ULTIMATE Distributed Computing Build Log

[nicklmg]

Folding@Home and Boinc are both great programs, and our forum has an amazing team for each... So we wanted to show off what we consider to be the ULTIMATE distributed computing PC!

 

 

I'm going to list out the components as well as provide a source or two for where you can get them  

 

I can't tell you where to buy this stuff, but I do lean towards NCIX for the Canadians (and International viewers if their pricing and shipping costs work out for you) because they're our bros, and for Americans, Brits, and a couple other regions, the Amazon links below are affiliate links, so of course every little bit helps  

 

Folding@Home progress link: http://fah-web.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/main.py?qtype=userpage&username=Luke_lafr

 

CORE COMPONENTS

 

CPU: Intel Core i7 5960X Unlocked Eight Core Processor with HyperThreading

NCIX: http://bit.ly/1zPwI9Z

Amazon: http://geni.us/3pgi

 

SSD: Kingston KC310 960GB x2

NCIX: http://search.ncix.com/search/?qcatid=0&q=Kingston+SSD

Amazon: http://geni.us/EJv

 

Motherboard: ASUS X99 Rampage V Extreme

NCIX: http://bit.ly/1KphYlp

Amazon: http://geni.us/tWr

 

Case: NZXT Noctis 450

NCIX: http://bit.ly/1dnIyRd

Amazon: http://geni.us/2xKr

NZXT: http://bit.ly/1doVndX

 

Video Card 1: ASUS Matrix R9 290X

NCIX: http://bit.ly/1GrPhQV

Amazon: http://geni.us/2rIa

 

Video Card 2: Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan X

NCIX: http://bit.ly/1dnIpgs

Amazon: http://geni.us/2J3j

 

RAM: 16GB HyperX Fury DDR4 2400mHz

NCIX: http://bit.ly/1A9TUwI

Amazon: http://geni.us/2y32

 

Power Supply: NZXT Hale 90 v2 1200 Watt

NCIX: http://bit.ly/1GAQqIt

Amazon: http://geni.us/3DfX

 

Cooling Components

 

CPU Heatsink: NZXT Kraken X61

NCIX: http://bit.ly/1GAQHvd

Amazon: http://geni.us/3DsL

[blackadder]

Woot, folding team hype. Whats the ppd?

[msvelev]

Haven't watched the video yet, but why didn't you go with a cheaper CPU and more GPUs. It'll give better PPD for the same price.

[Redicat]

Dang this overkill do... still the case does not support the motherboard so getting all that expensive tech in there is not recommended.

[Imakuni]

I know that the build was sponsored and that you have to use the parts that were given to you. I get that. I understand that you guys don't have the flexibility to do whatever you want, as if you had the raw money from each part.........

 

...but this wasn't "Ultimate" AT ALL! From a Boinc/FAH builder's perspective, this was just like building a gaming PC with a 500$ case and 64gbs of RAM, but a 100$ GPU. Aka "garbage".

 

From the "points" perspective, a 4-way Gtx 970s / 290s would have offered MUCH more power, while costing around the same or less (dem titan....). Likewise, the 5960k is almost useless; the money would be better spent on GPUs. And that's not to mention the use of PCIe Risers, in order to allow 7-way GPU configs.

 

Ofc, you could argue that you are going for Boinc CPU oriented projects; in that case, you'd be better off with a muti PC farm, with a few i5s and some 300w Gold PSUs (TFX format, Seasonic) and a bunch of HDs.

 

 

 

While I DO appreciate the initiative a lot, I would not agree with the title. This is not a Folding/Boinc machine. This is just another gaming rig. You guys are free to build whatever you want, but it would be nice to, at the very least, say "don't buy any of these parts we're recommending, go to the forum and ask them for an actual rig instead".

 

(Sponsors gonna hate....)

[ragedev]

I love the case. BTW, the ASUS X99 Maximus Formula V does not exist

[Qub3d]

Thanks for the folding team shoutout! I think its great to be able to donate a few watts and some CPU cycles to curing things like Alzheimers!
 
One caveat: The GPU choice was... eh. I'd have to go with @Imakuni on this one.

[JohnPreston]

Obligatory -> watch your powerconsumption. You'll get a huge bill for running stuff like this 24/7.

[Juggernautilus]

So what's this different from any other gaming PC?

[Imakuni]

So what's this different from any other gaming PC?

Difference is, instead of making an actual folding/Boinc rig, they grabbed a gaming PC and said "let's install the software and call it a day". Just like many stores sell PCs with an i7 CPU and no GPU, but still call it a "gaming PC", because people don't know what a gaming PC actually is.

 

 

As I said, this was a sponsored build, hence the non-optimal specs. Still, I thought that the LTT group had a bit more ballz and only released videos that are actually correct (at the time).

[euzen01]

What a powerhouse!!!

[davidfg4]

I completely agree with Imakuni. Building a dedicated folding computer is all about optimizing for maximum PPD per dollar. But this build is more of a fancy gaming computer that has both Nvidia and AMD cards. Building a milk crate folding computer with four (or more) 290 cards would have been something different and new compared to the multitude of gaming builds which we see all the time.

[Me1z]

I'd love to know what kind of PPD this rig is able to achieve when configured properly. Something worth keeping in mind is that you should free up one CPU core/thread per GPU that you have actively folding. While I don't necessarily agree with some of the GPU choices, I'm glad Luke decided to use GPUs from both teams in this rig. Each side has their strengths and its worth having a mix, especially if you are donating to both BOINC and F@H. The only thing I would have done different is that I would have swapped the 5960X for a 5930K and stuck at least one R9 295x2 in there with the Titan X instead of the single R9 290x. Actual bandwidth requirements depends on the specific project you are donating to, but as long as you have enough PCIe lanes available, the first priority should be cramming as many GPUs in the build as possible even if it means sacrificing CPU core count.

[Vavetti]

@Slick looking at your point output for F@H it looks like you haven't got a passkey yet

http://fah-web.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/getpasskey.py

[ninadpchaudhari]

I think the first video i disliked from the LinusMediaGroup,not that the build is bad....

but the build is supposed for distributed computing and this seems just a random overkill build ...

Its like when building a system for some purpose, you need to choose components which are lease slightly inclined to the main purpose ..

A distributed system doesnt need to have a motherboard designed for Gaming for once... Not that it cant be used , but a distributed COMPUTING system doesnt need So many SATA ports provided by that  motherboard and other features that might be useful for a gamer

Its just like you are trying to use stuff caz someone sponsored it .....

some time should have spent to find a stable motherboard, probably cheaper to save cash which after saving in every component can be used to get a extra GPU which would increase its computing power...

Having 2 approx ssd are also big face palm its good that he least mentions about that in the video.

Point being you tried to build a system that was capable for doing everything /// which defies the purpose of it being TAILORED for distributed computing .

Instead of doing something this overkill ,a more experienced option would have been adding another card and spending on that rather than having spent on entire system

 

Moreover, the MOST important thing that should be considered in these builds is the power to performance ratio as a system designed for distributed computing needs to be on most of time.

You cant justify 10% increase in performance by spending 50% more power...

In short, luke, seriously i personally think instead of studying each component and then doing the build, you just build another general purpose overkill system

Should have researched a bit , studying the power and computing factors least ( we can ignore the initial setup cost if you really want to spend too much like in the video )

 

 

[d3sl91]

I know that the build was sponsored and that you have to use the parts that were given to you. I get that. I understand that you guys don't have the flexibility to do whatever you want, as if you had the raw money from each part.........

 

...but this wasn't "Ultimate" AT ALL! From a Boinc/FAH builder's perspective, this was just like building a gaming PC with a 500$ case and 64gbs of RAM, but a 100$ GPU. Aka "garbage".

 

From the "points" perspective, a 4-way Gtx 970s / 290s would have offered MUCH more power, while costing around the same or less (dem titan....). Likewise, the 5960k is almost useless; the money would be better spent on GPUs. And that's not to mention the use of PCIe Risers, in order to allow 7-way GPU configs.

 

Ofc, you could argue that you are going for Boinc CPU oriented projects; in that case, you'd be better off with a muti PC farm, with a few i5s and some 300w Gold PSUs (TFX format, Seasonic) and a bunch of HDs.

 

 

 

While I DO appreciate the initiative a lot, I would not agree with the title. This is not a Folding/Boinc machine. This is just another gaming rig. You guys are free to build whatever you want, but it would be nice to, at the very least, say "don't buy any of these parts we're recommending, go to the forum and ask them for an actual rig instead".

 

(Sponsors gonna hate....)

 

Agree totally. Of course, yeah, you would not actually build this if you were actually building a dedicated Distributed computing system. Something nondescript, in a quiet yet cool case, and power efficient as possible are generally more important than...anything else in a home-based system. 

 

I feel this would have been better named "Gaming system with Distributed computing themes". 

 

 

Reminds me... I need to fix my machines... and get them running again. 

[Whaler_99]

Folding Team 223518 FTW

[getrekt]

Build was completely messed up!

Was a gaming pc and not a distributed computing one!

Moar gpuzzz?

[Imakuni]

Folding Team 223518 FTW

All hail our mighty leader, Whaler_99!

 

#I want that use award too......

[wolfgang]

Yes. Folding!

[JakeMnz]

Shows you where to get the case.. More like searches NZXT Case on NCIX and Amazon for you..

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146205&cm_re=noctis_450-_-11-146-205-_-Product

 

It's on pre-order, you're welcome.

[Mr.Tech.Qc]

I get the concept, but i dont understand the sofware part, how do you send tasks to this computer?

[Pugs501]

@nicklmg

@LinusTech

Can we see benchmarks for TitanX 4 way SLI?

[nicklmg]

Shows you where to get the case.. More like searches NZXT Case on NCIX and Amazon for you..

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146205&cm_re=noctis_450-_-11-146-205-_-Product

 

It's on pre-order, you're welcome.

It shows the case in the NZXT link, lol. When it's available on Amazon & NCIX we'll update.

[nicklmg]

@nicklmg

@LinusTech

Can we see benchmarks for TitanX 4 way SLI?

Maybe if we could get access to 4 Titan Xs