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Dual processor build recommendations

M

musky

[H]ard|DCer of the Year 2012
Joined
Dec 14, 2009
Messages
3,154
I keep flip-flopping on this, so I figure I'll throw it out to the group and see what people think. By the end of the week, I will have the following in-house:

2 x Xeon X5550 ES - 2.66GHz w/2x turbo
4 x Xeon E5530 ES - 2.4GHz no turbo
1 x Xeon E5620 retail - 2.4GHz w/turbo
1 x SR-2 that will run at least the E5620 and the E5530s
1 x Asus Z8NA-D6C that will run the E5530s, and probably all the others

Right now, both boards are running the E5530's without issue, the Asus at 2.4GHz, the SR-2 at 3.6GHz. My best guess is the two as is would get in the neighborhood of 110K - 120K ppd combined with bigadv only (assuming the good work units - the SR-2 is still a wild card since I don't have good numbers on it yet) at around 750-800W draw. The E5620 is sitting in a box at the moment, and the X5550's are new additions.

Given this assortment of stuff, what would you guess would be the best configuration? My original thought was to put the X5550's in the Asus for a dual 2.93GHz machine and leave the E5530s in the SR-2. However, the idea of a pair of processors with a 21x multiplier in the SR-2 is intriguing. Another couple of options would be to sell two of the E5530s and get another E5620, and use E5620s in either the Asus or the SR-2. That would give me turbo and 2.53GHz in the Asus or I would guess 3.8GHz in the SR-2. Another option would be to sell the E5620 and get another low end dual skt 1366 board and some memory. Another would be to sell the 4 E5530s and the Asus board and get another SR-2 and E5620. I don't know how badly I want another system, though. Power usage is getting up there, and I still have another mystery system and GTX 460 to content with for probably 400W draw.

It is an interesting delima, so I would love to hear everyone's thoughts on it. If i do it right, I should have enough to at least contend for the #1 ppd title for the [H]orde, and do it relatively efficiently.

Thanks
 
I'd do the math and see what you would have to sell off to afford Hex core ships and stick that in the SR-2
 
I think the SR-2 is destine for an RMA. It absolutely refuses to run triple channel memory over 175 blck/1400 memory. It also absolutely refuses to run at the lower memory speed setting. I;ve tried every one of my 13 2Gb PC1600 chips, and they all behave exactly the same. Any 4 will run dual channel up to 200 blck/1600 memory, but every one will not run in either of the outer memory slots over 1400.

As far as dual hex cores in the SR-2, I would have to sell all of my processors to break even, and one dual hex machine won't touch the output of just about any combination in two systems. I can't justify the cost just yet. Maybe, some day, but not now.
 
Yeh... if your having issues I can't tell ya to sock everything into it.
 
twoodcc said:
what kind of ppd would dual E5620's run you in one system?
Click to expand...

Should be 75K-ish in the SR-2, and maybe 45K-ish in the Asus.

I am really not seeing the benifit of an SR-2. 75K ppd sounds good, but a couple of nice I7 machines will come very close to that number, for very close to the same power draw.
 
musky said:
Should be 75K-ish in the SR-2, and maybe 45K-ish in the Asus.

I am really not seeing the benifit of an SR-2. 75K ppd sounds good, but a couple of nice I7 machines will come very close to that number, for very close to the same power draw.
Click to expand...

so around 45k at stock speeds.

how fast would the i7s have to run to match those numbers?
 
Well, you are comparing apples to oranges in that case. A highly overclocked I7 (4ish GHz) will do 33k ppd or better, but use 275W or so. The dually at stock speeds will do 45K ppd, and probably use less wattage doing it. So two I7s will smoke the single dually by 20K ppd, but burn more than twice the electricity.
 
musky said:
I am really not seeing the benifit of an SR-2. 75K ppd sounds good, but a couple of nice I7 machines will come very close to that number, for very close to the same power draw.
Click to expand...
Yep, unless you run hex-cores in the SR-2 providing your budget permits it. Another reason to get an SR-2 would be if you require the processing power for other things like rendering, video editing or anything that might use huge amounts of processing power. It would be great as a primary system where you can mega task and still achieve very high PPD -bigadv on less than the full number of available cores. As a dedicated folder, I have yet to see the justification for it even in terms of power consumption unless one happens to live in a very bad area. That said, something as powerful as a SR-2 rig begs for other tasks.. JMO
 
musky said:
Well, you are comparing apples to oranges in that case. A highly overclocked I7 (4ish GHz) will do 33k ppd or better, but use 275W or so. The dually at stock speeds will do 45K ppd, and probably use less wattage doing it. So two I7s will smoke the single dually by 20K ppd, but burn more than twice the electricity.
Click to expand...

sorry, i meant how fast would the i7s have to be to match the SR-2. i guess depending on how fast the E5620s are, running at 4.0 ghz they wouldn't match - 66k to 75k?

APOLLO said:
Yep, unless you run hex-cores in the SR-2 providing your budget permits it. Another reason to get an SR-2 would be if you require the processing power for other things like rendering, video editing or anything that might use huge amounts of processing power. It would be great as a primary system where you can mega task and still achieve very high PPD -bigadv on less than the full number of available cores. As a dedicated folder, I have yet to see the justification for it even in terms of power consumption unless one happens to live in a very bad area. That said, something as powerful as a SR-2 rig begs for other tasks.. JMO
Click to expand...

so you think you can run other tasks and still make the bigadv deadline with a nice bonus?
 
twoodcc said:
so you think you can run other tasks and still make the bigadv deadline with a nice bonus?
Click to expand...
With an SR-2 and a good OC? Sure. If you cannot, then the SR-2 is not worth it in my estimations. But I honestly don't see why not. With the minimum of 16 cores available, one could easily run anything else and make the deadline. The machine won't be running 24/7 with other apps anyway. A few hours a week and even then it's not continuous for that time. I don't see a problem. With dual hex-cores it would be a non issue...
 
twoodcc said:
so you think you can run other tasks and still make the bigadv deadline with a nice bonus?
Click to expand...

Without even trying.

The cutoff is about 55 min TPF on a -bigadv

I'm currently doing 21 min TPF and I know I can get more out of the rig, I just don't have crazy OC-foo that some people here do.

Over 60k out of one box that is puling 500 watts from the wall running 16 threads is quite nice in my opinion.
 
Yea. A 4ghz Sr2 gets about 45k ppd even while gaming.

The 32nm xeons in an Sr2 are a deadly combo. Check out the ppd per watt thread.
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
So am am leaning towards putting the X5550s in the Asus board and getting another E5620 for the SR-2, once I figure out the memory issue. Does anyone have numbers on a dual X5550 machine at stock frequencies (2.93 w/turbo)?
 
I may have numbers in the skynet thread for an OC near that value

the value of the SR2 come in in power and bonuses

one 3.9 ghz i7 gets about 33k, so two get 66k
each one pulls around 300 watts I've been told, I'll find outfor myself today

one SR2 at 3.9 ghz pulls (mine) 505 watts, and gets 75k right now.
That's where the SR2 is worth it. Same price as two rigs but higher points/lower draw
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
Yep and the numbers get better if you compare a 45nm I7 to 32nm xeons
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
Exatcly. On my 55 series chips I'm getting 148 PPD/Watt, the 56 series will only be better

not gonna beat that on an i7 system :)
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
jebo_4jc said:
Yep and the numbers get better if you compare a 45nm I7 to 32nm xeons
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
Click to expand...

What is your power draw for your Westmeres? That may make my decision of E5530s versus E5620s easier.
 
On my phone. Search for top 5 ppd/w thread
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
OK, I put the X5550s in the Asus last night and it is now turning under 34 minute frames on a P2684 while pushing a GTX 460. HFM shows 30K, but I ran half the current unit on E5530s. The SR-2 must have sensed that I was bad-mouthing it, because tonight it decided to stabilize at 18x208 = 3744MHz with memory running at 1664 triple channel. We'll see what that equates to for frame times shortly, but it should be right around 25 minutes/frame on the P2684 based on a couple of frames I ran at 200x18 triple channel. It definately likes its electricity. The kill-o-watt is bouncing between 540W and 580W.

All and all, a good couple of days. Now if I can get the 970 working, I'll be looking pretty good for getting back in the top 10...
 
musky said:
OK, I put the X5550s in the Asus last night and it is now turning under 34 minute frames on a P2684 while pushing a GTX 460. HFM shows 30K, but I ran half the current unit on E5530s. The SR-2 must have sensed that I was bad-mouthing it, because tonight it decided to stabilize at 18x208 = 3744MHz with memory running at 1664 triple channel. We'll see what that equates to for frame times shortly, but it should be right around 25 minutes/frame on the P2684 based on a couple of frames I ran at 200x18 triple channel. It definately likes its electricity. The kill-o-watt is bouncing between 540W and 580W.

All and all, a good couple of days. Now if I can get the 970 working, I'll be looking pretty good for getting back in the top 10...
Click to expand...
the sr2 has 5530s in it?
 
Yep, B0-stepped E5530 ES's for now. Looking at my power draw, switching to Westmeres may be a good investment. That 19x multiplier on an E5620 is looking pretty good right about now...
 
I can get maybe 134 or 135 bclk with SetFSB, but no, not really. i am thinking more about going with Kendrak's suggestion of selling off everything and switching to two E5650 hex cores. I need to run some numbers, but it looks like it may be close.
 
musky said:
I can get maybe 134 or 135 bclk with SetFSB, but no, not really.
Click to expand...
The Asus Z8NA-D6C is actually supported with SetFSB??

i am thinking more about going with Kendrak's suggestion of selling off everything and switching to two E5650 hex cores. I need to run some numbers, but it looks like it may be close.
Click to expand...
You mean selling everything but the SR-2?
 
I'll probably keep the Gulftown rig I just put together as well. The problem is that my Asus/X5550 machine is getting 48K ppd while pushing a GTX 460. If it is pulling under 400W, it may be a ppd/W winner. If that is the case, I may just switch fro E5530s to E5620s in the SR-2 and call it finished for a while.
 
APOLLO said:
The Asus Z8NA-D6C is actually supported with SetFSB?
Click to expand...

One of the option in the freeware version does read and change the bclk. It only can go to 135 or so, but it does work.
 
musky said:
One of the option in the freeware version does read and change the bclk. It only can go to 135 or so, but it does work.
Click to expand...
Is that a limitation in the free version? Or is it limited by stability?
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
jebo_4jc said:
Is that a limitation in the free version? Or is it limited by stability?
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
Click to expand...

It is a board limitation. It may be due to stability, and I would tend to believe this since different processors have different limits. The most you are going to get is 137. I have one set of E5530s that got 135.6 and one that wouldn't budge over 133. I haven't played with the X5550s beyond finding out they lock up immediately at 135.1.
 
musky said:
I'll probably keep the Gulftown rig I just put together as well. The problem is that my Asus/X5550 machine is getting 48K ppd while pushing a GTX 460. If it is pulling under 400W, it may be a ppd/W winner. If that is the case, I may just switch fro E5530s to E5620s in the SR-2 and call it finished for a while.
Click to expand...

it would be more of a winner without the GTX - if our goal for this rig is PPD/W then just run the CPU's, let me go have a look for some numbers for x5550's. I'm interested as well as i've just purchased Kendrak's asus board and i'm eying up some x5650's
 
Nathan_P said:
it would be more of a winner without the GTX - if our goal for this rig is PPD/W then just run the CPU's, let me go have a look for some numbers for x5550's. I'm interested as well as i've just purchased Kendrak's asus board and i'm eying up some x5650's
Click to expand...

I agree 100%. Shutting off the GTX 460 woud do wonders for efficiency. I am just having a hard time convincing myself that the 11K ppd(10.4K ppd actual - I had a few days were it was the only thing producing last week) it produces all day every day is not in my best interest. The folder's delima....
 
musky said:
I agree 100%. Shutting off the GTX 460 woud do wonders for efficiency. I am just having a hard time convincing myself that the 11K ppd(10.4K ppd actual - I had a few days were it was the only thing producing last week) it produces all day every day is not in my best interest. The folder's delima....
Click to expand...

Having just gone through 3 forums trying to find PPD info on x5550's i have zero to report, there are no numbers to be had:(. I would suspect that you will be at or just over your 400w limit. 2 x CPU + 130w for the GPU is going to push 330w at least. It going to be close, if its just a few watts over then i would let it run.

Just out of curiosity what PSU do you have in that machine???
 
With E5530s, the draw was 375W. Those are lower wattage processors, though. If it is at around 400W, it will be a 147.5 ppd/W, which beats my SR-2 with no GPU folding by a fair margin. It is also a virtual zero maintenance machine, which I am begonning to like more and more these days.

Pushing a GTX 460, it is getting 48K-49K ppd through the SMP client only running a P2685. I'll shut the GPU off this evening and see what it does with just SMP. If I get really motivated, I'll grab the kill-o-watt and see what kind of power draw it has.

I am running Corsair TX750 PSUs exclusively at the moment.
 
musky said:
With E5530s, the draw was 375W. Those are lower wattage processors, though. If it is at around 400W, it will be a 147.5 ppd/W, which beats my SR-2 with no GPU folding by a fair margin. It is also a virtual zero maintenance machine, which I am begonning to like more and more these days.

Pushing a GTX 460, it is getting 48K-49K ppd through the SMP client only running a P2685. I'll shut the GPU off this evening and see what it does with just SMP. If I get really motivated, I'll grab the kill-o-watt and see what kind of power draw it has.

I am running Corsair TX750 PSUs exclusively at the moment.
Click to expand...

Efficent PSU's then - so no savings to be had there unless you want to go really mad.

So 60k with the GTX - you will probably find its a wash PPD wise or maybe slightly ahead for the GPU/CPU combo. With the GPU I would guess at about 420w. Definately want to see how this turns out, either way i reckon stil over 140PPD/W, i was over at FF earlier looking for numbers and found last years PPD/W thread - we were impressed if we got 40 PPD/W

Kendrak said the same thing about his asus dually being zero maintainance. This is good as my gpu machine takes a bit of looking after
 
That lian li pc 80 can be found for less than $300. I saw it for around $270 shipped recently.

Not cheap by any stretch, but also not like the mountain mods deal for $400 (isn't that before the $100 mobo tray?!?)
 
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