# More than I can handle



## vaiopup (Oct 25, 2009)

Greetings 

Just thinking ahead.

I have a few rigs here that are no longer efficient on an output/running costs basis.

If I had the money available (which I don't at present)~what would be the most cost-effective single box cruncher???

Should I be looking at the latest i7's or whatever they're called or would I be better going dual-quad?

Electricity costs here in the U.K are pretty evil so I need to find a way to max output with minimum boxen.

Most "peripheral" parts I could recycle from old rigs so I would need:

Board.
Cpu(s).
Ram.
Solid psu.

You avid system builders fire away with your suggestions.

Not interested in FPS and all that la-di-da.

*All that matters is crunching output.*

Please fire away with your suggestions.


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## LittleLizard (Oct 25, 2009)

for a cheap yet power and energy efficent cruncher you should go with

A (cheap option) - athlon II x4e (when they come out), cheap 785g mobo, cheap ddr3 and 80+ psu.

B (expensier but better) - i5 (almost same power as i7 without the same power consumption), cheap p55 (asrock or msi), cheapest videocard u can find, geil green series ddr3 (works at 1.3v)


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## [Ion] (Oct 25, 2009)

An i7 920 on a Gigabyte GA-X58-UD3R with 2 or 3GB of the cheapest DDR3 there is paired with a good cooler like the Megahalems would be the best option.  Pretty much guaranteed to get 4GHZ, which, with HT on, would give about 30K WCG/day.  An i7 860/P55 is marginally cheaper, but requires higher voltage to get to 4ghz, thus increasing power draw.  Another option is a dual Sossaman rig, which uses 2 Yonah Xeons (basically Core Duos).  Good for about 8-10K WCG/day, and electricity usage is right around 100w at load.  i7 is probably the best option, as it is about 600-650 US for a comp that does about 4K BOINC/day and uses under 200w.  Another option is dual Gainestown (i7), which according to XS user jcool runs at under 300w on load: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=227603


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## vaiopup (Oct 25, 2009)

Hi. 

Yes I have been looking into Gainestown.

Who mentioned overclocking?..........Oh alright then 

I have a Corsair HX-520 and a GameXstream 600.......maybe one of them will have enough grunt to save on a psu purchase.

They're just feeding duallys at the moment....and no high end gpu's.


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## p_o_s_pc (Oct 25, 2009)

i7 920 + cheapest X58 board (maybe a Foxconn bloodrange(SP?)) + GEIL green series ram. I think one of your PSUs should power that fine without a high powered GPU
or i7 860+P55(any brand )+geil green series


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## Mindweaver (Oct 25, 2009)

I would go 1156 with the server chip Intel Xeon X3440 for 239.99 @ newegg. The chip has Hyper-Threading and can hit 4ghz on air! Pair that with a cheap motherboard with single pci-express and cheap dual ddr3 ram.


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## vaiopup (Oct 25, 2009)

Can't find that chip right now (U.K) but I see a 3330 at £150 and 3360 at £220.
The former looks the better value of the two.


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## Mindweaver (Oct 25, 2009)

Those are 775 chips.. I would go with a newer socket for a whole new build or do you have a 775 board? If so, yea go for it.


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## vaiopup (Oct 25, 2009)

Oops, my bad 

I see the 54xx series.
It shows I am out of the hardware loop lately


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## A novice (Oct 25, 2009)

I need to do a bit of upgrading I have got 2 old MPs that are the next ones to replace I was thinking of something like this, because I am no good at overclocking
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-031-OE&groupid=43&catid=339&subcat=
I don't know a lot about graphic cards but something like this
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-213-AS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=
But it is only a dream at the moment it's going to have to wait until the beginning of next year


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## p_o_s_pc (Oct 25, 2009)

A novice said:


> I need to do a bit of upgrading I have got 2 old MPs that are the next ones to replace I was thinking of something like this, because I am no good at overclocking
> http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-031-OE&groupid=43&catid=339&subcat=
> I don't know a lot about graphic cards but something like this
> http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-213-AS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=
> But it is only a dream at the moment it's going to have to wait until the beginning of next year



don't recommend that card as the cooling on it isn't vary good


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## A novice (Oct 25, 2009)

p_o_s_pc said:


> don't recommend that card as the cooling on it isn't vary good


Thanks can you have a look at http://www.overclockers.co.uk/index.php
And recommend a graphic card for me.  I am not in to gaming, just something I could put to work later on something in the price range of £120


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## p_o_s_pc (Oct 25, 2009)

A novice said:


> Thanks can you have a look at http://www.overclockers.co.uk/index.php
> And recommend a graphic card for me.  I am not in to gaming, just something I could put to work later on something in the price range of £120


http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-104-GW&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=927


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## A novice (Oct 25, 2009)

Sorry vaio for hijacking your thread.
p_o_s_pc Thanks for taking the time to have a look for me 
That looks like a big graphic card, but it should fit inside my old Antec case.
I will get one as soon as I can afford to


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## bogmali (Oct 25, 2009)

Hey Rob I would like to see what's on that rack next to that Antec server case. Looks similar to what BUCK NASTY has and his is full of goodies and I bet yours is too

Excuse the TC vaio


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## vaiopup (Oct 25, 2009)

Don't mind me........I'll just sit back n look at the pictures


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## msgclb (Oct 25, 2009)

vaiopup said:


> Don't mind me........I'll just sit back n look at the pictures



From various posts by paulieg I've come to the conclusion that he will have a new P55 build this week. I'm looking forward to hear more about this build.



bogmali said:


> Hey Rob I would like to see what's on that rack next to that Antec server case. Looks similar to what BUCK NASTY has and his is full of goodies and I bet yours is too
> 
> Excuse the TC vaio



I'm more interested in that rack! Was it designed for the purpose of holding your rigs or some other purpose? Alright, I'll have to admit I'd like to also know what's on that rack.


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## vaiopup (Oct 25, 2009)

Too embarrassed to post pics of my setup


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## mike047 (Oct 25, 2009)

A novice said:


> Sorry vaio for hijacking your thread.
> p_o_s_pc Thanks for taking the time to have a look for me
> That looks like a big graphic card, but it should fit inside my old Antec case.
> I will get one as soon as I can afford to



I had to cut a small piece out of the hard drive cage to get a 260 in my old Antec case.  A 250 or 9800 fits without issue.


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## A novice (Oct 25, 2009)

Not a lot to see on the rack 2 quads and 2 old MPs. only six computers in total now.  I used to have 18 computers, mostly XP2400


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## hat (Oct 26, 2009)

Get a board with decent onboad video (780GX comes to mind) and an Athlon II 620. Make sure the board you get supports ddr3 (use JEDEC sticks, 1.65v standard for maximum energy efficency) and that you get an efficient power supply (they have 80+ ratings)


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## p_o_s_pc (Oct 26, 2009)

hat said:


> Get a board with decent onboad video (780GX comes to mind) and an Athlon II 620. Make sure the board you get supports ddr3 (use JEDEC sticks, 1.65v standard for maximum energy efficency) and that you get an efficient power supply (they have 80+ ratings)



785G sounds like a better choice but hat has the right idea


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## A novice (Oct 26, 2009)

Some pictures of my old farm


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## [Ion] (Oct 26, 2009)

Awesome, what CPUs were they running?


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## A novice (Oct 26, 2009)

[Ion] said:


> Awesome, what CPUs were they running?



The old farm was
1 x P4 2.66
2 x MP 2400
1 x MP 2600
1 x MP2800
13 x XP 2400


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## ERazer (Oct 26, 2009)

im about to upgrade my aging q6600, so u guys saying  i920 is better than i860 when it come to crunching? i do occasional gaming


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## [Ion] (Oct 26, 2009)

ERazer said:


> im about to upgrade my aging q6600, so u guys saying  i920 is better than i860 when it come to crunching? i do occasional gaming



They're really about the same, but I would get the i7 920 because the X58 is a better platform for SLI/CrossFire, and has triple channel memory.  If you can get either significantly cheaper, go for it, but the Bloomfield i7s tend to OC to 4ghz easier than the Lynnfield ones, and use less voltage in the process.


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