High End Desktop/Server required

M

I am planning to build a high end desktop which will also used as server for my various specialized software.

1. What is the purpose of the computer? What all applications and games are you going to run? (Stupid answers like 'gaming' or 'office work' will not work. Be exact. Which games? Which applications? Avoid the word 'et cetera.')
Ans: Rig will run custom software but will be highly taxing all processor cores and RAMs.

2. What is your overall budget? If you can extend a bit for a more balanced configuration, then mention this too.
Ans: Around 1.25L

3. Planning to overclock?
Ans: Slightly.

4. Which Operating System are you planning to use?
Ans: Windows 7 and Ubuntu (both 64-bit)

5. How much hard drive space is needed?
Ans: Will require multiple of 2TB hard-disks (sometimes using 3 HDDs in one go).

6. Do you want to buy a monitor? If yes, please mention which screen size and resolution do you want. If you already have a monitor and want to reuse it, again mention the size and resolution of monitor you have.
Ans: Yes. 23" LED with Full HD will be good as it will provide good screen-space.

7. Which components you DON'T want to buy or which components you already have and plan on reusing?
Ans: Need all including UPS. Pay less or no emphasis on speakers as this rig is not for gaming.

8. When are you planning to buy the system?
Ans: within 10 days.

9. Have you ever built a desktop before or will this be done by an assembler?
Ans: Will build the system myself.

10. Where do you live? Are you buying locally? Are you open to buying stuff from online shops if you don't get locally?
Ans: Live in Delhi but open for online purchase from anywhere in India.

11. Anything else which you would like to say?
Ans: System will be used for extensive data processing and might run for few days non-stop. So stability and good battery backup (of the UPS) is essential. Also, I would prefer cabinet with external USB3.0 ports and provide easy access to HDDs which might have to be installed/removed frequently.

Waiting for some suggestions....

monkey said:
I am planning to build a high end desktop which will also used as server for my various specialized software.

1. What is the purpose of the computer? What all applications and games are you going to run? (Stupid answers like 'gaming' or 'office work' will not work. Be exact. Which games? Which applications? Avoid the word 'et cetera.')
Ans: Rig will run custom software but will be highly taxing all processor cores and RAMs.

2. What is your overall budget? If you can extend a bit for a more balanced configuration, then mention this too.
Ans: Around 1.25L

3. Planning to overclock?
Ans: Slightly.

4. Which Operating System are you planning to use?
Ans: Windows 7 and Ubuntu (both 64-bit)

5. How much hard drive space is needed?
Ans: Will require multiple of 2TB hard-disks (sometimes using 3 HDDs in one go).

6. Do you want to buy a monitor? If yes, please mention which screen size and resolution do you want. If you already have a monitor and want to reuse it, again mention the size and resolution of monitor you have.
Ans: Yes. 23" LED with Full HD will be good as it will provide good screen-space.

7. Which components you DON'T want to buy or which components you already have and plan on reusing?
Ans: Need all including UPS. Pay less or no emphasis on speakers as this rig is not for gaming.

8. When are you planning to buy the system?
Ans: within 10 days.

9. Have you ever built a desktop before or will this be done by an assembler?
Ans: Will build the system myself.

10. Where do you live? Are you buying locally? Are you open to buying stuff from online shops if you don't get locally?
Ans: Live in Delhi but open for online purchase from anywhere in India.

11. Anything else which you would like to say?
Ans: System will be used for extensive data processing and might run for few days non-stop. So stability and good battery backup (of the UPS) is essential. Also, I would prefer cabinet with external USB3.0 ports and provide easy access to HDDs which might have to be installed/removed frequently.

Waiting for some suggestions....

The best config optimized to run specialized software's :

AMD FX 8350 -12850,
Asus M5A99FX Pro R2.0 -10735,
Sapphire HD7950 3GB Vapor-X -22250,
Asus 24B5ST DVDRW -1150,
Seasonic X760 -8456,
Samsung 840 Pro 250GB SSD -17400,
WD Black 2TB -8000,
Corsair Vengeance 16GB 1600MHz -8000,
Corsair H80 Cooler -4700,
Dell 22" S2240L LED IPS -9000,
APC 1.5Kva UPS -9000,
Logitech G400 -1650,
Logitech Z313 2.1 -1500,
Microsoft Sidewinder X4 -2200,
NZXT Phantom 410 -6700,
Deep Cool 120mm 4 BLUE LED Fans -1400.
TOTAL -1,25,034.

bavusani said:
The best config optimized to run specialized software's :

AMD FX 8350 -11500
Asus M5A99FX Pro R2.0 -10735,
Sapphire HD7950 3GB Vapor-X -22250,
Asus 24B5ST DVDRW -1150,
Seasonic X760 -8456,
Samsung 840 Pro 250GB SSD -17400,
WD Black 2TB -8000,
Corsair Vengeance 16GB 1600MHz -8000,
Corsair H80 Cooler -4700,
Dell 22" S2240L LED IPS -8500,
APC 1.5Kva UPS -9000,
Logitech G400 -1650,
Logitech Z313 2.1 -1500,
Microsoft Sidewinder X4 -2200,
NZXT Phantom 410 -6700,
Deep Cool 120mm 4 BLUE LED Fans -1400.
TOTAL -1,23,534.

+1 for this rig

Get the Corsair HX750 at same price and Since OP is interested in heavy apps , I think a Quadro or Firepro would be better.

Sainatarajan said:
Get the Corsair HX750 at same price and Since OP is interested in heavy apps , I think a Quadro or Firepro would be better.

yeh ...

yep.. as it is not a gaming rig, loose the 7950 and get a Quadro or Firepro.

rest rig is A-1

M

AFAIK Quadro and Fire Pro are suitable for designing purpose and I won't be using the system for it. It will be more stuff like data analysis/mining. Only that the s/w used for such stuff are very demanding on CPU and RAM. I was thinking of Intel LGA2011 based system. Shouldn't it be a better option?

Also, I need some clarification on the suggested config:
1. Will I need a liquid cooling system?
2. How much backup time should I expect with the UPS mentioned?
3. I will spend no more than 500/- on speakers so please save some greens there.
4. Though I will use both Windows and Ubuntu I do not plan to Dual boot. Instead I plan to install these OSes on separate HDDs and connect/disconnect them as and when required. Should I go for SSD in such a scenario?
5. Spending 2.2k for mouse makes no sense for me. I will be OK with normal Rs. 400/- corded mouse.

Please suggest.

if you are sure you dont need a GPU, you can chuck the 7950/Firepro/Quadro.
but there are techniques to use GPGPU for datamining and having a dedicated GPU for this greatly speed up things.. GPUs are good in Parallel processing and thus we suggested Firepro/Quadro... you should look into it.

If the s/w you will be using are truly multi core optimised, then FX8350 is best suited for you. it surpasses intel in multicore oriented environments.

In the end, if you dont need a GPU, invest some money in RAM coolers.

Intel i7 3930K - Rs 33,700
Gigabyte GA-X79-UD5 / Asus P9X79 - Rs 19,350
G.skill Ripjaws Z 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 2133MHz Desktop RAM (F3-17000CL11Q-16GBZL) - Rs 11000

These should be your base core components.

i would suggest
i7-3930K @ 35000
ASUS P9X79 PRO @ 20000
CM Elite 431 @ 3500
TX 650 @ 5400
G.Skill RipjawsX DDR3 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) 1600mhz @6500
APC 1.5Kva UPS @9000
WD Black 2TB @ 8000
Dell 22" S2240L LED IPS @ 8500
Asus 24B5ST DVDRW @1100
ATI FirePro V4800 1 GB @ 10000
Corsair H80 Cooler @4500
Samsung 840 Pro 250GB SSD @ 17500
Logitech combo @850
Total @ 129300 /-

a little out of budget but definitely worth it ... and im sure this is wat u want

^^ A quad channel RAM config gets the most out of a X79 platform. A dual channel suggested by you is not inspiring in this scenario. And a CM Elite 431 is a bad choice for a server configuration. A CM Silencio is more apt.

The Incinerator said:
^^ A quad channel RAM config gets the most out of a X79 platform. A dual channel suggested by you is not inspiring in this scenario. And a CM Elite 431 is a bad choice for a server configuration. A CM Silencio is more apt.

didnt know.. thanks!

The Incinerator said:
^^ A quad channel RAM config gets the most out of a X79 platform. A dual channel suggested by you is not inspiring in this scenario. And a CM Elite 431 is a bad choice for a server configuration. A CM Silencio is more apt.

heck yeh but are these RAM's available in india ? and yes cm elite is bad but why ???

M

nikhilsharma007nikx said:
i would suggest
i7-3930K @ 35000
ASUS P9X79 PRO @ 20000
CM Elite 431 @ 3500
TX 650 @ 5400
G.Skill RipjawsX DDR3 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) 1600mhz @6500
APC 1.5Kva UPS @9000
WD Black 2TB @ 8000
Dell 22" S2240L LED IPS @ 8500
Asus 24B5ST DVDRW @1100
ATI FirePro V4800 1 GB @ 10000
Corsair H80 Cooler @4500
Samsung 840 Pro 250GB SSD @ 17500
Logitech combo @850
Total @ 129300 /-

a little out of budget but definitely worth it ... and im sure this is wat u want

Budget can be adjusted so no problem...now only few points:

1. I am inclined for full tower as it will give me enough space to play with various HDDs installed on my system.
2. I am still not sure about SSD and liquid cooler. Shouldn't CM Hyper 212 Evo be sufficient?
3. Should I go for ATI FirePro or Nvidia Quadro as I have heard that many GPGPU utilising s/w get good boost with the role of CUDA cores available on Nvidia cards?

monkey said:
Budget can be adjusted so no problem...now only few points:

1. I am inclined for full tower as it will give me enough space to play with various HDDs installed on my system.
2. I am still not sure about SSD and liquid cooler. Shouldn't CM Hyper 212 Evo be sufficient?
3. Should I go for ATI FirePro or Nvidia Quadro as I have heard that many GPGPU utilising s/w get good boost with the role of CUDA cores available on Nvidia cards?

1. CM Elite 431 @ 3500 :facepalm:

go for NZXT phantom.

2. SSD is good for the system. and definitely worth the money. though you could opt for a 128GB and only install the OS and apps for fast boot time and response time.

3. Not enough experience to suggest

monkey said:
Budget can be adjusted so no problem...now only few points:

1. I am inclined for full tower as it will give me enough space to play with various HDDs installed on my system.
2. I am still not sure about SSD and liquid cooler. Shouldn't CM Hyper 212 Evo be sufficient?
3. Should I go for ATI FirePro or Nvidia Quadro as I have heard that many GPGPU utilising s/w get good boost with the role of CUDA cores available on Nvidia cards?

Nothink beats CUDA when it comes to GPU computing. Go for Quadro.

Yes, go with the quadro.

nikhilsharma007nikx said:
heck yeh but are these RAM's available in india ? and yes cm elite is bad but why ???

The RAMS are very easily available in India.
CM Elite is bad only in this scenario. A server/workstaion needs space for large components and expandibility options which is of primary importance and then comes the silent part,where the cabinet has to maintain optimum thermals without reaching uncomfortable decibel limits.

nikhilsharma007nikx said:
heck yeh but are these RAM's available in india ? and yes cm elite is bad but why ???

quad channel, i think is when the 4 RAM sticks are used in the channels...

Correct??

M

I am now inclined towards LGA2011 system as suggested by nikhilsharma007nikx. I am not for SSD as it will provide only fast booting times while most of the data I would work will be on mechanical HDDs (and they will be under use 99% of the time). I can think about VelociRaptors though... :-D

For cabinet I am thinking about CM HAF X and CM Hyper 212 EVO as CPU cooler....Can't decide on which Quadro should I go for (have no experience with these workstation GFX cards)...

Please let me know if its OK and what exact model of each components should I get. What price can I expect?

anirbandd said:
quad channel, i think is when the 4 RAM sticks are used in the channels...

Correct??

You are correct.

i7-3930K @ 35000
ASUS P9X79 PRO @ 20000
CM HAF X @ 13000
TX 650 @ 5400
G.skill Ripjaws Z 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 2133MHz @ 11000
APC 1.5Kva UPS @9000
WD Black 2TB @ 8000
Dell 22" S2240L LED IPS @ 8500
Asus 24B5ST DVDRW @1100
Leadtek Quadro FX 600 1GB @ 10000
Cooler Master Seidon 120M @4500
Logitech combo @850

Total @ 126350 /-

I think a TX 750 is best suited here just to be on the safer side and more ocing room.

M

nikhilsharma007nikx said:
i7-3930K @ 35000
ASUS P9X79 PRO @ 20000
CM HAF X @ 13000
TX 650 @ 5400
G.skill Ripjaws Z 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 2133MHz @ 11000
APC 1.5Kva UPS @9000
WD Black 2TB @ 8000
Dell 22" S2240L LED IPS @ 8500
Asus 24B5ST DVDRW @1100
Leadtek Quadro FX 600 1GB @ 10000
Cooler Master Seidon 120M @4500
Logitech combo @850

Total @ 126350 /-

Looks OK to me except for liquid cooler. Will still opt for air cooling. Thanx anyways.

@ Sainatarajan: I was too thinking about TX 750. Having some space is always good :-D

well why air cooling cm seidon is good ?

^risk of leaking and the rig going *ryanschultz.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/kaboom.jpg

M

anirbandd said:
^risk of leaking and the rig going *ryanschultz.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/kaboom.jpg

With system being opened and HDDs getting replaced again and again tampering will be riskier. Also, its more for cost saving when Air cooling is enough.

^agree 100%...

as for now good air coolers are hard to find in india so i suggested the liquid one ... but if u still need air coolers then you gotta import it ...

@OP
What kind of compute will your software do? Will it be sequential (like bitmining or password cracking) or not? Moreover is your software optimised for GPGPU computing? You should look at some benchmarks of both quadro and firepro for an application that matches your workload the most.

M

@SlashDK: Yeah, it will mostly be sequential. Since some s/w are tailored made I am depending on the manufacturer to give me some more idea regarding s/w dependency on GPGPU. The sales guy doesn't have much idea (as expected) but he just told me to buy system with as many cores and more RAM as financially possible. In fact one such s/w demo I got was running on system with 24 threads and 32GB RAM!! (Must be dual socket Xeon based system)

@nikhilsharma007nikx: I think Noctua/CM/Deepcool make decent air coolers which will do my job and they all are available in India.

Noctuas are hard to acquire, but they are the creme de la creme of air coolers

btw, good job asking the s/w manufacturers about the h/w dependency..

yeh hard to find Noctua but a EVO or a 412 slim will do your job !

monkey said:
@SlashDK: Yeah, it will mostly be sequential. Since some s/w are tailored made I am depending on the manufacturer to give me some more idea regarding s/w dependency on GPGPU. The sales guy doesn't have much idea (as expected) but he just told me to buy system with as many cores and more RAM as financially possible. In fact one such s/w demo I got was running on system with 24 threads and 32GB RAM!! (Must be dual socket Xeon based system)

@nikhilsharma007nikx: I think Noctua/CM/Deepcool make decent air coolers which will do my job and they all are available in India.

> If the softwares aren't GPGPU optimized and neither do you plan on using one in future, then you may opt for a low end Quadro card instead of a gaming chip.

> For cpu coolers, if the room will be air conditioned, then there will not be any problem. Get Noctua if you cna fond, else Deepcool Assassin. Noctua NH D14 > Deepcool Assassin > CM Hyper 412 Slim.

V

Well unless you are going to use some specific things where quadro 600 is good/better you can look for firepro v4800 or v3900,both are better performers than quadro 600 in general.

Very True.

Since OP has a sequential workload wouldn't AMD be better than nVidia (correct me if i'm wrong). OP do make sure that the s/w supports GPU compute otherwise buying one would be meaningless.

Z820 workstation
HP Z820 Workstation | 16-core Dual Processor Xeon Workstation

Shop asus z9pe d8 ws online - Buy asus z9pe d8 ws best price in India | Gift asus z9pe d8 ws online - Rediff Shopping

Asus Z9pe-d8 Ws @ 58k
2 x i7 3930 @ 70k
64gb ram 8gb x 8 sticks @ 16k
Hddd @ 20k
psu @ 10k

it overshoots ur budget, but if you can get that motherboard for 30k its a awesome deal. You dont need the fastest ram. just higher ram density.

SlashDK said:
@OP
What kind of compute will your software do? Will it be sequential (like bitmining or password cracking) or not? Moreover is your software optimised for GPGPU computing? You should look at some benchmarks of both quadro and firepro for an application that matches your workload the most.

The only wise question.

V

NoasArcAngel said:
Shop asus z9pe d8 ws online - Buy asus z9pe d8 ws best price in India | Gift asus z9pe d8 ws online - Rediff Shopping

Asus Z9pe-d8 Ws @ 58k
2 x i7 3930 @ 70k
64gb ram 8gb x 8 sticks @ 16k
Hddd @ 20k
psu @ 10k

it overshoots ur budget, but if you can get that motherboard for 30k its a awesome deal. You dont need the fastest ram. just higher ram density.

2 SB-E i7 processors won't work in dual process configuration.Just because the sockets are same doesn't mean that one would put them and it would work in dual configuration.
At max only one SB_E i7 would end up working with that mobo.C600 series chipset motherboards are optimized to work with Xeon processors not SB-E i7 processors.
Only Sandy bridge based Xeon E5 2xxx processors can work in dual configuration with C600 series chipset motherboards.The Xeon E5s have the extra QPI link for intercommunication which SB-E i7 processors don't have.They have the instructions to work in dual configuration.

vkl said:
2 SB-E i7 processors won't work in dual process configuration.Just because the sockets are same doesn't mean that one would put them and it would work in dual configuration.
At max only one SB_E i7 would end up working with that mobo.C600 series chipset motherboards are optimized to work with Xeon processors not SB-E i7 processors.
Only Sandy bridge based Xeon E5 2xxx processors can work in dual configuration with C600 series chipset motherboards.The Xeon E5s have the extra QPI link for intercommunication which SB-E i7 processors don't have.They have the instructions to work in dual configuration.

thanks for pointing that out.

that means OP can go for dual server class xeon based processors

after checking the benchmarks, its much better to go for a single i7 3960x as its more VFM and more ram...

ur main components should be :

i7 3960x @ 65k
x79 motherboard @ 15~20k
G.Skill RipjawsX DDR3 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) PC RAM (F3-12800CL10S-8GBXL) x 8 @ 32k
Seasonic X760 @ 8456

rest of hdd , gpu and all you can decide

Its better to stick with a 3930K for half the price to sustain a rig in that budget going down the 2011 socket way.

M

I am not going with Xeon as it will escalate the price. I will stick to 3930K.

One more question: What advantage does Quadro 600 have over card like GeForce 650Ti when 650Ti has nearly 7 times the CUDA cores and have DDR5 memory as opposed to Quadro 600 having DDR3 memory? Both costs nearly the same.

The Driver. The driver required for Workstation cards are optimized to perform Compute related tasks with precise accuracy whereas the driver for Gaming cards are optimized for processing large amount of data in real time without precise accuracy

monkey said:
I am not going with Xeon as it will escalate the price. I will stick to 3930K.

One more question: What advantage does Quadro 600 have over card like GeForce 650Ti when 650Ti has nearly 7 times the CUDA cores and have DDR5 memory as opposed to Quadro 600 having DDR3 memory? Both costs nearly the same.

the CUDA cores on a workstation GPU are designed in a different manner for DPF and have different operation instruction sets. If you want the same performance as the Quadro line search for GTX5xx (fermi) series GPU's as they are almost identical in cuda core performance. GTX6xx (kepler) CUDA are more SPF

if you want to save money elsewhere then and only then get 3930k, else id suggest stick to the 3960x for better stock clock and a higher cache

with an x79 mobo you have additional advantage because of the increased memory lanes.

a dual processsor motherboard + xeon setup = more VFM than running a i7 39xx ( obviosuly depending on the applications )

*legitreviews.com/images/reviews/2127/after-effects-benchmark.jpg

Get the 3930K with a C606 chipset based mainboard like the Gigabyte GA-X79S-UP5-WIFI. This combination is apt for a entry/mid level WS.

In layman terms if you get a 650Ti the driver profiles wont match with some of your softwares which require WS cards and will end up in random crashese ,freeze etc etc.

If its a Tool get a Firepro/Quadro , if its a Toy a get GTX/HD ,simple!

V

i7 3930k is fine. i7 3960x is clocked just 0.1GHz(stock) higher and has 3MB more L3 cache,there is not much performance difference.i7 3960x costs at least 25k more,also i7 3930k can be overclocked as well.

For motherboard something like Gigabyte GA-X79-UD5 would do.
Gigabyte GA-X79S-UP5-WIFI is a nice board,should be taken if price is reasonable and available.
The things that C606 chipset in the Gigabyte GA-X79S-UP5-WIFI provides like capability for dual Xeons is out of question here since GA-X79S-UP5-WIFI has only one socket and ECC memory can only be used when a Xeon is paired with the motherboard.

If the programs you are going to use seemingly don't require workstation card you are better off with a gaming card like hd7850.