i5 vs LGA775 Quads

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Tobit

[H]ard|DCer of the Month - March 2010/May 2011
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What are used Q6600's selling for these days? I want to build a few rack mount quad cores to run some classic clients and, as a beta tester for Stanford, some other projects that don't need require the specs that -bigadv warrant. If one doesn't already have an LGA 775 motherboard and memory, is putting together a Q6600 system necessarily going to save me any money?

Core i5-650 (3.2 GHz) = $195 + Motherboard = $90 + 2GB Memory = $50 == $340

I was thinking a Q6600 would be the cheapest challenger for this but, by overclocking it, it would consume more memory than an i5-650 at stock speeds.

What do you guys think?
 
Ok, I see that here on [H] some Q6600s can be had for $100 so that could be a significant difference. Hmm. I thought people were still asking upwards of $160 for the chips alone.
 
[will read with great interest] I'm looking for a Q6600 to complete a spare parts pile to add more PpD for the [H]. Can't speak to the i5 investment though but I'm all ears and paws.

If no LGA775 mobo/memory, my guess is no. Nevermind what the "new" clients will do to the WU/PpD landscape.
 
LOL, buy my Optiplex 760 and just slap the Q6600 in it. ;) All you need is memory and cpu and its a worken system! :) j/k
 
Q6600 is the clear winner.

Cheaper boards, cheaper RAM, almost as fast.
 
Good point gwarren, nice combo as I was looking at that same board alread. I need microATX to fit in the 2U chassis I want to use. I could build a couple of those i3's next month. However, I still may still want some native quad cores as well for the times I want to run four individual classic clients. Not trying to necessarily maximize PpD here, just want options for running a variety of clients.

However, yeah, it's looking like I shouldn't be investing in Q6600's. I could save some money on the CPU but I'd have greater longevity by investing in newer architecture for the motherboard and memory and lower power usage.
 
Kendrak said:
That is one hell of a combo. And upgradable.
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Yup, that's what made me go "WTF, why am I looking at a Q6600?" and started this thread to make sure I was still sane. :confused: :p
 
Currently leaning towards a few of these:

2vdjfvn.jpg
 
Q6600 is the clear winner.

Cheaper boards, cheaper RAM, almost as fast.
Click to expand...
Surely i5 is worth it for the overclocking ability as well as significantly higher ppd/watt?
 
Mr. Pedantic said:
Surely i5 is worth it for the overclocking ability as well as significantly higher ppd/watt?
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I dunno. I bet you only get about 1k more ppd and the power is about the same. Cost is certainly allot less with the Q6600 (Used parts)

My i7 only gets about 8k on normal smp units.

The i3 with a crazy OC and only losing 1k ppd with a clear upgrade path for the same cost as used Q6600 equipment however is attractive.
 
the i3 isnt a bad looken like cpu set..... I would go for that combo deal though!
 
Stanford is moving in the direction we all wanted, more points for faster return of Work Units.
A public example of this is being used with the SMP1 -bigadv units.

The *faster* you return a unit, the more points , the slower the less points.and vice versa.
(You will always get the base points as long as you return the unit before final deadline)

F@H Blog - VJ Pande said:
http://folding.typepad.com/news/2009/12/smp2-core-update.html
The SMP2 cores are currently in testing; watch for future announcements regarding their release. The first SMP2 core to be released will be a Gromacs-based core with core number A3. In conjunction with this release, we are implementing some updates to our points benchmarking system. In particular, we will use early-completion bonuses, which we have been testing with the bigadv work unit program, more extensively for SMP2 cores.
Click to expand...

Under that situation, it makes no sence to have 2 x Dual Core Systems when 1 x Quad Core system can get more PPD because of Bonus.
(Also applies to running 2 x clients on a quad core processor - one of the reasons this came about)

You should always look for the best deal on hardware, but think about which hardware will serve you the best.

A Core i5/i7 Quad + HT will run faster then a 45nm C2Q --> A 45nm C2Q will run faster then a 65nm C2Q - (Extreme Overclocking Excluded but then your Point Per Watt goes way up)

Just a reminder, Hyper-Thread Cores vs Real Cores => Real Core wins every time.
A Quad Core (Q6600) will get more points per day then the Core i3 (Dual Core + HT) because it has more physical cores.
A Hyper-Threading core will help your PPD but not as much as a physical core will.


Your performance data from SMP1 should not be used to calculate future SMP2 PPD performance.
 
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Some well made points EA. Thanks.
 
I guess I will just stick with Q6600's or, if I feel like splurging, a Q9550. I did want four native cores by starting this thread. Q6600 is still the best bang for the buck it looks like, I was just a tad concerned about sticking with the LGA775 platform. Should be ok for a little while longer though.
 
When you gonna start buying them?
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This is continuing to be a tough debate for me especially given the prices below:

Q6600 Config = $400.00
AMD X4 955 Config = $450.00
i5-750 Config = $530.00

Above configs include motherboard, CPU, 4GB memory, case, power supply, and shipping. Q6600 config is based on a used CPU price of $125.

Again, my goal for building a couple native quads is for the purpose of CPU folding with -smp 4 and/or four individual uniprocessor clients. I'm not aiming for maximum PpD, I want to merely increase the variety of clients on my farm. If I wanted maximum PpD, I'd just throw up another bigadv box. :D
 
Just a reminder, Hyper-Thread Cores vs Real Cores => Real Core wins every time.
Click to expand...
That's not necessarily true. Virtual and Physical cores are virtually indistinguishable on their own. The problem with hyperthreading is when you have to share a single core between 2 threads. That means each thread on average gets half the cache and half the bandwidth. That's where performance drops occur. Whereas for single-thread applications, there is no difference.
 
*looks at the Q6600 system still lying about in parts in her room*

*idly whistles*

:p
 
Are you gonna OC Tobit?
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