Parallel Computation Build

[Dragonstongue]

Originally Posted by jeewee

Hey everyone, I'm a mechanical engineering master's student putting together a rig to run optimization algorithms for my thesis project. Basically, I'm using genetic algorithms to identify optimal swimming gaits for an eel-like robot. My model and optimization algorithm is coded up in MATLAB and highly parallell (my quad core q6600 at home runs the code pretty much twice as fast a computer with the equivalent dual core).

Approximate Purchase Date:this week

Budget Range: 600-800

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Parallel Computation

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: ncix.com, newegg.ca, or tigerdirect.ca

Country of Origin:Canada

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: No


Here's a list of the parts I've picked out so far and some of my main concerns:

-The only thing that matters is CPU speed and cores, with cores>>>speed. Would anyone recommend a different CPU?

-I'm never sure what to get in terms of a MoBo. Overclocking would be nice but isn't critical. I just want to make sure my CPU can run without and issues at stock speeds.

-Is the video card adequate for basic productivity stuff and maybe a few 3-D plots in matlab? My previous builds have all been for gaming, so I have little knowledge of low end graphics cards.

Thanks in advance for your help!

CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition Thuban 6 Core Processor 3.3GHZ
NCIX.com - Canada's Premier Computer Store - Online PC Discount Store, Buy Computer Accessories [...] omoid=1371

RAM: Mushkin Enhanced Silverline Stiletto 8GB 2X4GB PC3-10666 DDR3-1333 9-9-9-24
NCIX.com - Buy Gigabyte GA-870A-USB3 AMD870 AMDSB850 ATX AM3 DDR3 2PCI-E16 3PCI RAID USB3.0 CrossFireX Motherboard - Gigabyte - GA-870A-USB3 - in Canada

Hardrive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB 3.5IN SATA 6GB
NCIX.com - Buy Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB 3.5IN SATA 6GB/S With NCQ Internal Hard Drive OEM - Seagate - ST3500413AS - in Canada

PSU: OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W ATX
NCIX.com - Buy Gigabyte GA-870A-USB3 AMD870 AMDSB850 ATX AM3 DDR3 2PCI-E16 3PCI RAID USB3.0 CrossFireX Motherboard - Gigabyte - GA-870A-USB3 - in Canada

MoBo: Gigabyte GA-870A-USB3 AMD870 AMDSB850 ATX AM3 DDR3 2PCI-E16 3PCI RAID USB3.0 CrossFireX NCIX.com - Buy Gigabyte GA-870A-USB3 AMD870 AMDSB850 ATX AM3 DDR3 2PCI-E16 3PCI RAID USB3.0 CrossFireX Motherboard - Gigabyte - GA-870A-USB3 - in Canada

Case: Antec Three Hundred Mini Tower
NCIX.com - Buy Antec Three Hundred Mini Tower Gaming Case 300 ATX 3X5.25 6X3.5INT No PS Front USB & Audio - Antec - THREE HUNDRED - in Canada

Video Card: EVGA GeForce 210 520MHZ 512MB 1.2GHZ DVI HDMI VGA PCI-E
NCIX.com - Buy EVGA GeForce 210 520MHZ 512MB 1.2GHZ DVI HDMI VGA PCI-E Video Card - Others - 512-P3-1310-LR - in Canada

CPU Cooler: Corsair Cooling Air Series A50 Performance CPU Cooler
NCIX.com - Buy Corsair Cooling Air Series A50 Performance CPU Cooler LGA775 LGA1155 LGA1156 LGA1366 AM2 AM3 - Corsair - CAFA50 - in Canada

DVD Drive:LG GH24LS70 24X SATA Lightscribe Internal DVD Writer Burner DVDRW Optical Drive Black OEM
NCIX.com - Canada's Premier Computer Store - Online PC Discount Store, Buy Computer Accessories [...] omoid=1373

CPU is fine.
I would go with ddr3 1600 as this would allow the cpu to use the most of its bandwidth

Hard drive, myself I use caviar black exlusively, nice warranty, great speed, the 640, new 1tb sata 6gb, and the 1.5-2tb are the best in regards to speed/durability.

Motherboard myself would be ASUS M5A99X-EVO or the sabertooth 990FX, mainly because of overclocking headroom, but also because of compatibilty and overall performance of attached devices such as hard drives(not to mention they will support bulldozer, which may offer a great increase in multi-thread, and also offer more cores)

HAF 912, coolermaster 410/380 case, Xigmatech Pantheon

Cooler Coolermast hyper 212+ with same fan for push/pull, very cheap and decent performance, another option would be the Enermax ETS T-40 or Zalman Performa

Power supply, many good ones to choose from a good 650w unit would suffice, and offer headroom, in case you need/want better parts for one reason or another. HX650, TX650V2, Antec TP new 650

DVD drive ASUS 24B1ST, very low cost, very fast/works very well I have 2 of them.

GPU another choice Radeon 6570, may not be able to "game" but is about the cost as the GT 210, and so much better, also there are lower on the totem pole Radeons in the 6k generation and all of them more or less are very good for thier respective price range, reviews will get you a long way.

I would help you more then this, but I am not allowed to directly reference competing reviews, and cannot help you get the best price as I most certainly am not typing for next 4 hrs all the links and such :P

[frontier204]

Originally Posted by jeewee

If I was buying this myself I would be more open to the used i7 option. I have send to a parts list to my supervisor though and he's going to order it, so buying everything new is a lot simpler logistically.

Hmm you don't have access to some hardware over there with a similar setup that you can try? One quick test you'll want is take one of your biggest 3D plots and see how an Intel IGP handles it. I think it should be fine if they did the drivers properly.
I know Core i5 boxes are starting to pop up around my university, oddly enough in the undergrad lab.

Originally Posted by jeewee

800 after taxes.

I dont need anything high-end except the processor, I'll probably go with integrated graphics if I get the i7, so I think the budget should be doable. The computer will solely be used for running simulations in MATLab.

Would a mATX motherboard like this be alright? I don't need overclocking or any other feature, the system is basically a box to run matlab on a high-end desktop CPU?

Intel BOXDH61WWB3 mATX LGA1155 H61 Express DDR3 PCI-E16 1PCI-E 1PCI Video Sound GBLAN B3 Motherboard - DirectCanada

Am I seeing that correct - no DVI or HDMI out on a current board?
There's a lot of 20+" monitors out there that will NOT look good on VGA. Driving high resolutions on VGA will very likely mean flickering displays. I looked at the comparison and H61 will work - just get DVI out for the sake of your eyes looking at the command window or script editor for long periods of time.

Step up one level for DVI out? You're still limited to 1080P but at least you don't run the risk of flickering on a decent cable.
Gigabyte GA-H61M-D2P-B3 mATX LGA1155 H61 DDR3 1PCI-E16 1PCI-E 2PCI SATA2 DVI Video Sound Motherboard - DirectCanada
H61 CRB3 UATX DDR3 LGA1155 1PCIE 2X16/DVI-D+VGA GBE MM#915107 - DirectCanada

If you can't scrape budget-wise by with this setup, then you should go to an AMD 1090T, motherboard with 970 chipset, and cheap GPU. (unless someone corrects me and links an AMD 9 series chipset with IGP) CPU-wise that's probably the next fastest that you can get new.

[Dragonstongue]

The only 900 sereis that have IGP that I am aware of would be the Llano chips socket FM1, lower cost and nowhere near the performance of 6 core 1090 or 1100T, 1090T can easily match the performance with one or 2 bumps of multi to= the 1100T, this can be done on stock cooler if one chooses, but a decent low end cooler, such as hyper 212+ with push/pull costs around $40(with 2 of same fan, 1 is included) and this can on average net 4Ghz operation, with decent temps.

For a compute build, GPU obviously is not directly needed, but why not get the newest, lowest cost option, that can still be used for other things if the need arises? GTX500 or Radeon 6k series can be had for very reasonable prices especially on the low end, $50 for 6570, $44.99 for Radeon 6450, $44.99 for GT520

[jeewee]

In the end I went with a Core i7 2600k, the rest of the box is pretty basic but it should give me everything I need to run my code. Thanks for all your help, this is a really a great community.

[Arinoth]

Glad to hear that you're happy with your parts selection, you're of course more then welcome to stick around, share your knowledge and expand it at the same time.

[MARSTG]

then I would go eyes closed with the i7 option. If no go X6 is the next best bet. Make sure is a Black Edition, 1090T is best option. I remember when a wind turbine simulation in Matlab 6 was taking close to 24 hours on P4@1.6GHz.