Whats the ultimate cruncher?

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I'm confused after reading so many posts but can anyone say what parts will make the fastest possible system, for overclocking, for some serious number crunching? Stability is important. Doesnt matter about graphics, PCI slots, RAID etc etc.

Air-cooled ideally. X6800 I guess :) . So.....
What motherboard?
What memory?
What air-cooler?

There can only be one ultimate system - but what is it?? :confused:
 
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The fastest system possible, yet you dont want raid with it :eek:

If money was no object why dont you stripe 3x 15k RPM scuzi drives. :cool:

What you going to be using it for, a file server? sorry i'm nosey lol :p
 
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Number crunching doesn't need fast storage so RAID won't help.

OP, what kind of number crunching? You must be more specific as it depends on what the number crunching app is written in. Is it C? Machine code? Java :p

You would need to design a system based around the most appropriate chip for the code.
 
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snowdog said:
cpu- x6800
cooler- scythe ninja with a delta 120 mm fan
mainboard- either intel bad-axe or asus p5wdh delx, unsure wich one of 2.
ram : Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator PC2-8888C4 TwinX

Might want to throw in a pair of ear defenders too ;)
 
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Its going to be used for scientific modelling.. running calculations that take days, or even weeks. So every extra Hz is very much needed. Once we've got the "ultimate system" we might build at least four of them. Its actually going to be used for predicting airflow modelling millions of molecules all bouncing into each other, simulating vortices around insect wings. Its a fascinating field.. honest!

So.... what is the ultimate system? I'd prefer air as we're total "noobs" at OC'ing, unless its simple (phase change sounds interesting - thanks Pajeh).

RAID is not going to help, once the application is loaded into RAM it wont need any disc access, until its finished what its doing.

A list of parts for the ultimate system would be absolutely fantastic... I've looked at a machine that did SuperPI in 9.0s but that used LN and looked so complicated - hence 'air' is ok.
... and we'd like to buy all the parts from OC'ers. So whats the best they got??
 
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If you really want a decent number cruncher go for a 2 cpu Xeon system with the conroe based dual core Xeons (7100 I think). Aternatively go for a pair of top end socket F Opterons (2220). Bung in 4 or 8 Gb of ram and Robert's your mother brother.
 
Soldato
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As above, some sort of Woodcrest or Socket F workstation system would do you, but would cost a fortune, and aren't out for a while. In terms of current tech, a high end Core 2 duo would probably beat a dual processor Xeon, so go with that with some very fast ram.

If you can use GPUs, get 1950XT or XTXs and overclock them. Or wait for the new ATI chip, forget what they're called.

*Envy :p *

Edit - Just read:
nippynoo said:
... and we'd like to buy all the parts from OC'ers. So whats the best they got??
So, the best OcUK do is a high end Conroe, Asus P5WDG2-WS Professional and GeIL 2GB PC6400 memory.
 
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Soldato
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joeyjojo said:
As above, some sort of Woodcrest or Socket F workstation system would do you, but would cost a fortune, and aren't out for a while. In terms of current tech, a high end Core 2 duo would probably beat a dual processor Xeon, so go with that with some very fast ram.

If you can use GPUs, get 1950XT or XTXs and overclock them. Or wait for the new ATI chip, forget what they're called.

*Envy :p *

Edit - Just read:
So, the best OcUK do is a high end Conroe, Asus P5WDG2-WS Professional and GeIL 2GB PC6400 memory.

That GeIL isn't the best they do :p You want the ludicrously priced Corsair Dominator stuff.

Anway, we all know this guy just wants it for folding :D

*I apologise for blatant pimpage

SiriusB
 
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Floats. We've been using FX53's for couple of years, considered buying FX62 until the Conroe appeared.. I thought the X6800 was supposed to be quicker than FX62 or other AMD :confused: Never really considered Xeons or Opterons, but thats due to my lack of knowledge about them.
 
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Soldato
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Absolutely multiple nodes, so clusters of boxes with multiprocessor 6800s over a high bandwidth network fabric. Ideally 10gb+, 4+ cpus per node, as much ram as possible. I doubt any mainstream mobos are suitable as 10gb+ over the usual bus architectures isn't readily supported.
 
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Thanks to those for the multicpu recommendations. However the numbercrunching task is single thread (yes I know the Conroe is dual core - but I think its still quicker than any single core). Because of the nature of the problem its not possible to rewrite in terms of multiple cpus - unfortunately. So it needs to be the fastest possible single CPU machine.

There are two Asus WS Pro boards, and both do look tasty. I've bought the W64 already (for a multimonitor application), and am thinking about getting the WDG2 as well (for number crunchining). Have you got a link to that 5GHz setup you referred to?

So am tempted to get P5WDG2-WS Professional, X6800, but which ram? And which aircooler? - or maybe an (easy to install) water-cooled solution, so any recommendations would be great.

ALso there seems to be a much older WDG2 on the OCuk website - is that now obsolete?
 
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Anyone know which aircooler gives the lowest degC/watt? (to fit a P5WDG2-WS Pro - as that seems to be the best o/c'able m/b atm - is that right??) I've had a look at a few, but very few have this data shown. Needs to be on the OCuk website. Thanks.
 
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