
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w1llyg said:
lol, i love how every1 is criticising my build. I was just making a quick build and showing what £5,000 gets you. If im honest if any1 spends £5,000 on a PC is stupid IMO (unless your rich :D )

Tht system is overkill for most things.
Click to expand...

I dont like the idea of calling other stupid just because you not in the same situation as them :). What happen if his work really require that kind of machine, and this machine can boost up his work performance, and earn him few more grands each month ? Then I say this is smart investment.
 
Both Asus and Supermicro have release dual socket 1366 boards ranging between £220 and £310 the closest chip these support to the i7 920 is the Xeon X5550(£692)
 
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