Maximum PC

Looking to build a new rig, nothing flashy, nothing fancy.

Goals: This is not a gaming rig. It will be used to run simulation software. We do want a CUDA compatible video card if possible, there are some ways we can optimize our algorithms for use on CUDA that could speed things up dramatically. Either way we need this thing to have a lot of CPU horsepower.

We won't need monitor/keyboard/mouse/OS.

I'm looking at starting with this so far:

i7-3930K for $560
ASUS Sabertooth for $320
G.Skill Z-series 32gb for $220

That puts us right at about $1100.. I might shave the ram back to 16gb to save some there, and I may scale back the motherboard, but I'm not sure if there is anything else that can come close to the raw power of the 3930 for the price (correct me if I am wrong).

I would still need to squeeze in a vid card, HDD, case, and psu for $400, which isn't going to happen.

Thoughts? I might be able to bump the budget to $2k.. if I can justify it...

Without knowing how serious in simulations you are going......below is the ultimate simulation rig without going overtly crazy for price. Your budget of $1500 is not exactly realistic.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3930K 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($559.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 CPU Cooler ($63.25 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth X79 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($315.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Z Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Z Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: PNY Quadro 4000 2GB Video Card ($704.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF X ATX Full Tower Case ($169.98 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Thermaltake 1000W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($209.99 @ Mwave)
Total: $2454.14
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-06-14 20:35 EDT-0400)

You got 32GB of memory which you'll need to move that data around quickly. I setup two 1TB drives which you'll configure in a RAID but you might need more storage than this. The quadro card will work phenomenally for you, wish we could SLI it but that would bump you up an additional $750. Case gives you plenty of room. And of course plenty of power with the PSU and stable power too.

You could get by with a regular desktop video card that supports CUDA but you'd have to SLI or Tri-SLI to start matching the Quadro's on simulation performance specs. Others might have better comments than mine and can improve but i think your numbers aren't realistic considering [quote=Massimo]Either way we need this thing to have a lot of CPU horsepower.[/quote]

Tidbits:

• If your simulation software is heavily multithreaded, I would throw an FX-8150 onto the table.
• You don't need a high end motherboard unless you absolutely need those features. And hell, I would say you don't need need the best of the best from Intel, at least, if you're not time constrained.
• How much workload is offloaded to CUDA? Because if it's mostly CUDA, then don't bother with having the best processor.
  
  • On that note, don't get a GeForce 600 series. They were optimized for gaming loads, not GPGPU loads.

Well, we will be writing most of this so we can optimize for multithreading, but pure speed will be useful when we have to run things that are not optimized.

I'll be frank, it's not me that's doing the simulating, I'm just trying to put together the best rig I can for the coders in the lab.

As of now, we are not using CUDA. I would like something CUDA compatible so we can start experimenting. If the results look promising, we can upgrade later.

I agree on the 32gb of ram, but while I am trying to keep this cheap, I'm trying to build in a way that if we need more later, we can add more. For now, I'm ok with 2x8gb sticks, we can throw two more in later.

No worries about storage, we will be building a file server that will handle our storage needs.

Latios: What would you recommend for a mobo?

Something like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813157293 if you're going with a LGA1155 board.

If you really want a LGA2011 board, I think something like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128532

I don't know why everyone and their mother chooses the Sabertooth. Is there something about it that I'm missing?

Well, I don't know of any 1155 chips that can compete with the 3930k....

That 2011 board doesn't look too bad.

Honestly, I don't know what the Sabertooth gets so much love either. I'm kinda out of the loop currently, when I finished my personal 1366 build way back when I took a step back. When I pick parts I typically spend time at Toms and Anandtech and then take a fine tooth comb to newegg reviews, and the Sabertooth seems pretty solid from that respect.

Well the question is, does the performance difference in regards to your program really justify the cost of the processor?

Well, we haven't started development yet so I can't say for sure. But I'd rather have too much then not enough .

Here's the thing though...

Motherboards cannot vary that much in performance because all of its I/O are standard, with standard speeds. And since everyone else is expecting those standard speeds (except RAM), then you can't deviate from them, lest you want to deal with even more compatibility issues. If we were to take a $150 Z77 board, and compared it to a $300 Z77 board with the same hardware otherwise, the performance difference may be in the couple of percent range. And I went and did a little bit of looking on Tom's Hardware, even $200 X79 boards are pretty much the same performance-wise as the $300+ X79 boards.

The only thing you're paying for after a certain point is all these "nice to have features" (POST codes, status LEDs, "one touch overclocking", etc), more PCI-Express lanes for triple or quad GPU setups, and faster RAM speeds. And the last one in real world tasks (or at least, for gaming) doesn't really do much.

Hence why I keep recommending against the Sabertooth or other $300 boards. Those features are not performance enhancers, they're just conveniences. If there was a significant performance difference between the Sabertooth and a $150 Z77 board and with all the same interfaces, then someone is lying.

^^ +1. Fully agree with LatiosXT. Just get the features you want out of a board, there performance are near identical and you'd never know the difference.

I completely agree guys, but there are also issues of quality control, customer service, and warranty that must be taken into account.


I am totally OK with using a different motherboard, but I don't think anyone has yet recommended one.

Bad analogy. I don't know about the others, but just a quick check on the Nissan Altima and the Inifiniti G37 (both which share the same chassis, at least from the look). They have different internals entirely. Like the Altima having a 306HP engine and the Altima starting at 170HP.

Fair enough, What do I NEED from this board:

Have a 2011 socket
Have a decent BIOS
Overclock is not necessary, but appreciated since the 3930k looks capable.
Have an OK reputation
Be available from GOVConnection.


That's about all I have for requirements.

If you don't care about UEFI (which so far I think it's only real benefit is to allow you to boot off GPT formatted hard drives), then the ASUS P9X79 PRO looks promising.

So $320 on the motherboard, $550 on the processor, leaves you with about $600 for the rest of the parts, which is plenty. If you're not sure about graphics card computing development, I'd just get a $150 previous gen midrange card so you can at least have an idea when you get around to it what this will do for you.

Doesn't look too bad, but it's not any cheaper either . I thought your whole argument was that you didn't understand why the sabertooth was so expensive?

Eh, I was just dicking around. I also noticed the cheaper boards sometimes don't have the 8 memory slots and I thought you'd want that.