Good folding box combo?

J

Joe Fission

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 15, 2006
Messages
167
Was just touring around a few sites on the internet and came across what seems to be a really cool combo for folding purposes:

Intel D865GVHZL S478 mATX mobo
Celeron D 345 3.06GHz CPU
Ultra 512MB PC3200

all for $169.99 CDN at tigerdirect.ca but right now, with the mail in rebate, it's $99.99 CDN (of course, they only limit the rebates to 1 per customer... but, it seems like a good bargain even at its full price). It's sans case and drives, but for $50 or less, there are plenty of mATX cases with PSU... drives are also extra, but I suppose it's a great base for a diskless folding box (if you go that route), no?

Funny thing is that Tiger Direct's U.S. site has this combo on for $20 more... go figure.

I figure once I get my server up and running (dual Opty... will be folding) and my bank account back in the black, I want to set up a small diskless folding farm... figured these combos might be great for seeding the crop. Thoughts?
 
Those wouldn't be bad, but for your $/watt, you're probably better off with dual-core CPU's. In the long term, they'll cost less to run relative to the points you get, simply because you can get 2x the production without 2x the cost, both in parts and electricity. Intel did just release a new, lower-cost Pentium D 805 at 2.66Ghz.
 
Buckus makes a good point. If you are looking at building a whole farm with a bunch of motherboards and procs you need to consider not just the initial costs, but also the long term costs. The question that you need to answer is, how long will I fold with these parts, what's your initial budget, what cpu configurations could you make and what are the running costs.

The point is that, for example if you have $700, you could make approximately 4 of these celeron systems once you got 4 quality psus, or if you play your cards right and find the deals you could make 2 AMD 3800+ X2 systems. The celeron setup is 12 GHZ and the AMD would be 8 GHZ. Now if you consider your power costs it would be about twice as expensive to run the 4 systems, over the 2 systems, so it'll be much more expensive to keep the celeron systems running.

 
The 754 Semprons seem to have a low enough initial cost and lower $/watt as well. The Celeron D's may give a big boost once the QMDs come back?

You really need cases? Run them naked or hang em off the wall! :p
 
I had thought about the whole dual core thing and whatnot, and I figured the Celeron combo and the S478 platform in general has enough longevity left in it that I could eventually upgrade to full P4 later on if/when I could afford to. It won't do dual core, but when compared to other S775 options or S939 options, it's hard to beat price wise. I'm also hoping to stick with Intel on this one mainly in case QMDs come back. But, it's gonna be a bit before I can afford to start farming... so I'm still considering other options. What's are some cheap S775 mATX mobos that can do dual core?

As for cases, they look neater and everything is self contained. Besides, they're cheap even with PSUs.. sure they're not great PSUs, but many of them will do fine for folding purposes. I'm also a bit challenged for shelf or wall space to run them naked.

Thanks for everyone's input so far.
 
Hrm... guess the combo thing was really too good to be true. I guess the $169.99 price was a mistake even though it was there for over a month... it's now up to $256.99 regular but $186.99 with rebate. Oh well... guess I'll keep my eyes open for other options.
 
Hehe... looks like an interesting combo, but I'm sorta interested in mATX.... smaller footprint, they tend to be more all-in-one solutions, and they tend to be cheaper.

For the record, I did a lot of thinking about the advice I received in this thread especially on dual core CPUs... so I took a look at the new dual core Pentium D 805 and it brings up a question in relation to the X2 3800+... if what I'm hearing is true and folding is based more on GHz than it is on raw computational power, then wouldn't the Pentium D 805 be a better deal for folding with its dual 2.6GHz cores in comparison to the X2 3800+'s dual 2GHz cores? Not only this, but it would be able to handle QMDs if/when they reappear, and it appears to be about half the cost as well.
 
Joe Fission said:
Hehe... looks like an interesting combo, but I'm sorta interested in mATX.... smaller footprint, they tend to be more all-in-one solutions, and they tend to be cheaper.

For the record, I did a lot of thinking about the advice I received in this thread especially on dual core CPUs... so I took a look at the new dual core Pentium D 805 and it brings up a question in relation to the X2 3800+... if what I'm hearing is true and folding is based more on GHz than it is on raw computational power, then wouldn't the Pentium D 805 be a better deal for folding with its dual 2.6GHz cores in comparison to the X2 3800+'s dual 2GHz cores? Not only this, but it would be able to handle QMDs if/when they reappear, and it appears to be about half the cost as well.
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You make some valid points for sure. I will tell you however that if you talk to any of the old time folders they/we get more overall points using AMD processors.

In my case I have an old Barton 2500 oc’d to 2.2 that crushes my Intel 2.4 at 3.2, QMD’s not withstanding. Sooner or later Intel will relent and allow the QMD WU’s to be recompiled for AMD and that will take away any advantage.

Another point is the Intel dual core will run much hotter then the AMD. I bring this up because you mention MATX as your form factor of choice. If you go MATX heat becomes an issue for either CPU when you are folding 24/7 especially if you go with an MATX case. As a rule you won’t have enough room for a really nice HSF and with most MATX cases airflow is also a problem.

I might also point out that I have yet to see a 3800 X-2 that won’t easily oc to 2.5 per side with little or no gain in heat.

Once you get past folding there is no contest, the AMD has shown itself to out perform the Intel unit time and again on most other tasks.

Just some thoughts to add to your thoughts, either way, fold on man and good luck. ;) :)
 
RE: The Fry's CPU/MB combo--The great thing about this combo is that you get both for the price of just the processor. Sell the motherboard on ebay for $40 or more, and buy yourself a uATX motherboard of your choice. It turns out much cheaper than buying the CPU and motherboard separately.

 
BillR said:
You make some valid points for sure. I will tell you however that if you talk to any of the old time folders they/we get more overall points using AMD processors.
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That's cool... I will eventually add AMD boxes to the mix I'm sure.. right now, I'm just looking for something I can use to build 3 or 4 cheap boxes to use just for folding.

In my case I have an old Barton 2500 oc’d to 2.2 that crushes my Intel 2.4 at 3.2, QMD’s not withstanding. Sooner or later Intel will relent and allow the QMD WU’s to be recompiled for AMD and that will take away any advantage.
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I hope so... then I can get my dual Opty server crunching QMDs too. ;)

Another point is the Intel dual core will run much hotter then the AMD. I bring this up because you mention MATX as your form factor of choice. If you go MATX heat becomes an issue for either CPU when you are folding 24/7 especially if you go with an MATX case. As a rule you won’t have enough room for a really nice HSF and with most MATX cases airflow is also a problem.
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That's something to which I've also given a bunch of thought and, for the reasons you state, I'm not going with low profile mATX cases. In fact, the case I have my eye on is a mATX tower case just slightly shorter than a mid tower... it accepts a regular ATX PSU (which paves the way for swapping out the somewhat mediocre PSU that comes with the system and adding a better one in there) and should have enough clearance for a regular HSF. It also has mounting points for a couple of case fans. So, I'm hoping cooling won't be too much of an issue... though that will remain to be seen.

I might also point out that I have yet to see a 3800 X-2 that won’t easily oc to 2.5 per side with little or no gain in heat.
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I did give overclocking some thought as well, but since I'm aiming for "cheap yet functional" at this point, I'll concede that overclocking may not be an option for me.

Once you get past folding there is no contest, the AMD has shown itself to out perform the Intel unit time and again on most other tasks.

Just some thoughts to add to your thoughts, either way, fold on man and good luck. ;) :)
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Ya, I have seen a lot of the results for AMD systems and I'm quite impressed... that's one reason I went Opteron for my server and also why I'm going AMD for my next desktop system. As far as seeding my farm though, I'm leaning towards those Pentium D 805s... they seem like they would offer good folding bang for the buck at this point.

And thanks for your input... I quite appreciate the alternative views. Happy folding to you too! :)
 
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