Good, Cheap Cruncher?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...%29-_-13135259


What do you guys think of this? Might be pretty cheap to build up a few of these. I haven't had an Intel chip [aside from my XPS 1530 lappy] in ages. I'm not familiar with the performance of the Core i5/i3's.


Cheers! :up:

I have always beleived that if you buy cheap boards you get cheap boards..and they die..

not meant for 24/7 crunching ... good for light office use I'd think

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Originally Posted by Jaco

not meant for 24/7 crunching ... good for VERY light office use I'd think

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Fixed!:rofl:

If my netbook can crunch 24/7, I think this could.

Thanks MM. Too funny.

I've used ECS, guess what they all have in common? The die fast :P

True, I've had an ECS board that was on sale at Fry's years ago. I returned it until I could get one to boot. Too bad it's ECS.

The ECS K7S5A was a decent office Socket A board, but it eventually died too

For the cost savings, I'd say stay away.

MSI P55M-GD41 board ($100)
Core i7-860 chip ($280)
2x1GB or 2x2GB DDR3 1333 ram ($50-100)
Cheapest graphics card <-- perhaps a G92 or a RV670/770 ($20-80)
USB flash drive instead of HDD ($15)
Corsair 400CX or Antec 380W ($40-60)
Cardboard box or Antec 4482/similar chassis ($0-60)

Better deal on an H55/i3 package going at Fry's atm if you happen to live near one.

The WCG results snip beside it is my own H55/i3 HTPC.
Running flat out for SC week here at about 3.5.
Crunched better than I had thought it would actually.

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Originally Posted by retro77

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...%29-_-13135259

What do you guys think of this?

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Awww... it's so cute! :rofl:

Just imagine what it would look like with a set of Corsair Dominators and an HD5970 :rolleyes:

Or there is this one:
Pros: built in video and CPU included
Cons: It's Biostar :down: Same boat as ECS

AMD Phenom™ II X4 925 Processor & BioStar TA785GE 128M Motherboard

Biostar is much MUCH better than ECS. Every brand has their cheap products, but I'd put faith in an *inexpensive* biostar.

I've been surprised by some inexpensive Biostar boards. I built around an AM2+ 790GX board with a Phenom X4 940 BE that quickly and pretty decently overclocked to 3.6GHz. RAM timings were tighter than I expected and it's been rock solid stable, from what I've heard, for closing in on a year now. That Biostar X58A board is supposed to be very good for good fast overclocking, though I know the original version didn't like tweaked settings.

I currently have this crunching at 4ghz with a 1055T X6 :up:

Low power usage, integrated GFX and overclocks like a champ (for a relatively cheap board) :up: :up: :up:

I have this board http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...A-MA785GM-US2H , good little board! Had it since about July. Thinking about getting a 1055T for it. Might need to add some mosfet cooling though

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Originally Posted by Bobsama

For the cost savings, I'd say stay away.

MSI P55M-GD41 board ($100)

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This is good little board. I prefer the P55M-GD45... it's just a little more and worth it in headroom. I owned both and still run the GD45.

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Originally Posted by Peen

I have this board http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...A-MA785GM-US2H , good little board! Had it since about July. Thinking about getting a 1055T for it. Might need to add some mosfet cooling though

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a linebacker in a miata - :D

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Originally Posted by Biker

I currently have this crunching at 4ghz with a 1055T X6 :up:

Low power usage, integrated GFX and overclocks like a champ (for a relatively cheap board) :up: :up: :up:

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that setup definately makes for a good cheap cruncher; damn near as cheap as you can get with very good production:up:

i'd stay away from mini-ITX boards because they're designed for form, not longer term load 24/7. none of them has any mosfet coolers, and the pwm's are generally pretty weak. i bought a cheapo board for my phenom II x6 and while stress testing my OC's, i can smell a burnt smell from the mosfet areas, so i can't really test how stable my OC's were.

http://i41.tinypic.com/10ofi93.jpg

Cute little bugger huh, sitting there folding away. Doesn't ask for much

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Originally Posted by mezcal

The WCG results snip beside it is my own H55/i3 HTPC.
Running flat out for SC week here at about 3.5.
Crunched better than I had thought it would actually.

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I just realized that your i3 at 3.5GHz was churning out more PPD than my E8400 at 3.6GHz... by several thousand points. :eek:

That's pretty impressive (then again, I haven't been keeping track of the i3's/i5's).

ECS = Every Customer is a Sucker!

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Originally Posted by Petra

I just realized that your i3 at 3.5GHz was churning out more PPD than my E8400 at 3.6GHz... by several thousand points. :eek:

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yup, that's HT at work. it gives a good 40-50% boost for WCG

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Originally Posted by josh1980

ECS = Every Customer is a Sucker!

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i've only had 2 ECS boards, and both still last over 4 years. they still work, i just retired them. maybe i got lucky?

You're lucky, especially if they are working 100% on Crunching. I don't know though, haven't used an ECS since the Socket A days.

I like Asrock for cheap reliable boards.