CCL:G: recommendations for computer hardware in windows

[taner atalar <taneratalar_._gmail.com>]

Hi David,

 

thank you very much

this s really very informative email for me

i should use this information before buying my PC

 

taner

On Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 1:39 AM, David Mannock dmannock(!)ualberta.ca <owner-chemistry|-|ccl.net> wrote:

Sent to CCL by: David Mannock [dmannock(_)ualberta.ca]
Taner, I just purchased system components from Newegg.ca and Superbiiz.com. I had thought of buying an AMD Phenom II system locally ($700CDN) with lots (8GB) of memory running under Vista 64 bit OS, but there is not much room for upgrades with that platform unless you buy a DDR3 mobo and memory (+$500 =$1200CDN) and Intel's new iC7 chips are faster, but all the components are very expensive, so an entry level system is $1500. After much searching I found a Tyan S2912-E board on sale at Newegg for $90 CDN) and 2 quad-core third generation socket F chips for $170US each at Superbiiz.com. As you can see from the totals below, I have a system which costs about $1100 CDN with 2 x Opteron socket F 3rd gen processors, 2 x 500GB HDs, 8GB DDR2 DRAM, an ATI 3700 workstation video card and wireless PCI adapter. I will buy a KVM switch and use the monitor, keyboard and mouse from my desktop which has a good UPS back up. The new system will run Vista 64 ($75 CDN, Univ of Alberta price), VMware (free) and Deep Freeze enterprise edition ($13) http://www.faronics.com/html/deepfreeze.asp.

 Here is my Newegg.ca order:
1  TYAN S2912G2NR Dual 1207(F) NVIDIA nForce Professional 3600 Extended ATX Server Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813151070
$87.49
Subtotal $87.49
Handling $4.44
 UPS INTL CAN Standard (GND) $1.25
Order Total $93.18 CAN $


Qty Product Description Price
Shipped from CA, USA
  2   Seagate ST3640323AS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16822148335
$159.98 CDN
($79.99 ea)
  1  TP-LINK TL-WN651G 32bit PCI G & eXtended Range 108M Wireless Adapter - Retail
Item #: N82E16833704006
$27.49
  1  ATI 100-505564 FirePro V3700 256MB PCI Express 2.0 x16 Workstation Video Card - OEM
Item #: N82E16814195073
$106.49  CDN
  1  hec X-Power Pro 650 650W Continuous %% 40°C ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Power Supply - Retail
Item #: N82E16817339024
$49.99 CDN
Shipped from NJ, USA
  8  Kingston 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) ECC Unbuffered Intel Certified Server Memory Model KVR667D2E5/1GI - Retail
Item #: N82E16820134333
$119.92 CDN
($14.99 ea)
  1  HEC 69R5BB Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811121018
$58.74 CDN
Subtotal $522.61
Handling $26.13
 UPS INTL CAN Standard (GND) $63.55
Order Total $612.29 CAN$


I used a purchase order to buy 2 AMD Opteron quad-core 2376 2.3 MHz processors http://products.amd.com/en-us/OpteronCPUDetail.aspx?id=489&f1=Third-Generation+AMD+Opteron%99&f2=&f3=&f4=512&f5=&f6=&f7=&f8=&f9=&f10=4&

for $170 USD each + $60 shipping.

I purchased 2 new Dynatron A5MG's from an ebay seller for $20US each here. These are 4.1" sq for the 3rd generation Opteron chips.  http://stores.ebay.ca/UrCooler

The new AMD price list for these chips is on their web site, but you have to buy through a reseller. Contact Michelle Ousy (michelle%%ewiz.com) at Superbiiz for processor availability. Tigerdirect also has these but for an extra $30 each. Also check out Starmicro. Make sure you are getting a new cpu. Some are OEM, not boxed. A few may be tested pulls. Check this first!

AMD reviews of servers with opteron chips http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_8825_15885,00.html

Notice the price difference vs Dell!!

The benefits of this system are the dual processors, lower power consumption (& thus heat) for the cpus vs Phenom II chips. The Phenom II chips cannot be used on a 2 cpu board and from what I have read cannot be used in this config for technical reasons. These socket F (1207) boards will support the new 6 core processors due in late 2009, so there is a processor upgrade possible although with this board, the DDR2 667MHz DRAM will not change, you can expand the RAM up to 64GB full capacity. Basic graphics on board, but workstation video card is better http://ati.amd.com/products/firepro/index.html. It is a new design openGL card. Lots of room for memory if you can afford it. I started at 8GB as it was a reasonable price. I can wait for the chips to come down in price. The 2 HDs mean that in principle, you could have one HD for Vista64 and the other for LINUX.

The down side. The mobo bios needs upgrading. This can be done through Tyan for $20 or you can get your tech department to do this via a CD or a USB memory stick details at Tyan. The mobo designation S2912 and S2912-E are not the same (specs are at Tyan). Only the -E model will support QC processors. The reviews at Newegg say that this is the -E version as many people have done the bios upgrade to support third generation processors. There is some speculation about whether you need a dual core or a quad core processor to do this. A new cheap DC processor is under $100, but Tyan will do this for you in the USA. You need to upgrade to bios v4. Alternatively you can get a replacement bio chip

from Biosman. There was one problem noted at that

site for the S2912 mobo which was a question about shutting off the on board graphics when using a graphics card. That may require a bios chip modification. Prices are $27 .

The choice of computer case is important. Most ATX cases built for gaming have enough fans to cool everything, but these mobos are extended (E-ATX) forms at 12"x13" , so you need to get a box 22x8x20". The Hec case is ideal and is well built and CHEAP. It must accommodate the cpu fans which are 2U (double height). I have tried to pick components, like the cpus, PS, etc which put out less heat, but fast HDs produce more heat. The Seagates were a compromise between ultrafast drives and intelligent drives by Western Digital whose speed varies with load.

OK, well there is my input. All of the items will be here in a week and my tech services shop will do the assembly and software installation for me. This should give me a decent desktop workstation for $1100-1200CDN. Check here for cpu benchmarks and go up one dir to see others. http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html This set up (the dual cpu Opteron 2354 processor info is provided) should be up there with the new Intel i7 processors, but have a lot of upgrade potential in the future as prices come down. AMD tends to incorporate this upgrade philosophy into their designs, Intel do not! Last of all, with Sun, SGI and Dell asking $10k+ for one of these you are getting a very good deal. If you can afford a newer mobo spend the extra $300 now. Incidentally, these processors are numbered as follows: 2 or 8 = no of processors per mobo. 1,2, or 3 = generation of processor. I think you may be able to use 8000 series chips on 2000 series boards, but not the other way around, but I am not sure about this. Also the lowest priced 4 cpu board I found was a Tyan board at ~$350US, but the 8000 series chips cost too much for me. My department tech guy is very interested in this little project and will help me with set up, as there is the potential here to help crystallographers and NMR spectroscopy people in our department and put together a multi-cpu QC workstation farm for what would be considered to be peanuts. Then again with the recent interest in doing graphics work on multiple Sony PS3 's using Yellow Dog Linux, maybe we are all wasting our time.

Dave

At 05:48 AM 3/4/2009, you wrote:

Sent to CCL by: "Taner  Atalar" [taneratalar(-)gmail.com]
I plan to buy a PC for moderate size organic compounds' calculations at DFT level. I plan to use Gaussian 03W and/or Spartan for this purpose.

So I need a computer hardware recommendations. Thanks for help.

Taner

-= This is automatically added to each message by the mailing script =-Dr David Mannock

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