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CCP4BB  June 2010

CCP4BB June 2010

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Subject:

Re: Recommendations for (linux) crystallography workstation, server?

From:

Kay Diederichs <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

Kay Diederichs <[log in to unmask]>

Date:

Fri, 4 Jun 2010 12:22:09 +0200

Content-Type:

multipart/signed

Parts/Attachments:

Parts/Attachments

text/plain (96 lines) , smime.p7s (96 lines)

David Schuller schrieb:
> <div class="moz-text-flowed" style="font-family: -moz-fixed">On 06/03/10
> 17:08, Edward A. Berry wrote:
>> A colleague is interested in purchasing computers for structural biology.
>>
>> On the CCP4 wiki Kay reports good results with core i7 940 processor
>> in Dell desktops. Is i7 still a good choice? is it worth upgrading now
>> to i7 960 (3.2 GHz vs 2.66, for + $467) or i7 980 (3.33 ghz and more
>> L2 cache for + $999)?
>>
>> Any particular Dell model, disk configuration?
>>
>> Any recommendations for a linux NFS and NIS server that would have
>> user's home directories and software installs for 20 - 30 linux
>> and Mac workstations? In a building with 1GHz network.
>>
>> Any suggestions, success reports, or horror stories would be appreciated.
>>
>> Ed
>>    
> Yes, core i7 is still a good choice, but Intel has done some strange
> things. They use the "core i7" name for several different sockets.
> 
> Socket LGA 1366 is for servers and a few extreme gaming machines. The
> CPUS for 1366 are expensive, and they run hot; most come in at 130 W or
> so. The core i7-9xx CPUs you mention above are socket 1366.
> 
> Socket LGA 1156 is for consumer desktops. They are more reasonably
> priced, and run cooler. CPUS which fit this socket include "Clarkdale" 2
> core chips and "Lynnfield" 4 core chips.
> 
> Assuming you want a 4 core CPU, these are your choices:
> 
> core i5-750  @2.66 GHz, $200 (core i5 means no hyperthreading)
> core i7-860  @2.8 GHz, $279  *****
> core i7-875  @2.93 GHz, $349
> core i7-870  @2.93 GHz, $579
> All of those are rated at 95 Watts, which is much more reasonable.
> 
> These CPUs have "Turbo-Boost" which means that if not all the cores are
> in use, and the chip is within its thermal envelope, they can actually
> run faster than the listed speed. For example, the core i7-860, rated at
> 2.8 GHz, can actually reach 3.46 GHz under the right conditions.
> 
> IMHO, the core i7-860 is the sweet spot for affordable performance.
> Within the last 6 months I installed 5 of those with 8 GB RAM each. (You
> probably used them on your last visit.) Also, I recommend motherboards
> which support the SATA 6 Gb/s and USB 3.0 interfaces.
> 
> I assemble from parts, so I won't comment on pre-assembled products from
> Dell or other vendors.
> 
> Both Intel and AMD have some massively-multiple core chips now at 6, 8
> and even 12 cores per CPU. They cost more though.
> 
> 
> Cheers,
> 

Ed,

for your requirements "a linux NFS and NIS server that would have user's
home directories and software installs for 20 - 30 linux and Mac
workstations" I would recommend server-grade hardware. You can recognize
this: it supports ECC memory. (and you should use ECC memory)

Many Dell workstations have server-grade motherboards.

If you want/need SATA 6 Gb/s and USB 3.0, then only very recent Intel
motherboards seem to provide this with full speed. Don't know if Dell
has them.

How cool a CPU runs is strongly influenced by BIOS settings. For i*
CPUs, you should at least enable "Turbo Boost", "C1E", "Deep C-states"
and probably read some specialized articles about this (check out
http://www.tomshardware.com/s/reviews/i7-bios/?order=Date ). And have
disk controller run in AHCI or RAID mode, not IDE or LEGACY.

It's painful that as a crystallographer one sometimes has to turn into a
hardware guru. E.g., ECC memory support in Intel CPU/motherboard combos
is a science on its own: see
http://www.h-online.com/newsticker/news/item/Processor-Whispers-About-Omitted-Features-and-Own-Goals-965540.html

HTH,

Kay
-- 
Kay Diederichs                http://strucbio.biologie.uni-konstanz.de
email: [log in to unmask]    Tel +49 7531 88 4049 Fax 3183
Fachbereich Biologie, Universität Konstanz, Box M647, D-78457 Konstanz

This e-mail is digitally signed. If your e-mail client does not have the
necessary capabilities, just ignore the attached signature "smime.p7s".


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