Building another cruncher!!

[DrPop]

You all know I'm a big AMD fan, but I'm going to throw this out there, because those dual 5870's can't help but be noticed on the electric bill, and my big AMD X6 box flat sucks down the juice when it's O/Ced. Don't ask me how I know The quad Sandy Bridge CPUs are just spanking for power and low watts.

@Joker - I am NOT dissing on any of your previous picks.

However, I'd be real tempted to get one of these:
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115074
(This lowly quad core = my X6 performance while sucking down way less juice. I'd get this, with the idea of upgrading to a very high end i7 Sandy Bridge CPU in the future.)

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128473

RAM: same as Joker's

PSU: Same as Joker's...or...if you could pony up a couple $ more until you get the rebate check: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153106. It has 69Amp on a single 12V rail, which is very, very sweet for $80. You could throw (2) O/Ced 6990's at that PSU, even!

[joker]

NP DP. This is what I was looking for with my edit. Get multiple ideas out there and let Mike choose what he likes............or confuse the hell out of him!!

EDIT: My parts were picked based on the $400 budget. That is why I chose what I did.

[DrPop]

...My parts were picked based on the $400 budget. That is why I chose...

Yeah, you did a very good job with the budget, I thought, plus that was exactly what he asked for - a high end AMD system. I just wanted to throw up out a Sandy Bridge option because of the lower electric bill and future CPU upgrade.

The Sandy Bridge platform rig would cost $425 until he got the rebate back from the PSU, making it $400 again.

[Mike029]

Thanks to everyone who replied. I should have remembered F$ PSU breakdown from mu last build. Looks like Joker put together a solid option for me. I appreciate the help.

I was thinking that the AMD 6 core processor gave me more bang for the buck. With the Sandy Bridge idea that Dr Pop put out there I have something to think about. A few questions come to mind.
I believe the AM3 is at an end. Will this MB handle newer Sandy Bridge processors in order to upgrade on day in the future? I really don’t think she will be upgrading and she wants this box to be able to get my niece through high school. (She is 10) Her last computer was a Dell P4 from 2003/04
Will I run into any problems running either build (Intel 4 core or AMD 6 core) with only 4 gigs of memory?

I'm looking to get this ordered in a week or so.

[DrPop]

No problems on 4GB or RAM for the foreseable future. Now, if you wanted to be able to crunch every single BOINC project out there, sure, there are a couple that it would limit you on. But for what your niece will use the rig for, and "regular" crunching like what you and I do...no problem at all. In fact, I bet it never goes over 55% usage with 4GB. Mine don't, even when running photoshop and ACR, etc, while crunching.

Yes, the AM3 line is it. No chance on an upgrade...UNLESS you get a motherboard that will support the new AM3+ 8core CPUs, and there are a couple out there. But, they will be more expensive, and still won't have the new chipset to support the bulldozer fully.

The Sandy Bridge option would be somewhat desireable, I would think, because you could get a cheaper i5 quad core Sandy Bridge now, and then later if she needed a little more oomph in say two years, you could pick up a major powerful i7 down the road for way cheap and just throw it in.
...That's my thoughts on it, but either way would be great, and I do love my AMD X6, don't get me wrong! It just has no upgrade path...and will burn more juice.

[Mike029]

Gentlemen, What do you think of Micro Center sale?
i5 2500k MB/CPU combo?
Page 28 of 50 in their May deals catalog.
http://www.microcenter.com/specials/catalogs/index.html
i5 Sandy Bridge 2500k and 3 different MB options
MB#1 Asus P8P67 R3 $320.00
MB#2 MSI P67A-GD55 $300.00
MB#3 Gigabyte GA P67X UD3 $300.00

One 4GB stick of 1600 memory $49.00 Newegg
(Can I run a computer one one memory stick?)

The PSU that Joker recommended or the one Drpop linked $80.00 After rebate.

A Total price $454.00 with NYS tax. Are these quality MB's? What do you all think?

[Fire$torm]

Gentlemen, What do you think of Micro Center sale?
i5 2500k MB/CPU combo?
Page 28 of 50 in their May deals catalog.
http://www.microcenter.com/specials/catalogs/index.html
i5 Sandy Bridge 2500k and 3 different MB options
MB#1 Asus P8P67 R3 $320.00
MB#2 MSI P67A-GD55 $300.00
MB#3 Gigabyte GA P67X UD3 $300.00

One 4GB stick of 1600 memory $49.00 Newegg
(Can I run a computer one one memory stick?)

The PSU that Joker recommended or the one Drpop linked $80.00 After rebate.

A Total price $454.00 with NYS tax. Are these quality MB's? What do you all think?

I'm checking out the MBs now but Most DDR3 MBs are dual channel and so require two sticks of RAM. I look at the user manuals to verify.

EDIT: You can run a single stick but but memory will run slower because dual channel memory access is disabled.

[joker]

Im all for 2 sticks of memory at least.

[YoDude9999]

You guys are startin' to pi$$ me off!

With you guys buildin' up new gigs, you're makin' it right hard for me to keep my Team position let alone knock these guys off that are above me. Every time I turn my head someones puttin' together another cruncher and I gotta keep lookin' behind me to see who's tryin' to be sneaky.

Joker THOUGHT he was gonna be sneaky and pass me while I wasn't lookin', no way!
DrPop had some good numbers going there for a while, what happened?
Dorsilfin, I was somewhat worried about, but I have him at a distance now, I think.
John P. on the other hand is gonna be problematic. Though there's a nice large gap between us, I see it growin' narrower as days go by and I just can't let that happen!!
Mumps is goin' down in a couple weeks, maybe less.
Lazy is just being lazy I guess so he won't be a problem, just gonna take time.
CB is gonna take much longer, but I'ma comin' fer ya!

So, you guys either gotta stop buildin' rigs (Like THAT'S ever gonna happen) OR, I'm gonna have to bring up another box to give you boys a spankin'!

I already have Phase 2 of my current project started, but not yet completed. This at least is keeping the nearby wolves away from my heals as it got my daily output back up to over 1m/day, but I feel it won't last until phase 2 is complete, at which point I'll feel more secure about my position and gaining position on the Team.

At least I can claim bragging rights on TopGun #1 position and no fair if you guys change divisions just to say, "Hahaha"!

Though my goal is one of advancement in the Team position, my efforts here are aimed at overall Team performance. I respect what everyone is doing to help out and cheer to those that take the extra effort and expense to do so. I just can't let ya catch me!

So as to not hijack the thread, I would like some suggestions on 3/way 775 socket MBs, if there are still any around. I'm thinking going AMD this time around but my last experience with AMD MBs was with a dated Athlon 4400+ that was stolen a couple year ago and now I am out of date with them.

All advice, comments and/or criticism are always welcome.

Hats off to ALL for doin' such a great job!

Yo-

[c303a]

I like the i780 3 way SLI motherboards but they are getting very hard to find. If you can get DDR3 instead of DDR2 memory you can also use the i790 3 way SLI. Both of these are Intel 775 boards. I have the i780 XFX board and love it because you can oc it right in the BIOS and it works.