$99 cpu for Folding rig?

[mojothehut]

Hey all
I'm going to build a cheap little box to run Folding@Home cores 24/7

I'm torn between the AMD A6 3650 Llano quad core and the Intel G860 Sandy Bridge dual core. Both equally priced at $99

Which of those two will probably be faster at Folding? If its just about raw mhz, then the G860's 3.0ghz clock will win. but the Llano has two extra cores for a 400mhz trade off. I also believe the Llano will run cooler?

They will be running on a micro atx mobo, 2-4gb of super cheap DDR1333.

 

[nonameo]

I thought you could fold with GPUs now? wouldn't it be better to do it that way?

 

[mojothehut]

Yeah you can and its probably better.. But I believe you need to buy an Nvidia card (i think i read somewhere that Nvidia gpus are currently folding better, or more stable or something along those lines)

With either of the two cpus I listed, I dont need to get a video card and can just let the cpu fold.. cheaper, cooler, tis what im going for.

 

[nonameo]

If you can still get that ECS H61 motherboard for cheap AR, I'd do that and the sandy bridge CPU. Not sure what all you have planned for it, but if it's just for F@H you could probably run linux off a cheap thumb drive. After that...

but you know, for 99 dollars can't you just get an i3 2100? I think that would be a better cpu, with HT and all you should get some odd what... 20% better performance? Also, I'd buy the motherboard new but usually used CPUs isn't a problem. Especially now with LGA cpus, you don't have worry about pins getting bent.

 

[996GT2]

What about getting a used i7-920? 4 cores, 8 threads, and most of them will overclock to 4 GHz without a hitch. They go for around $100-150 used and will be much better than a dual core i3-2100 for folding.

EDIT: In fact, here's one for sale for $110:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2247655&highlight=920

 

[SithSolo1]

Take off what you don't need. SSD has a $10 MIR bringing the total cost down to $45 so I said "why not?"

 

[alyarb]

I would find a used thuban, lynnfield or Bloomfield

 

[Puppies04]

Is this another "find a price point and usage pattern where an AMD cpu is good choice" thread?

 

[T_Yamamoto]

What about getting a used i7-920? 4 cores, 8 threads, and most of them will overclock to 4 GHz without a hitch. They go for around $100-150 used and will be much better than a dual core i3-2100 for folding.

EDIT: In fact, here's one for sale for $110:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2247655&highlight=920

This thing.

 

[Magic Carpet]

This or this. Bloomfield is a power-hog. Or stick with that G860 and later upgrade.

FX-8150------Cinebench 11.5----wPrime 32M-----Kill-a-Watt/WCG@load
4.4GHz----------7.27-----------------7.565--------------~238/240
4.6GHz----------7.62-----------------7.208--------------~302/304

i7-Bloomfield---Cinebench 11.5----wPrime 32M----Kill-a-Watt/WCG@load
4.2GHz----------7.25-----------------6.337--------------~304/306
4.4GHz----------7.57-----------------5.952--------------~311/314

i5-2500K-------Cinebench 11.5----wPrime 32M----Kill-a-Watt/WCG@load
4.6GHz----------7.27-----------------6.957--------------~184/185

i7-2600K-------Cinebench 11.5----wPrime 32M----Kill-a-Watt/WCG@load
4.6GHz----------9.03-----------------5.559--------------~200/202

 

[SithSolo1]

I think Magic is on to something. If you happen to live near a Microcenter you could pick up the x6 1045T and an Asus M5A78L-M LX PLUS motherboard for under $120 out the door, tax included. I think its probably the best you can do on a small budget.