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. 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. 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.