Meet Tanker!

[Adak]

Thank you, Leonardo.

Despite a one hour stop to test a folding theory out, Tanker has done well on it's very first bigadv work unit:

Date   Time     Points       Number of Work Units
=================================================
01.24, 12am 	425,102 	1

OK!

 

[Norcalsteve]

very nice! gotta see the Kraken/10.10 results... thats if you go as far as installing 10.10... you could just make a VM with 10.10 in your current set up to save time lol!

 

[Adak]

Thanks, Steve.

Tanker is a dedicated folder. Using a VM on it, would be like taking a shower with your clothes on.

I've already burned the Ubuntu 10.10 live disc.

 

[AmbientFiction]

Glad to see someone building G34 socket types!! Eat them Wus Adak!!!

If you don't mind me asking what was total cost on build and are you ever gonna game on it(for testing reasons)? Cause thats a lot of power in that case.

 

[Norcalsteve]

Page 1 has all the links for the set up... but I know mine (very similar to Adaks/Tuigi's) will run me about 2500-3000 depending on the CPU's I get... I already have the case, PSU, a display card, CD/HDD...

mainly buy the board (~720 [supermicro type]) CPU's (~470-560 a peice depending on what flavor your go, MC or IL, Newegg, or Fleabay), RAM for me, will cost 360 total, for 1600mhz @ CL7, and the coolers can range from 34-75 depending if you go with Noctua or Thermaltake...

EDIT:
@ Adak... that explains why i still have soap on me when I get out the shower!!!! LOL

 

[Adak]

If it's not folding for FAH, it will be folding for our World Community Grid team or our Rosetta team.

I use another rig for gaming, etc., since that rig isn't able to fold, anymore.

Tanker Parts and Prices:

=========================================================================================
     mobo: Supermicro H8QGi-F-O                              -    $740  SuperBiiz
      cpu: AMD 6272 Interlagos 16 core 2.1GHz (515 x 4)      -  $2,060  SuperBiiz
      ram: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB sets  (40 x 8)       -     320  Newegg
   cooler: 4 X Noctua NH-U12DO A3 120mm fan   (80 x 4)       -     320  Newegg
     case: CubiTek HPTX Tank case                            -    $260  Sundial Micro
      psu: Corsair AX 1200 watt power supply                 -     275  Fry's Electronics
opt drive: LG Multi Drive (24X)                              -      40  Best Buy
metal bar: Aluminum flat stock, 1/8" by 36"                  -       8  Home Depot
=========================================================================================
Total:                                                          $4,022

Notes:

Plus Taxes and Shipping costs, which vary with location.

Tanker runs "headless" most of the time - no keyboard, mouse, or monitor.

HD from another computer was used for storage.

Optical drive purchase was an "Oh No!" The optical drive inteded for Tanker, wasn't SATA, and wouldn't connect. You can beat $40 for an optical drive, easily.

Tanker's mobo has it's own built in video, (I'm sure it's a basic one), so no gpu was added to it.

Tanker is located in the living room, and unlike it's namesake, must run quietly.

 

[madhatter256]

Dat 4p

 

[TC]

$1000/P Really not that bad compared to intel pricing.

 

[Adak]

$1000/P Really not that bad compared to intel pricing.

I wonder just what an Intel Xeon based system that was comparable to Tanker, as a folder, would be? And what would it cost?

The Intel server wouldn't have 64 cores, (counting HT cores as real cores) gives Intel only 4 x 8 or 12 (32 or 48 cores), but the Xeon's are faster folders per core. Looking at the Newegg site, I'd guess it would be somewhere around the Westmere X5650, (a 12 core) @ $1,004 each.

At 95 Watts maximum, the X5650 is only 15 Watts higher than Tankers' AMD processors in power usage. The price of the Westmere's alone, would roughly equal the total cost of Tanker, however (Tankers': $4,022, Westmere's: $4,016)!

A few years from now, when you want to upgrade, you learn the REAL cost of the Intel system - the socket you have is now an "orphan", and no upgraded chips are available for it. If you want to upgrade, you have to replace the motherboard, as well - that's another $700-$800, plus the labor and downtime. That's where I'm at now with my older Intel server.

 

[TC]

I wonder just what an Intel Xeon based system that was comparable to Tanker, as a folder, would be? And what would it cost?

The Intel server wouldn't have 64 cores, (counting HT cores as real cores) gives Intel only 4 x 8 or 12 (32 or 48 cores), but the Xeon's are faster folders per core. Looking at the Newegg site, I'd guess it would be somewhere around the Westmere X5650, (a 12 core) @ $1,004 each.

Well actually to compare 4P systems you'd be looking at the xeon 75xx series (nehalem ex) followed by the westmere-ex 10-core 20 thread 4P platform: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4259/westmereex-intels-flagship-improves Soon to be superceded by the sandy bridge variant. http://images.anandtech.com/doci/4259/WestmereExSKUs.png The X7560 ran about $3700/cpu. Nehalem ex was available as an 8-core 16 thread 4P platform. Westmere-ex supposedly has 10-core 4P servers with up to 80 threads. Take a look at this review of a dell r810 with 4 8-core xeons pushing 64 threads. I can't find a price but I'm guessing this is/was about a $20,000+ server:
http://techreport.com/articles.x/20736

Here we go - lets all chip in and buy a 4P deca-core system
http://www.provantage.com/ibm-7143h1u~7IBM9WTE.htm

 

[Adak]

Yes, that increases the costs, *quite* substantially!

 

[TC]

Yes, that increases the costs, *quite* substantially!

That one only has 2 cpus installed - what a bargain.

 

[Macaholic]

Here we go - lets all chip in and buy a 4P deca-core system
http://www.provantage.com/ibm-7143h1u~7IBM9WTE.htm

Actually, I had my eye on this. If you're going to do it, do it right.

 

[~(o)-(0)~]

That's a really nice system, congrats!

Wish I could get my hands on that kind of processing power

 

[Adak]

Thanks, ~(o)-(O)~. Tanker will singlehandedly put me into the top 20 folders on the team, but it's not nearly the folding power that our top 10 folders have - they're in a whole different league.

@Macaholic
Did you catch it that the system you linked to had NO cpu's included in that price?

 

[ChasR]

Adak,
Looking at your mod for the motherboard, it looks like it would be possible to screw a clip angle onto the case frame at each end of the flat bar and then screw the flat bar onto the clip angle. No bending required. You would have to purchase the right size angle stock and cut the clitp angle out of it.

l---------------------|

 

[Macaholic]

@Macaholic
Did you catch it that the system you linked to had NO cpu's included in that price?

Yes. That's the point. If you are going to spend big, might as well have a small footprint.

 

[TC]

Yes. That's the point. If you are going to spend big, might as well have a small footprint.

I found the 10-core xeons on ebay for $1200 a pair, which doesn't seem legit considering the list is around $7000. Also another guy has 8-core sandy bridge-e xeons for $499, and an ES interlagos 6274 for $399.

 

[Macaholic]

I found the 10-core xeons on ebay for $1200 a pair, which doesn't seem legit considering the list is around $7000. Also another guy has 8-core sandy bridge-e xeons for $499, and an ES interlagos 6274 for $399.

Yeah, I would steer clear of anything Engineering Sample from eBay. I'm sure somebody is watching. Even Kyle and the [H]orde are showing a deviation from the usual cavalier attitude.

 

[TC]

Yeah, I would steer clear of anything Engineering Sample from eBay. I'm sure somebody is watching. Even Kyle and the [H]orde are showing a deviation from the usual cavalier attitude.

I was contacted by Intel after listing an ES P4 on ebay once. I made the mistake of openly describing it and posting a picture. They were nice enough to send me an equivalent retail box in exchange for the es piece. Now all of my auctions are kosher