Cruncher Replacement Project

[FourOh]

I need some help making a decision. My main cruncher is currently a Dell Precision T7400 workstation with dual Xeon E5450 processors (Quad Core, No HT). It's a beast but I'm happy with its reliability. I'd like to move to something a bit smaller and a generation newer; I'm thinking the T5500 (thanks cineon_lut for the idea). I can get into one for about 275, upgrade the two processors to 6-Core X5650s for about 280, and add some RAM for around 50-100. Total investment of about $600-650 for 24 threads, more efficient power, and retain the dual-GPU use I have now.

My question is... is it worth it? Is having 24 threads of older technology better than having 8 threads (or AMD cores) of current technology? For $600, could I build a complete system with new components that would compete with or outperform this one? I want to be able to have an impact on CPU projects, particularly during challenges, while racking up hours and keeping two GPUs humming. Let me know what you think-

[DrPop]

...
My question is... is it worth it? Is having 24 threads of older technology better than having 8 threads (or AMD cores) of current technology?...

Let me think about this for a bit. Zombie's had old XEONs before so he might add a couple cents, and Al has some as well. I'll have to see what generation mine are, but generally speaking they seem to be about 2:1 ratio in crunching power. Meaning, it takes all 16 cores of one bank of my XEONs (that is 4 Quad cores, no HT) to roughly equal ONE i7 8320 CPU - that is 8 threads - and it is O/Ced to the hilt @ 4.75GHz when I did the comparison. You cannot O/C the XEONs (at least not easily) so they are what they are. The clencher is, those 16 XEON cores only cost me $295 if I rmember right. Try getting into a Socket 2011 rig for that!

[Fire$torm]

the other major consideration is power consumption. If the cost of running your hardware is not your burden, ie. systems are at work, then that is a non-issue as long as your employer doesn't use any power management system/service. If the burden is yours then it may be prudent to do a total cost of ownership analysis to help you make a wise decision.

[Al]

Jed is correct on the price, pretty cheap, but it's no i7 in crunching ability or power draw. I guess it depends on your goals. I've been focusing on wuprop stars and to gain more hours you need more cores/threads, regardless of their speed, so the xeons work okay for me. If credits are more important you probably want to go with a newer processor.

[FourOh]

the other major consideration is power consumption. If the cost of running your hardware is not your burden, ie. systems are at work, then that is a non-issue as long as your employer doesn't use any power management system/service. If the burden is yours then it may be prudent to do a total cost of ownership analysis to help you make a wise decision.

*If you are my employer do not read beyond this point* This system, once up and running, will be used at work. One of the reasons for the Dell case is that they blend in well.

[Al]

*If you are my employer do not read beyond this point* This system, once up and running, will be used at work. One of the reasons for the Dell case is that they blend in well.

Well, you won't be sliding in one of my xeons unnoticed, it sounds like an F-14 taking off.

[shiva]

I have 3 old Xeon's with duel p-4's and HT servers laying around, for the cost of shipping, if you want them. they haven't been started for several years.

[DrPop]

Well, you won't be sliding in one of my xeons unnoticed, it sounds like an F-14 taking off.

LOL! haha...that is mostly because of the way our racks are configured - if you had a traditional HSF on them, they'd be no louder than a Core2 Quad was of course...but yeah, definitely plan out the noise part for better "blending" in!

[John P. Myers]

From what i recall, while i stick my nose in here, DrPop's and Al's Xeons are from the 5400 series (5430's?) So by using 5650's, that are 18 months newer, i'm quite sure you wouldn't need 16 of them to equal an i7-3820 OC'd to 4.75GHz I'll guess that a 3820 running at stock would equal about 10 5430s? Sound about right? I don't know how much IPC was increased from the 5400 to 5600 series, but you wouldn't need anywhere near 16, or even 10 of them to equal a 3820. The increased core count alone brings that number down to 6.66. Throw in HT and now you're at 5 maybe. Throw in whatever the IPC increase is and who knows...

The 5430 offers 4 threads @ 50W TDP
The 5650 offers 12 threads @ 95W TDP. Looks like a major increase in efficiency there. Also the 5400 series was made at 45nm and the 5600 series at 32nm.

Like Al said, if you're looking to earn alot of WuProp hours, this plan is perfect. If you're looking for something to smoke 5430s, your idea definitely does that as well.

[DrPop]

Hmmm...JPM has got me to questioning my memory! I might be more than a little off. Maybe the XEONs were way better than I thought. I know it's kind of project specific too - sometimes they do better than I think they will compared to the i7 and sometimes worse. Most people don't crunch their i7s at 4.75GHz either, so that makes the i7 look a lot better as well.
Let me take a look at the POGs WUs they are crunching now and get back to this thread. I don't want to be giving out bad info - XEONs can be pretty good crunchers for the money I think, as long as one does not have to worry about electric too much!

EDIT: Al and I have Intel Xeon CPU L5420 @ 2.50GHz