T5500

[STMahlberg]

I've been looking at T5500's on Ebay and I'm seeing all sorts of configurations and pricing from as low as $100 on up. My question is, what should I be looking for? Is it worth the $100 to get a 4 core system or should I be spending more to get a 12 core system and how much is too much?

[Al]

I have 3-T5500s. 24 thread with 24gb ram...48 is better. They are rock solid and built like a tank. Z600s are similar and often cheaper...and are roomier inside. I have 2-Z600s also.

[Bryan]

I have 3 T5500s and like Al said they are totally solid. They also outperform the generation that followed E5-2670s. Scole had mentioned that and I didn't really buy it so I started watching what happened when I was running projects and sure enough the X5675 would go right on by them.

[STMahlberg]

Well, I finally took the plunge. I started looking at the Z600's and found one that I liked.

HP Z600 2 Xeon X5645 6 Core 2.40GHz 32GB RAM NO HDD, NO OS, Windows 7 Pro Key - $300 and free shipping. :D It has a NVIDIA Quadro NVS 450 card as well but I have a couple of GTX460's that need a home and I'm hoping those will fit.

The guy had 2 and I almost bought them both but I thought let's not go crazy. :)) I get my first raise since being retired so I'm going to let my COLA pay for it.

[Fire$torm]

Well, I finally took the plunge. I started looking at the Z600's and found one that I liked.

HP Z600 2 Xeon X5645 6 Core 2.40GHz 32GB RAM NO HDD, NO OS, Windows 7 Pro Key - $300 and free shipping. :D It has a NVIDIA Quadro NVS 450 card as well but I have a couple of GTX460's that need a home and I'm hoping those will fit.

The guy had 2 and I almost bought them both but I thought let's not go crazy. :)) I get my first raise since being retired so I'm going to let my COLA pay for it.

Sweet! Congrats and Crunch On!

[STMahlberg]

So this Z600 will be needing a HDD. I want to install a dual boot on this system. Would a 500 GB be adequate?

[Mumps]

Well, YMMV, but I run Linux with up to 2 Linux guests on only 72 Gig drives. The current Windows O/S installation process recommends roughly 150 Gig of disk, so you would probably be fine with a 500 Gig drive for BOINC. Unless you plan on running the LHC suite of projects with their 7 Gig VM Images they send you... With the price difference, it probably still makes no sense to skimp on Disk. Although, if you're talking SSD, the price does still ramp up a bit more steeply.

[STMahlberg]

Well, YMMV, but I run Linux with up to 2 Linux guests on only 72 Gig drives. The current Windows O/S installation process recommends roughly 150 Gig of disk, so you would probably be fine with a 500 Gig drive for BOINC. Unless you plan on running the LHC suite of projects with their 7 Gig VM Images they send you... With the price difference, it probably still makes no sense to skimp on Disk. Although, if you're talking SSD, the price does still ramp up a bit more steeply.

LHC is on my To Do List. So I should probably spend a few extra bucks and go with a 1 TB?

Edit: Just found a 1 TB for the same price as a 500 GB $49.99.

[Bryan]

Most of my machines have 120G SSD w/ Windows installed and then a separate 1TB HDD. I give Windows about 300G (420G total) of the 2nd drive and the rest goes to Linux.

[STMahlberg]

Most of my machines have 120G SSD w/ Windows installed and then a separate 1TB HDD. I give Windows about 300G (420G total) of the 2nd drive and the rest goes to Linux.

Is there an advantage to having Windows installed on the SSD?


Not related to Boinc...

I setup my main rig for my own piece of mind, with a 1 TB C: drive that has Windows and all programs installed there, a 1 TB S: drive which is a working directory of all my files, a 1 TB T: drive which is a partial backup for non-critical files, a 1 TB Z: drive with a disc image that I use quarterly to keep Windows running like new, and a 4 TB External drive that has a backup of the S: and T: drives.

I've had 1 Seagate and 2 Maxtor drive fail on me years ago but I lost everything and learned the hard way. I only buy Western Digital's now which have never failed me... but there is always a first. :)) Perhaps I'm overly cautious. :-??

[Bryan]

The only advantage to the SSD is speed. Theoretically it will help crunching but in reality I'm not sure you could ever quantify it :D

[scole of TSBT]

How long will a SSD last running boinc on it, not the OS, but the BOINC folder?

[Bryan]

How long will a SSD last running boinc on it, not the OS, but the BOINC folder?

I've had 6 of them running for 3 2/3 years without a failure .... yet! They were on my 6 I7-3930K machines and I'm still using them for Windows on the upgraded machines.

Each of the machines does share part of a 1TB drive for Windows storage and Linux. The OS and BOINC are installed on the SSD on all of them and always has been.

EDIT: actually that isn't totally accurate. On 2 of the machines I upgraded 3 months ago I replaced the 120G SSDs with 1TB SSDs. So 4 have been running for 3 2/3 years and 2 only ran for 3 1/2 years (they were working fine when I took them offline). I think Sphynx is currently using one of them on his machine.

[Al]

...and it's still running without issues.

[STMahlberg]

It really gets my panties in a bunch when USPS doesn't do their job. Apparently, they never scanned the tracking number for this Z600 shipment. I sold on Ebay for about a year and there was one particular post office that pulled this #%$! all the time. It wouldn't get scanned until it was out for delivery. I changed post offices so that kind of stuff stopped happening.

I think it's suppose to come tomorrow. This seller has an excellent rating and I'm chopping at the bit to buy the other identical rig but I was hoping to see this one first.

What to do, what to do...

[c303a]

It really gets my panties in a bunch when USPS doesn't do their job. Apparently, they never scanned the tracking number for this R600 shipment. I sold on Ebay for about a year and there was one particular post office that pulled this #%$! all the time. It wouldn't get scanned until it was out for delivery. I changed post offices so that kind of stuff stopped happening.

I think it's suppose to come tomorrow. This seller has an excellent rating and I'm chopping at the bit to buy the other identical rig but I was hoping to see this one first.

What to do, what to do...

I hate USPS! Package was supposed to arrive today but it got misplaced and won't come until tomorrow. Never fail when it is parts. This is a new CPU for a laptop that is down.
What to do? Do what I do. Just get it since ebay is very good with returns if something is wrong.

[STMahlberg]

I hate USPS! Package was supposed to arrive today but it got misplaced and won't come until tomorrow. Never fail when it is parts. This is a new CPU for a laptop that is down.
What to do? Do what I do. Just get it since ebay is very good with returns if something is wrong.

You twisted my arm! :(( I just bought it. :D

[c303a]

You twisted my arm! :(( I just bought it. :D

It sure didn't take much twisting. Hope they work great. ;)

[Al]

You twisted my arm! :(( I just bought it. :D
You fold pretty quickly...I should know because I also have no restraint...as do many others around here. Congrats!

[John P. Myers]

How long will a SSD last running boinc on it, not the OS, but the BOINC folder?

I have at least 1 SSD in all of my rigs (even the Pentium 4), but the one that's seen the most use is the Samsung 840 in my 3770K rig. Like Bryan's, it's been going for over 3 years and is handling everything (BOINC, OS, etc.). Last i checked, it's only about 1/4 of the way through it's expected life cycle, based on TBW (terabytes written). No complaints at all.

I prefer to have 2 120GB SSDs in each system, 1 for BOINC and 1 for OS/drivers. Having the OS on a separate SSD allows the computer to access both drives at the same time when needed, preventing lag (this trick was also done with regular HDDs for the same reason). Boot times are also improved. Updates to the OS/drivers/anything also download faster (the network buffer is able to dump downloaded data to the drive faster) and install faster.

Having the OS on a separate SSD also means that SSD should last decades since it's rarely written to. If the BOINC SSD eventually wears out (still should take 10 years+), it's much simpler to replace it with no need of reinstalling the OS.

If you have/get a Samsung SSD, be sure to enable Rapid Mode, which reserves 1-2GB of RAM and writes to it instead of the drive. This makes the drives last even longer and increases data throughput by 120x or more, in short bursts.

[Bryan]

You twisted my arm! :(( I just bought it. :D

You remind me of me and that's not necessarily a good thing =)) I think you will really like those machines. I have 3 of them and they've been excellent performers!

[STMahlberg]

Gotta love Goodwill; I picked up (3) 15" VGA/DVI monitors and (2) Dell usb keyboards for $37. :D

I'm tired of having to move 1 monitor and a keyboard between 2 rigs and I need monitors for my servers that are coming.

[Al]

Gotta love Goodwill; I picked up (3) 15" VGA/DVI monitors and (2) Dell usb keyboards for $37. :D

I'm tired of having to move 1 monitor and a keyboard between 2 rigs and I need monitors for my servers that are coming.
How about a KVM switch? Saves on electrical outlets around here.

[STMahlberg]

How about a KVM switch? Saves on electrical outlets around here.

It's been a few years since I priced one of those... I'll have to check.

[scole of TSBT]

Once I have my dedicated systems configured, the only thing I have connected is the power, network cable and DVI dongle (which is only really needed if crunching on AMD GPUs and you want to control fans and overclocking. Also needed to control Nvidia GPUs under linux).

[STMahlberg]

Once I have my dedicated systems configured, the only thing I have connected is the power, network cable and DVI dongle (which is only really needed if crunching on AMD GPUs and you want to control fans and overclocking. Also needed to control Nvidia GPUs under linux).

Network... oh crap. LOL I need to buy some wireless usb dongles.

Two of my rigs are problem free, the Aurora, my main rig, and the Qosmio laptop; however, my other 2 are a pita because I have miners attached to them. Those are the two that I had to move a monitor between; recently the miners have been running smoothly but I've had some issues with Linux running on them. Nothing big, just me having to remember to suspend core projects when the VM is running or the thing locks up. I plan on dual booting the R600's at least that's the plan at the moment... that may quickly change.

The monitors are only $10, and most of the time they're off when I'm not doing something with them. Once I get the Z600's going, I'll probably get a switch for them to share hardware for at least cord management.

[c303a]

I have 3 of my computers set up on one something like this one and I use the 4th port for an extra hookup when I am working on someone elses computer. It has been working for several years now and I have just now replaced 2 of the cables. 1monitor, 1 keyboard and 1 mouse with headhones plugged in as well. I love these things and they are really inexpensive.
https://www.amazon.com/TRENDnet-4-Port-Switch-Cable-TK-407K/dp/B000JP1TFG/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&qid=1487259229&sr=8-19&keywords=kvm+switches

[STMahlberg]

I have 3 of my computers set up on one something like this one and I use the 4th port for an extra hookup when I am working on someone elses computer. It has been working for several years now and I have just now replaced 2 of the cables. 1monitor, 1 keyboard and 1 mouse with headhones plugged in as well. I love these things and they are really inexpensive.
https://www.amazon.com/TRENDnet-4-Port-Switch-Cable-TK-407K/dp/B000JP1TFG/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&qid=1487259229&sr=8-19&keywords=kvm+switches

That is now on my Amazon wish list. :)

[STMahlberg]

It's here! It's here! I'm like a fat kid in a candy shop. :D

This unit is in pristine condition... like its never been used before. I think the only place this has been is in a box on a shelf somewhere.

https://i.imgsafe.org/63174056b4.jpg

https://i.imgsafe.org/631665aad2.jpg

[MindCrime]

Little late to the party here's my experience. I bought a t5500 in Dec 2015 for about $400 shipped and another $100 for more ram. It was a dual x5650 with like 8 or 12gb of ram, a 150gb hdd, an nvidia quadro fx1800, and a win7 pro COA. I took out the fx1800 and put in a 750ti. I have all 9 ram slots filled with 4gb sticks, cpuz reports its in tripple channel. Just noticed my windows 7 ram score is 7.8, as well as the CPU. Graphics 7.0 but hdd 5.8 If you're gonna regularly use it get an SSD, if its just a cruncher hdd.

Not sure how things are on the HP side but everything is proprietary in the Dells, the only things that aren't are the Molex and PCI-E connectors. So double check your connections and clearances before you go about adding anything. I presume the z600 is far more spacious as the riser board setup on the Dell is pretty big. It works well though, I've probably had the riser and all its components removed 6x or so. If the riser is pulled it boots just fine but the BIOS will tell you the config has changed. We had a "thing" a while back about having a hot cpu and a cool cpu on the t5500 and we all thought it was the riser one but it wasn't. The bios bootup is pretty slow on the dell so if an SSD for bootup times is on your mind it won't save you much here. That said the BIOS are actually pretty good and easy to navigate/configure. I've only crashed the machine once and it failed to boot. It went through a repair check and was fine, the machine is rocksolid besides the primary cpu fanless/heatsink.

The ebay vendors are kind of funny. Some really put the value on ram, some the dual sockets, some windows keys or shipping. So you gotta find the one that works best for you. I personally wouldn't buy a t5500/t7500 or z600/z800 anymore. The next couple of generations were produced pretty quickly and have already been replaced so you can often find good deals or parts on those too. here's my little matrix of product line and generation ive been dabbling with:

SizeWestmereSandybridgeIvybridgeHaswell+
Smallt1500t1600t1650
Mediumt3500t3600t3610t3620
Mediumert5500t5600t5610t5810
Larget7500t7600t7610t7910

Tinyz200z210z220z230z240
Smallz400z420z440
Mediumz600z620z620z640
Largerz800z820z820z840

[zombie67]

FYI, that old quado GPU won't crunch many products. Many require a higher CUDA compute version. But it does work for SETI for sure. So don't just chuck it.

[STMahlberg]

FYI, that old quado GPU won't crunch many products. Many require a higher CUDA compute version. But it does work for SETI for sure. So don't just chuck it.

That 450 is going to have to do for a while before I can afford anything decent to put in it. Just ordered a couple of display port to VGA adapters. So it's going to be another week before I get this one running; by that time my second Z600 will be here.

[MindCrime]

You keep saying r600, I'm confused on what that is.

[STMahlberg]

You keep saying r600, I'm confused on what that is.

My Bad... Z600

[STMahlberg]

So last night I realized that the Quadro NVS 450 has display port connectors on it. I figured that I would pick an adapter up at Fry's until I saw they were $30 a piece. Amazon's price, $6.99... I'll wait a few days to save $23 a piece.

So I ordered (1) of these, TRENDnet 4-Port USB 2.0 KVM Switch (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JP1TFG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1), another one of these, WD Blue 1TB SATA (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0088PUEPK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1), and (2) of these, Benfei DisplayPort to VGA Adapter (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017Q8OCSY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1) That should get here sometime next week about the same time as the other Z600; so I'll be able to get those up are running about the same time.

So adding 24C/48T to the fleet. :cool: And eventually (4) more GPU's when I can afford it.

[STMahlberg]

I remembered that I had a spare GeForce 210, so I threw that in so I could get a monitor on it. It's up and running now; although, I did panic at first when I ran CPU-Z and it said that I had 12 cores and only 12 threads... then it dawned on me that hyperthreading was turned off. I'm all better now. :D

It's being a bit finicky about letting me connect to it remotely with BTasks. :-/

[c303a]

[QUOTE=STMahlberg;
So I ordered (1) of these, TRENDnet 4-Port USB 2.0 KVM Switch (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JP1TFG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1), another one of these, WD Blue 1TB SATA (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0088PUEPK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1), and (2) of these, Benfei DisplayPort to VGA Adapter (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017Q8OCSY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1) That should get here sometime next week about the same time as the other Z600; so I'll be able to get those up are running about the same time.

[/QUOTE]

Nice. I like the WD Blues. I have 8 of the 1 TB ones and they just seem to be like the Energizer Bunny. They just keep going. I have 6 of them running and 2 are kept as spares.

[MindCrime]

I feel like hard drive brands are kind of like Ford vs Chevy vs Mopar. Everyone has their story and reason why they use what they use. I've personally never bought anything but Seagate. The only problems I've ever had with them was probably my own fault trying to run a software RAID-0 on one of my first self built computers. Now that SSDs are the thing I hear far fewer of these stories probably because people aren't trying to reap all the speed they can out of them like they had to with HDDs.

My next BOINC hardware purchase will probably be another workstation but I'll be holding out for a Haswell architecture and by the time they're cheap enough they'll either have an SSD or SSDs will be cheap enough to throw one in. Just not sure if I want to start an army of SFFs or stay with full size mobos. I feel like I could get away with random SFFs in different rooms doing things like HTPC, NAS etc and still BOINC away.

[STMahlberg]

I have a new question about adding a couple GPU's to the Z600. Can you use a second PSU with (4) PCI-e 6-pin to power a couple of GPU's?

Or do I need to remove the old PSU and replace it with something bigger?

[Al]

I have a new question about adding a couple GPU's to the Z600. Can you use a second PSU with (4) PCI-e 6-pin to power a couple of GPU's?

Or do I need to remove the old PSU and replace it with something bigger?
Yes, you can use a 2nd psu, but you'll have to attach a psu tester or short the pins to make it think it's attached to a mb.

As for upgrading the psu, more difficult. You probably can find one with more watts, but it probably won't have extra pci-e connectors. These servers weren't designed with upgrades like addition gpus in mind. Like Dell, HP probably uses proprietary parts/connectors to complicate things even more.

[Al]

I have a 570s in mine, using a molex to 6 pin adapter for the 2nd power source. One of the Z600s has a 570 and a 750ti in it, the 750ti doesn't require additional power.

[STMahlberg]

I have a 570s in mine, using a molex to 6 pin adapter for the 2nd power source. One of the Z600s has a 570 and a 750ti in it, the 750ti doesn't require additional power.

How are these at crunching MW?

[Al]

How are these at crunching MW?
About like any other nvidia, much slower than ati. Although, the 500 series did have better DP than later series IIRC. Thw 750ti is slower, but uses a lot less power.

[STMahlberg]

Just got my other Z600 delivered; it's in pristine condition just like the first one. Unfortunately, my parts from Amazon won't be delivered until the end of next week. :(

[STMahlberg]

I have a 570s in mine, using a molex to 6 pin adapter for the 2nd power source. One of the Z600s has a 570 and a 750ti in it, the 750ti doesn't require additional power.

I think I'll setup one of the Z600's with what you have. The other one I'd like to put a couple of ATI's in it... I'm looking for something that would do better than my HD5870's but doesn't require (2) 6-pin power.

I was looking at the R7 350 and the RX series that most don't appear to require additional power but I have no idea what kind of crunching they're capable of doing. Money is tight, and I don't want to spend more than $100 if I don't have to on each card. It's already going to take me upwards of a year to pay off what it's cost me so far to buy and get these Z600's going.

[STMahlberg]

I'm so close to getting my other Z600 going... I finally got my other WD 1TB HDD yesterday but I'm still waiting on (2) items, a molex to 6-pin connector, and a display-port to VGA adapter; unfortunately, neither will get here until next week sometime. If I had either, I would be able to have it up and running now.

I'm also rebuilding (2) GTX-460's that I got from Doug (which I appreciate); however, they are both in dire need of help. The one pictured here was missing screws; along with plastic stand off pop rivets that hold a second heat sink in place which I can't find anywhere. You probably already know this but you won't find 0-40 screws at Home Depot. I'm also waiting on (2) 85mm fans to replace the 50mm fans (not the correct size) that were on both cards.

Between the fans, contact cleaner, degreaser, and misc parts, I have a little over $60 into this rebuild. I'm looking forward to seeing what these will do. The only Nvidia cards I have are a GTX 710 in the Lenovo and a GTX 560M in my Qosmio; at least they'll crunch GPUGrid... although they are a little slow. :))

2686

[MindCrime]

On the issue of hardware for your hardware... I have a solution for you but you probably won't like it. Zip-ties, over at Overclock.net they have a years old thread about "the mod" or "the red mod". It was taking an AIO cooler (ie h100) and mounting it to a GPU. People discovered that zip-ties worked pretty well. You use the two zip-ties as one fastener, snug them all down evenly like they were head bolts, and then snip off the tail of the one acting as the nut. This may not be your style but if you're a utilitarian like me and just want stuff to work it'll work just fine.

Here's the thread: http://www.overclock.net/t/1203636/official-amd-ati-gpu-mod-club-aka-the-red-mod

[Al]

On the issue of hardware for your hardware... I have a solution for you but you probably won't like it. Zip-ties, over at Overclock.net they have a years old thread about "the mod" or "the red mod". It was taking an AIO cooler (ie h100) and mounting it to a GPU. People discovered that zip-ties worked pretty well. You use the two zip-ties as one fastener, snug them all down evenly like they were head bolts, and then snip off the tail of the one acting as the nut. This may not be your style but if you're a utilitarian like me and just want stuff to work it'll work just fine.

Here's the thread: http://www.overclock.net/t/1203636/official-amd-ati-gpu-mod-club-aka-the-red-mod
I've got a 7970 with two zip tied aftermarket fans. Works great! Thanks to Jed for the creative mod.

[Fire$torm]

Hey STM, I have at least one Arctic Cooling Accelero Twin Turbo II (https://www.arctic.ac/us_en/accelero-twin-turbo-ii.html) in my parts bin. I should still have all the hardware needed to mount one on a GTX card. Are you interested?

[John P. Myers]

Don't forget to check any gpu boxes you may have laying around. Sometimes they come with a molex to 6 pin adapter

[STMahlberg]

On the issue of hardware for your hardware... I have a solution for you but you probably won't like it. Zip-ties, over at Overclock.net they have a years old thread about "the mod" or "the red mod". It was taking an AIO cooler (ie h100) and mounting it to a GPU. People discovered that zip-ties worked pretty well. You use the two zip-ties as one fastener, snug them all down evenly like they were head bolts, and then snip off the tail of the one acting as the nut. This may not be your style but if you're a utilitarian like me and just want stuff to work it'll work just fine.

Here's the thread: http://www.overclock.net/t/1203636/official-amd-ati-gpu-mod-club-aka-the-red-mod

That's a great idea. Thanks.


I've got a 7970 with two zip tied aftermarket fans. Works great! Thanks to Jed for the creative mod.

It's nice to see this works from someone I know whose done it.


Hey STM, I have at least one Arctic Cooling Accelero Twin Turbo II (https://www.arctic.ac/us_en/accelero-twin-turbo-ii.html) in my parts bin. I should still have all the hardware needed to mount one on a GTX card. Are you interested?

I appreciate the offer F$. :) If I didn't have the parts ordered already, I would have taken you up on it.


Don't forget to check any gpu boxes you may have laying around. Sometimes they come with a molex to 6 pin adapter

I went through all of my parts boxes of what little I have left and it was a no go. I'm still kicking myself for getting rid of a ton of old parts 4 years ago. Can you believe I even threw a perfectly good computer in the trash? :((


The good news is that the connectors and fans arrived yesterday; so the project of the day is to get the 460 put back together and get the 2nd Z600 running. Then I'll get the 2nd 460 cleaned up and the fan replaced for the 1st Z600.

[MindCrime]

So hows the farm coming?