Spec me a scientific computer

Ricochet J

Ricochet J

Ricochet J

Soldato
Joined
29 Jun 2004
Posts
12,954
Hi,

I do a fair bit of scientific computation (computational fluid dynamics, MatLab that sort of stuff). So I need a fairly powerful computer.

I'd like a machine like the one I have at work (Dell T1650). Which is:
- Intel Xeon E3 1240 3.40GHz (it's quad core, with hyperthreading so it shows up as 8 cores)
- 16Gb of ECC RAM
- Windows 7

How cheaply can this spec or better be achieved?

I only need a tower, keyboard and mouse only please.

Budget: £800.

Thanks :)
 
Last edited:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £239.99
1 x Asus GeForce GTX 650Ti DirectCU 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £99.95
1 x Gigabyte H87-HD3 Intel H87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £80.99
1 x Kingston HyperX 3K SSD 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (SH103S3/120G) £74.99
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 520W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £59.99
2 x Adata XPG Gaming v1.0 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-16000C9 2000MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AX3U2000GC4G9B-2G) £59.99 (£119.98)
1 x BitFenix Shadow Tower Case - Midnight Black £54.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £43.99
1 x Gigabyte KM6150 Keyboard and Mouse Set £9.98
Total : £797.44 (includes shipping : £10.50).




• Nvidia GPU has CUDA support.
• Good budget case includes two fans and is well built.
• Fast RAM for a more efficient PC.
• Quick SSD in both reads and writes.
 
Is ECC memory imperative? I work in scientific computing and have never been concerned about memory corruption. Also, there are very few 1150 motherboards which can do ECC memory.

A 1240 v3 is about £210, add a consumer mobo (£70-£100) and 16 G of 1600 non-ECC memory (£120), and Win 7 (£80) brings you to about £500, then add whatever case/mouse/KB you want. You'll also need a simple GPU and PSU.

Stulid has missed the mark a bit with the above (no OS!) but that's roughly the equivalent machine with consumer components.

There's loads out there on solving fluid dynamics on GPUs, so you might want to think about getting a workstation GPU too (expensive). The 650 Ti will definitely not cut it for this kind of thing (no DP performance at all).
 
Blew your budget but...

6 cores and 12 threads of fun.. Now that's what i call a work station. :)

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Xeon E5-2620W 2.00GHz (Socket 2011) - Retail £329.99
1 x Asus P9X79 Intel X79 (Socket 2011) DDR3 Motherboard £199.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Quad Channel Kit (PV316G160C9QK) £119.99
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 620W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £79.99
1 x Kingston HyperX 3K SSD 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (SH103S3/120G) £74.99
1 x Gainward GeForce GT640 2048MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card £69.95
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black (CC-9011023-WW) £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £43.99
1 x Raijintek Themis Direct Contact CPU Cooler £21.95
1 x Gigabyte KM6150 Keyboard and Mouse Set £9.98
Total : £1,014.31 (includes shipping : £11.25).



GPU for CUDA, same amount of CUDA cores as the GPU above, just slower clock..

More RAM and space for EVEN MORE RAM..

The other Xeon avaible is no better for you than the 4770k.. So you may aswell get a build like stulids.
 
Hi guys. Thanks for the suggestions. As joeyjojo said ECC RAM is probably not a main requirement.

I'm very tempted to buy a very powerful laptop instead. My only concern is do laptops like being switched on for more than 2 days at 100% load?

Which laptop has a spec similar to:
- Intel Xeon E3 1240 3.40GHz (it's quad core, with hyperthreading so it shows up as 8 cores)
- 16Gb of RAM
- Windows 7
- Large screen

I'm also happy to buy a laptop cooling stand. I don't care much about weight either.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom