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,
--
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All Things Serve the Beam
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David J. Schuller
modern man in a post-modern world
MacCHESS, Cornell University
schul...@cornell.edu
