New Cruncher Advice

[MadMike261]

I am planning on getting a dedicated cruncher in the near future.
But I need some advice and re-assuring.

The plan is:
- i7 2600k
- random m-atx mobo
- 16 gb ram
- random HD
- case undecided (if any - might put it on a cardboard box under my desk)
- power supply undecided. Need to do maths on getting a gold certified power supply or not. Probably 500 watts.
Total for 500 euro's or something.

The aim is running a RAM disk of about 5-6 GB leaving 12 GB for the OS / Crunching instead of a SSD.
And to crunch 100% CEP2.

I am not sure yet on the cooler, but the overclock will be made trying to achieve max output / watt. Trying to stay under 70 degrees.

My question is if an m-atx board will be able to live through this punishment and if the RAM disk will be large enough.
My internet connection is stable enough not to need a large buffer of work units. My normal Rig has only 0.10 days of buffer and very rarely runs out.
So that should reduce the size of the RAM Disk needed.

[artemm]

Will you be overclocking? If so, skip on the m-atx and look into cooling options. I'm a fan of the H70, but you can get similar performance from a good Noctua or similar.

I also say skip on the RAM disk and buy the cheapest memory you can. You can get a decent 30-60GB SSD for a fraction of the cost and (IMO) you won't see a slow-down at all (even if 100% CEP.)

Here's a reasonably-priced SATA III unit:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227728

I know you probably have no access to Newegg, but that's an idea.

Still, if you decide to go the RAM disk route, post your results up. I don't recall ever seeing a comparison run b/w SSD and RAM disk

[MadMike261]

Seeing I will be running 8 threads getting 8 GB RAM was gonna happen anyway.
And with 8 GB of GEIL / Ripjaws / Corsair RAM costing only 40 euro's.
While a 30 GB SSD costs 60 euro's or more.
And I still have an old external hard drive I can boot from so the RAM way seems cheapest and will perform atleast equally (I guess). Besides I think that the RAM will wear less than the SSD (pure speculation, I have done no research into this).

[Rob_B]

I use an Asus P8P67 M-Pro and don't like it a lot. The voltage control is very different compared to the other (ATX) P8P67 boards.
And very hard to set it to what you want. The best I could do with my 2600K was 4600 MHz, but lately I'm having problems with this system. Not sure if it is related to the board, but so far it is doing fine on stock speed.

[BlindFreddie]

My 2 cents worth:

1. 2600K is currently the way to go.
2. In theory, a Z68 board will enable you to save power by using the IGP instead of a discrete video card, and allow overclocking without penalty.
3. You might look at the Asrock Z68 Pro3-M (M = microATX). Cheap!! It seems to have the same PWM setup as the full ATX Z68 Pro3 model. In a review of the 2 boards, the Pro3-M was a litle behind the Pro3 in overclocking, but that could have been just the luck of the 2 particular boards reviewed.
4. uATX case: The CoolerMaster Elite 341 looks OK. Cheap, 120mm fan rear, 2 x 120mm fans side, ... The main ATX power plug & socket on the m'board may get in the way of mounting the HDDs though. You should be able to fit in a tall CPU heatsink such as a TRUE. Any uATX case will be a tight fit, but it makes for a nice compact system.

If I build a new cruncher in the near future, those will be the bits I use, unless someone comes up with something better and/or cheaper.

[retro77]

8GB of RAM is overkill for a dedicated cruncher. Running Linux or Windows?

[MadMike261]

@ Freddie
- Yes Z68 seems the way to go indeed. Was planning on using one of these to test how it works before I replace my main rig with a Z68.
And I will check out the board you mentioned. If that is true I guess it should not have to much trouble with a mild OC (aiming 4.5-5 Ghz depending on what has best Points/Watt)
- The Case looks decent indeed. But I might stick to the Fractal Design R3 that I used in the last 5 builds I did (for myself, family and a company) because it really looks slick and that way I might convince my parents to run it for me

@Retro
I think I read somewhere that it was recommended to have about 1 GB of RAM per thread. And since RAM is kinda cheap (80-90 euro's for 16GB) I would rather be save.
Besides that I was planning to use the same RAM I am running in my main rig and server (running 24GB together) so I can use it as back-up if required.

For cooling I was leaning towards semi-water cooling the CPU with something like a H50. Also as a trial for possible future use in systems I build for family/friends.

Edit:
For the OS I am not sure yet. Will do some research / testing when I get close to ordering since I heard that some projects + hardware combo's are running faster on Linux / Windows.

[shoota]

I'm no expert on ramdisks but it sure seems like a pain in the arse if you want to reboot, power goes out, etc.. is there a way to make the ramdisk persistent that I don't know of?

[MadMike261]

Rebooting will take longer, but since it will be a cruncher that shouldn't be happening very often.

And the power supply is VERY stable over here in the Netherlands. I actually can not recall having a power interrupt. And my server is running without UPS for ages and no problems there either.

[BlindFreddie]

Here's the link to the ASRock Z68 Pro3-M (Intel Z68) Motherboard Review (Tweaktown) that I mentioned.

From what I've read, over 4.5GHz might be a bit optimistic, especially if you want to minimise power consumption.

The H70 sounds like a good cooling system, but before going with water cooling I ask myself "would I buy a used one of these?" High-end air for me, thanks.

[retro77]

Ya RAM is cheap right now. I was thinking of getting some better quality RAM for my system. I typically never run more than 4GB. I crunch and game simultaneous on mine with no qualms.

Keep up the good work out there and crunch on!