[tiggy49]

Hi Guys

Im really sorry my first computer building experiance couldnt come at a less demanding time where i would have time for a lot of research and trial and error. Therefore I am at the mercy of your infinate wisdom/ experiance and would really appreciate any help you can offer.

I will try to provide as much information as i think is necessary so i apologies in advance if this turns into a major read.

Ok I need to build a system revolving mainly around the GPU. This will mainly be used for complex algorithm calculations with the processing power outsourced to the GPU.

I have been advised that to gain the 'Best Bang for My Buck' I should choose 2x ATI 5970 crossfire. My decision is mainly based on pure processing power and the only supported cards are the ATI 4xxx and 5xxx series along with Nvidia CUDA. I would like suggestions that are not based around gaming as many threads i have read are tainted with bias because they are in regards to certain games or moniters etc although i do realise this is what they are made for

Is there a setup that would be faster then the aformentioned from Nvidia?

Some rough calculations suggest average hash calculation time with 2x ATI 5970 is 12 hours ranging from 60 sec to 60 hours and therefore you see why the most powerful setup is necessary. I may be willing to overclock a little to improve results.

There are some economic constraints that i am willing to strech if needs be to get a good setup.

my second question is more general and it regards the rest of the PC setup. I would like advice after taking the above information into account about case, motherboard, processer, ram, cooling (Anything ive missed out) etc

As most of the work will be done by the GPU i do not require the best for everything else but eventually this will become the PC i use for surfing, word processing so i am willing to settle for something like and i3 instead of i7 processor but i do realise ram will be important and this is where i am in your hands

I would really like to keep my Video cards in good working order as 4-6 months down the line when i have finished with this project i would like to sell them on for someone who will get real use out of them.

If i have mentioned anything incorrectly please do not be offended and jump down my throat! please be gentle.

I thank you in advance for your help and theres a drink in it for you, nothing stronger then a lemonade though!

[Theocnoob]

Can your requirements support any number of CUDA supporting Nvidia cards or ATi 4/5 series cards? Are you sure it doesn't support six series as well?

[Phelix08]

Well 5970's are at a pretty great price right now, so that's definitely not a bad bet. Though it would probably be easier if you could be a little more specific about what you're doing with it; certain applications favor nvidia gpus, others ati, etc.

[wingman99]

Will the software your using utilize ATI in Crossfire mode

[tiggy49]

the applications I will be using are bespoke and at this moment in time I'm unsure of specifics. the work I am doing is very close to IGHASHGPU.
ATi crossfire can be utilised and as far as I am aware I am not limited by any number of CUDA card. The only reason I referred to 2x 5970 is because I have learnt that crossfire does not support more then 4 GPUs. Is this the same case for SLI?

Anyone have advice on what would be a good motherboard and cooling system?

There is some urgency about buying the parts asap as VAT is set to increase in just under a week and after that all my costs will have increased by 2.5% so the quicker I get this built the better.

I much appreciate you taking the time to help me with this problem please keep your input coming