Maximum PC

I posted this in the private forums below...but nothing i post down there appears, so i am posting it here. Mods can delete the one from below.

Post your 2P and 4P ideas or finds here. The more information we can get on this the better.

I found this on ebay, looks fun:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/390381418720?ss ... 1438.l2649

This a little more pricey:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/170764628029?ss ... 1438.l2649

I posted this in another thread, but thought I would put it here to help give others ideas. All of these parts come from Newegg.

C32 Dual CPU Build

Antec 300 Case - 69.99
Asus KCMA-D8 Dual Socket C32 ATX Motherboard – 289.99
Rosewill Hive PSU 650 Watt – 84.99 (May pay more for Corsair)
Opteron Valencia C32 8 core 3.0 GHz CPU – 699.98 (For 2 CPU’s)
Corsair XMS3 16 GB (4x4GB) – 159.98 (For 2 sets, 32 GB Total)
Zalman CNPS5x AMP CPU cooler – 59.98 (For 2 Coolers)
Total Before tax or shipping – 1364.91

The Asus board comes with an adapter to use AM2/3 CPU coolers. I will be using on board video, but it does have an x16 PCI-E 2.0 slot. Also you wont need as much RAM as I am using, this build is for a VM Server Running Server 2008 R2 Datacenter and Hyper-V. I would max out the ram because it is so cheap now, but you can easily get by with 4 GB per CPU. I will be using a SATA DVD drive that I have and have not decided on Hard Drives yet.

Keep in mind that unlike a G34 build, you cant put 2 16 core CPU's in this set up, so it has little expandability.


G34 Dual CPU Build

Rosewill RSC-L4000 Rack Mount Case – 79.99
Asus KGPE-D16 Dual Socket G34 Motherboard – 429.99
Corsair AX750 750 Watt PSU – 169.99
Opteron Interlago 12 core (24 cores total) 2.4 GHz Socket G34 CPU’s 799.98 (For 2 CPU’s)
Corsair XMS3 16 GB (4x4GB) – 319.96 (For 4 sets, 64 GB Total)
Noctua NY-U9DO G34 cooler - 151.98 (For 2 coolers)
Total – 1810.90

Again for folding you wont need near as much RAM. You could go with a cheaper PSU, but i picked this on because it has 2 8 pin CPU power connecters, this mobo needs 2. You could also go with dual 16 core CPU's, but those are between 539.00 and 659.00 each.

Ebay deal!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Arima-Quad-CPU- ... 19bf6abd98

Quad Opteron Motherboard w/ PSU $269
Quad Core CPU $99

Throw it on a shelf with some RAM from newegg...looks like a cheap 16 core folder.

Have you guys had good luck buying electronics off of ebay? Last time I tried I got burned and have sworn off of ebay since.

I just bought a motherboard and processor, and some memory without issue. high rated sellers is the key.

I just bought a used 120 GB 2.5" HDD from ebay and it has been working just fine. Its been a while but I bought a Celeron E3300 CPU/Mobo combo, a Core 2 Duo E6400, Pentium D 960 and some older DDR RAM. They have all worked perfectly.

RS, the first one's are expensive and still won't meet the new -BA requirements; So rule those out. They may be 2P, but it's only 8 cores. This is basically the same thing the i7 folders have been using and why I feel they're raising the bar.

SocketF still has the guts currently IMO, but it really doesn't have the legs to get through another year. E5645's are $560 new and are 12 cores a piece. With some searching you will eventually hit a good motherboard for under $150 to support them, memory is cheap (now), and with some scrounging can get 24 cores for under $1600.

I'm still not sold that the money spent here for those 6 fake cores are worth it. More real cores for folding and VM's, even if they're low clocked and bench poorly in real server environments, are really turning in some great ppd and WU counts. And this is where I've had to shift my mindset as well, as folding is just a different world than I'm use to comprehending. I know it looks like a lot of money for a 4P G34 up front, but so is a 2P for that matter, yet the risk is great with the later as far as folding goes.

It's like betting on horses really. Sure you can make some good gains with common bets, but you won't get rich by doing that. Do you put $1,400 in the box or $2,400 on one horse if there's a sure thing? $780 for a 4P G34 board and $540 for a 6272 Interlagos seems steep ($1300 for guts), but the rest is really nickle-and-dime stuff to get it up and running w/ a valid folding build. The outlook I see here is the possibility of 48 more cores down the road w/ the ability to find these CPU's much cheaper down the road.

Some other things to consider is the power. G34's sip power from the socket and require less radical PSU set-ups. The Hex Xeons I have ask for 8-pin CPU power per socket where most G34 4P boards have a total of two of these to feed all 4. The reported power draw from the wall is HALF for the 4 Opties from anything I'm seeing with just two CPU's; and I'm running stock clocks too. Same PSU would be needed, but durable PSU's with two 8-pin supplies for the CPU aren't garden variety either. Pin out for CPU is different than GPU plugs as well, so not all 8-pins are the same.

I'm moving forward with mine because that's what I got for what I feel is dirt cheap, but if I were building from ground up I could recommend nothing other than a 4P Optie build. You can do one 16-core now in a SuperMicro board and just keep adding as long as the addiction exists. Heh, if I could sell this thing for a little profit, I'm off to AMD land myself. Intel 2P is a superior server, but a much lesser build option for folding points and multiple VM's. Just be careful with Socket F as it's just an answer for right here, right now. If 16-cores is the new base line after moving from a 12-core minimum, then how safe is 16-core? I'm wouldn't lay down a grand for that question...that's a lame horse.

(there's a few sellers out there selling the exact server parts we're looking to fold on and taking advantage of us. Issues abound but eBay is handling it well. CEO's are fired for these actions and that's great for "emotional damage", but it's still a hassle to go through that mess for a few months and still end up with no parts in hand. Bargain shopping isn't for the timid)

I had considered building a 4p system, just starting off with either 1 16 core CPU or 2 12 core CPU's, but was constantly frustrated by not being able to find a MEB form factor case. I know that they are out there, but they are expensive and are over kill for folding needs. I also have no desire to cut up a case to make one fit, beside it would be ugly. So I decided to take a page from Atlis Folder. Check out the you tube videos. Just ignore the video card talk and notice how the motherboard is mounted.

This video first: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7F3XE1-d_rw

Then this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q1nfHJOvGY

^that cheap $80 4u Norco rack case can house it, you just have to relocate the psu to the front. (norco rack link, example pic)

And the HAF 932 will house it, you just have to drill new holes for the mobo, go to a hardware store and get fittings for it. No real cutting involved.

Now the HAF idea just might work, or another case with a PSU mount both above and below the motherboard. I will need to get rid of that red LED fan and put in a blue one. Red LED's make me feel like I'm in Hell, Blue like I'm in heaven.

I dont like the Norco mod. It still takes a lot of work. He had to remove the whole optical and HDD area to make room for the PSU.

lots of mods? its just taking screws out... anyone can do that... I mean you don't need to take out the whole bays since he's running two psu's in it. Can't really beat the $80 price tag of it.

And 932 mod from the Hard OCP site:

I deleted the pics from the quote to shorten the reply.

I just dont like the Norco mod. Easy or hard to mod, I just dont like it. LOL

Now the HAF, that I like, just got to get rid of that dammed red LED. In the 2nd pic of the HAF, it showed red and blue circles around the mount points. I am assuming that the red circles are where you would need to drill new holes?

Also, here is a 2U case that i found that might work. It looks like it has plenty of room inside, uses a standard ATX PSU and has mounted the PSU up front. I would assume you would still need to drill new holes just like the HAF. You would just have to use low profile heat sink/fan.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811219023

Man thats a tight fit haha. No extra room at all.

Thats what she said... hehe

I must say I love my HAF X. There is plenty of room left with an xl-atx mobo. With that in there I imagine it would work but would look that pretty as you have almost 0 cable routing.

What did you think of my second ebay post? For someone that wanted something built and ready to go for $1400 this might be it. 16 cores...plug n play..

I like Gero1369's idea from the other thread. Use the 4P 2U barebone supermicro G34 setup (ebay link) Pretty damn good deal for a 4P setup with a nice 2U rack chassis and 1400w 80+ gold redundant psu. Add some cpu's, ram and a simple hard drive, ready to fold in no time flat.

I keep looking for the "like" button....

Its a 1U rack mount set up, so you have very limited space.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6816101317

Want the best of both worlds? Then build a 2p system around the Asus KGPE-D16 motherboard. Its a dual socket G34 board, so it can accept 2 12 core CPU's for a total of 32 cores. But get this, it is designed as a server or workstation board and supports Crossfire. So you can run 2 AMD/ATI GPU's for gaming.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131643

^yeah, cept it doesn't support any OC. And I wouldn't want to do any gaming on the new opteron's, probably the older opteron's would be better suited for this task, but as a work station, it would be pretty good. Still would go with a supermicro board.

I really want to do the 2U 4P barebone setup, but I kinda wished the chassis was a more normal workstation tower with the same psu. Would be an awesome video editing cruncher. Also want to try out the new Sony Vegas 11 video editor and see how well they work for gpu acceleration with opencl.

By the looks of these server boards if gaming is any kind of a priority then I would go with either the SR-2 Link 1SR-2 Link 2 or the newer SR-X coming out sometime in March.
Or stick with one vid card.