Building New SETI PC...

Hi

Newbee,, 1st post..

I currently run SETI Classic 24/7, SETI Driver, SETI Spy on a Dell 8250, 2.4GHZ, 533 MHz fsb & SDRAM 1066 MHz mem. I average around 2.7 hr per WU. I have completed 9638 WU's so far,, all on a single system..

I want to build my next machine and need some help with the components. I am not a gamer,, I do a little photo editing, and occasionally burn picture CD's of events like weddings. I do not make movies and can't afford PhotoShop nor want. I will move the components off my 8250 to augment the new box, ie: cd/rw old HD,....

Here is what I am thinking.

CPU - Intel 3.73 GHz EE
Memory - DDR2 PC6400 800HMz mem
MOBO - ASUS P5WD2
HD - WD Raptor 10 K
Vid - MSI RX800, TD128E
Case - Thermaltake Tsunami VA3400SNA, w/400w psu

questions:

1)is this as fast as you can get,,, for SETI??

2)could someone point me to a brief on the new power requirements for the top end MOBO's

3)what am I missing??

4)I am not an intel lacky,, so if the AMD FX-57 is faster at WU's say so and suggest a MOBO...

I realize one of the other fora might be better for the questions,, but SETI has it's own requirements and I thought I'd start here..

Thanks
Jim
An Old Parrot Head
In The Conch Republic
Just South of Reality

Hi, dont know the answer to your question (but that is a killer system)

Just wanted to welcome you to the forums!

WELCOME!

First off: to the forums!

Second: It has been proven several times that Intel with HT (hypertreading) will give you best overall performance for SETI. AMD will give you very fast times - but a P4 will outproduce it. Especially the new dual-core P4 seems to be great at SETI.

And then I think you should consider switching to BOINC (SETI II). FInd the sticky at the top. It contains all info needed.
Feel free to ask if in doubt!!

That would be a killer crunching rig no doubt about it, especially those new EE dual core with four instances running at once.

To clarify - an intel with HT will cruncher work units slower - but because it crunches 2 (or in the EE's case, 4) work units at a time, it produces more work units per day.

So if you goal is to finish a work unit as fast as possible, AMD is your route, if your goal is to complete as many work units as possible, Intel is your route.

Finally - i'm sure someone will disagree with the amd/intel speed vs. production comments, but it is very widely accepted.

Nice machine you have there and welcome to the forums!!!

Enk

But if Im not mistaken 3.73Ghz EE is single core CPU based on Prescott2M core with bus clocked at 1066Mhz. If you want best for seti you should go with Dual core extreme edition. It will crunch 4 WUs at once because both cores have HyperThreading and it should give you best production. This EE operates at 3.2Ghz and its based on Smithfield core. ( 840 EE ). That would be the ultimate rig for Seti.
3.73EE ( with no OC ) should be even slower than my OCed P4 630, and I saw how TCs dual core smithfield ( that doesnt have HT ) crushed my system.

And welcome to the forums!!

Thanks for the suggestions,, I hadn't considered the fact that the 840 series would crunch WU's at 4 to 1,, Need to do some more homework,,

I think the 840's are suppose to be cooler running,, so they should OC at lower temps??

This is where I lose it,, is a 3.73 non-OC'ed hotter than a 3.2 EE OC'ed

And if you can get somewhere around 4.1 GHz OC'ing a 840,, how far can the 3.73 (860?) go??

The quest continues...

Tx
Jim

Actually 840EE should run a tad hotter than 3.73EE despite 530Mhz lower clock because it has 2 prescott cores and 3.73EE has only one.
You will need very high end air cooling to keep dual core prescott at 4.1Ghz, maybe even water cooling. But still even if you only get it to around 3.8Ghz it would still wipe the floor with 3.73EE at around 4.3Ghz at Seti. ( 4.3-4.5Ghz is usually max for high end prescott 2M cores )

the new EE, will be 2x65nm Presler cores 1066fsb w/ht, and 2x2mb L2 cache, i wonder how that will crunch ...have to wait for the 975x chipset though.

yea and 65nm could also have more OCing potential and less heat generation, if everithing goes as planned.

Welcome

The 840 would be your best producer.
How much memory are you looking at getting? 1 Gb would be fine, 2 Gb be amazing. Seti will never need to be shunned off to Virtual memory and you could crunch doing processor breaks as you photo edit.
Hard disk. Raptors are the best for speed but storage is the next question. What are your plans for that?
Cooling, what are you planning for cooling. A chip without cooling is a frie. Liquid or air could be done what are you think of?
Also, upgrade your ideas for power supplies. 400W would be borderline for that system and a no-name could kill your awesome system.

my 2 cents

Any ways, welcome again and hope some of my ideas will be useful

Thanks again,,

I am still not convinced about the dual core's.. I am not chasing any records for most WU's,, I'd rather have one machine that crunched them faster.. I have been at the 99% level for over a year and have no reason to think I can crack the 99.5 level,, I don't own a farm and that's what it would take..

After I get a CPU & mobo picked,, I plan to do more homework on the other toys..

Does anyone on the team keep any stats on WU times?? I should think some of you guy are smoking WU under an hour??

Jim