New Folding Build?

[lechumbl]

Hi all,

This is going to be my next folding build, unless you all think of something better.

ASUS P6TD Deluxe Intel X58 Socket LGA1366 Mobo
Intel Core i7 950 Processor BX80601950
Patriot Viper Xtreme 12288MB PC16000 DDR3 RAM

The RAM will be 24 GB, as that is the mobo max.

Any input appreciated!!

Take care.............

[chrisk]

i7 is a good way to go for bigadv. Do you overclock? You should have ~3.6ghz to do bigadv. I use a 920 overclocked. maybe a 920 or 930 could be had cheaper, and then overclock? edit: 950s look to be pretty cheap now, but not sure how they overclock.

Any reason why you want 24gb? I have 6gb and rarely go over 4gb usage.

Video card? The 460 is a good folder, or if you want more gaming horsepower, go 570.

[lechumbl]

Hi Bud,

Thanx for the reply!!

I have not been too much into the O/C for some years.
Can certainly start again, if needed tho.

The mobo and CPU are package deal @ 529.00 USD, so that is not too bad.

The reason I want 24 GB memory is basically, because I can.
Seriously, the price is so low now, don't see any reason not to.
I like to have horsepower under the hood, even tho the speed limit is low.

I have a pair of 460s running now, so will put them in the new build.
I don't game, so the 460s are about the best for me now.

Again, thanx for the input.

Take care.........

[chrisk]

Two 460s are plenty (same as me).

You will want to OC that CPU for bigadv folding. The 24GB 0f ram will be a barrier in your CPU overclocking, as you will have to populate all six mobo ram slots. This adds stress to the CPU (due to the memory controller). I would stick to 12GB of ram (3 X 6GB sticks), and I would think that unless you do HD video editing, you won't touch most of 12GB.

Since you mention this as a folding rig, this is why I am stressing bigadv. You could manage ~25,000PPD on an OCed i7 easily (I get 31,000PPD on my 4.0GHZ 920), but that is with Bigadv only. I believe I got ~13,000PPD on regular SMP on the same chip (I have not folded regular SMP in a while, so someone can feel free to update this info for me here).

I would avoid 24GB, and invest in some excellent cooling in order to get some real benefits that you will see right away from a good overclock.

[JayDeeHobbit]

Actually having 6x4gb of RAM will work against your Over Clocking more than helping it.
My advice would be 3x2gb or 3x4gb of RAM and take the money you save and use it for a good CPU heatsink.
If you overclock and fold there will be plenty of heat on the ole CPU and a good heatsink will be a great inventment for you IMO :)

Edit: Haha Chris beat me to it :)

[lechumbl]

Hi guys,

Thanx again for the replies.

OK, will get proposed build, with only 12 GB memory.
Besides, doesn't hurt to save money too.

Take care!!.............

[chrisk]

Originally Posted by lechumbl

OK, will get proposed build, with only 12 GB memory.
Besides, doesn't hurt to save money too.

That's crazy talk

Spend the money on a water cooling setup!

At least get a good high-end air cooler!!

[lechumbl]

Hi again,

I have 3 water cooling setups in the garage, from days gone by.
Might have to get back into it.

Take care...........

[lechumbl]

Hi all,

Ordered cpu, mobo and memory (12 GB)

Take care and happy holidays!!............

[Rison]

aaaah.. too late to chime in. Oh well.

I "third" the memory thing.. you only use 1.5gig of ram for folding, anything past 6 gig is going to waste - better to spend the money on faster / better ram with tighter timings, like 1600Mhz 6-7-6-20 like some mushkins.. 2000Mhz DDR @ 8-9-8-24.

As for CPU, the 950 is good, but I hear the safe upper limit for OC is about 4.4Ghz... and 4.6-4.8 if you really throw the voltage to it (bad thing for 24/7 folding) Which the 920D0 and 930 is in the 4.0-4.2 range anyways.
But each chip is different, as well as the motherboard it sits in. :)

Check out the buy/sell/trade forums here too if you're looking to get used watercooling gear.. lots of good deals to be had.

Cheers.