Budget Overclocking? Cheap AMD Multicore solutions.

[Absolute0]

More like research calculations than business, and I would make sure its nice and stable. If its unstable I think im more likely to get bsods, program crashes, restarts, lockups, problems of that nature, than getting warped data. Once again tho I do not need a dedicated machine for COMSOL as it would cost a ton, but I need something that can run it so this dictates my processor selection.

 

[fuzzymath10]

Do you have to worry about power consumption at your lab? Depending on how much number crunching you do, the upfront savings might get eaten away by your power bills going forward.

Is your work time-constrained? i.e. for your research is there a fixed number of calculations (e.g. a dataset with calcs/projections), or a fixed length of calculations (e.g. something realtime). If it is fixed amount, then you should get intel if it means your results finish that much more quickly since your research time is probably more valuable than saving maybe $50.

 

[SickBeast]

Thuban 1045T is $140 into my budget. Does this clock well? Would also need some ideas for a cheap overclockable motherboard.

You can get a 2500k for $180. The extra $40 would be well worth it.

The X6 Thubans have all been discontinued, and even if you can get one, they only do well in extreme niche usage patterns. Going with AMD is pointless for just about any usage pattern at this point.

 

[daveybrat]

Microcenter currently still has the AMD 960T Thuban 4-Core plus GA-970A-UD3 Socket AM3+ 970 ATX AMD Motherboard for $129.00

This is a HOT price for a great overclocking chip and board.

The motherboard itself goes for $109 on Newegg and the 960T goes for $125 and it OOS at Newegg.

Well within your budget at $129 and a fantastic overclocker and a big chance to unlock it to a true 6-Core cpu (mine does!).

Just make sure to pick up a CM Hyper 212+ heatsink/fan and have fun!

It's well worth the trip to microcenter to pick up this deal.

 

[LoneNinja]

You can get a 2500k for $180. The extra $40 would be well worth it.

The X6 Thubans have all been discontinued, and even if you can get one, they only do well in extreme niche usage patterns. Going with AMD is pointless for just about any usage pattern at this point.

It's $140 for CPU and motherboard vs $180 for a CPU alone, that is more than a $40 price difference.

 

[AtenRa]

You guys tell me to buy Bulldozer right after Denithor pointed out that BD architecture has shared floating point units so for the kind of software I'm using it would be more like a quad core.

That is not entirely true, BDs FP unit can execute 2x 128-bit per cycle.

• The FPU can receive up to four ops per cycle. These ops can only be from one thread, but the
thread may change every cycle. Likewise the FPU is four wide, capable of issue, execution and
completion of four ops each cycle. Once received by the FPU, ops from multiple threads can be
executed.

• There are four logical pipes: two FMAC and two packed integer. For example, two 128-bit
FMAC and two 128-bit integer ALU ops can be issued and executed per cycle.

• Two 128-bit FMAC units. Each FMAC supports four single precision or two double-precision
ops.

• FADDs and FMULs are implemented within the FMAC’s.

Granted the above is SSEs and not legacy FP but still, it shows that 4x BD FP units are faster than Thubans 6x FPs.

Are you saying that the extra overclockability of BD is enough to make getting an 8120 more worth it? I am going to invest about $30 in a heatsink and try to get a very solid overclock going.

All the BDs are multiplier unlocked, meaning you only OC your CPU. Thuban 1045T is multiplier locked and can only be overclocked by raising the fsb(NB) which will result in ocerclocking the motherboard (NB) as well.

To OC the Thuban 1045T to 3.8GHz from the default 2.7GHz(13,5x 200) you will need to raise the NB to 281MHz from 200MHz default. To do that, you will definitely will have to raise the NB voltage which will lead to higher power consumption not to mention a higher strain in the NB chip itself.

On the other hand, FX8120 can OC to 4-4.2GHz with default voltage without raising the NB. That way you dont get higher power consumption. You can raise the NB if you like to have extra performance if the application you running can benefit from it.

edit: Not sure if the added $ and power consumption from a Bulldozer is worth it. If I do overclock to 4.8 Ghz on air then I would need a good PSU then right?
210$ for Bulldozer combo. Around 150$ for Thuban combo from MC. leaning towards that one.

You dont need to OC to 4.8GHz. Most 8-core BDs will OC to 4.4-4.5GHz with just 1.42-1.45V. With that voltage you will not get more power consumption that 6-core Thubans and you will have a faster CPU.

The decision is yours, but i would get the FX combo from MC.

 

[VirtualLarry]

That is not entirely true, BDs FP unit can execute 2x 128-bit per cycle.

Granted the above is SSEs and not legacy FP but still, it shows that 4x BD FP units are faster than Thubans 6x FPs.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=33229062&postcount=21

I noticed my FX8120 is my slowest per WU cruncher. My X6's, 960T and 555BE all out perform it on a per WU time basis. Rather disappointing since it is my fastest machine (some 490mhz faster than my X6's).

So sure that BD's FPU is faster than Thuban's?

 

[guskline]

So I am well aware of the performance overclocking choice for CPU's, I bought one a little while ago.

Problem is now I'm looking at doing a new build. I don't need a gaming monster this time. I work in a chemistry/nanoengineering lab and I decided my 15" notebook screen in insufficient for the amount of journal articles and browser tabs I have open. I'm going to build a cheap dual-monitor computer setup that needs to be capable of running some intense applications like COMSOL (physics simulation/analysis). As far as I know, COMSOL is heavily threaded.

So what I'm looking for is a CPU/mobo combo that's CHEAP but excels at multitasking/threaded applications.

I have been Intel for quite some time but I was thinking AMD might fit the bill here. I can get a cheap quad core, 6 core, 8 core even. But I am confused by all the AMD models. Triple core, quad core, quad cores that unlock to 6 cores, 6 cores, 8 cores... New FX models being potentially slower than old models, Ghz all over the place, lol...

Has anything emerged as a fantastic bang/buck in terms of overclocking? Like to keep CPU/mobo combo within $150 (if this is a poor point on the price/performance curve I can go up I guess). I'll slap a decent HSF on and try to crank it up to a respectable speed. Have considered FX-4100 and A3850.

BTW thanks a lot for any responses Hoping there's some AMD guys in here to help.

I read about the software. With $150 budget for both CPU/MB I think it's impossible. You would be better off running it on your hot rod rig in your signature. Is there an older dual core Xenon rig someone else wants to sell? Since the software recommendations are 4 G mem per core, a quad core is going to require 16Gs mem. Though I like OCing I would scrap it for stability.

 

[AtenRa]

So because hes getting lower time with Phenom in that particular app it means a quad Phenom is faster than 8-core BD ???

Does BDs AVX working or not in that particular app ??

 

[Magic Carpet]

So because hes getting lower time with Phenom in that particular app it means a quad Phenom is faster than 8-core BD ???

Does BDs AVX working or not in that particular app ??

That's the problem with BD. It only performs under certain conditions.

 

[Absolute0]

Looks like I could get the X6 for $140 and clock it to say 3.6 Ghz, or the 8120 BD and clock to say 4.5 Ghz for a bit over $200... Using Microcenter deals.
The problem is if I am going over $200 it starts to get close to the cost of a 2500K (180 @MC) and those are going to get cheaper soon when Ivy Bridge comes out.

You guys have been very helpful, I learned a lot about AMD processors. Think I might wait a few weeks and see what the Ivy Bridge launch does to prices.
But I am definitely leaning towards getting some nice deal at MC, I mean 140$ for an X6 and OC to 3.6 Ghz is pretty damn good bang/buck IMO...

I read about the software. With $150 budget for both CPU/MB I think it's impossible. You would be better off running it on your hot rod rig in your signature. Is there an older dual core Xenon rig someone else wants to sell? Since the software recommendations are 4 G mem per core, a quad core is going to require 16Gs mem. Though I like OCing I would scrap it for stability.

Do not need a COMSOL monster, I haven't even needed to run the software myself, but the lab uses it and I wanted my new lab machine to also have the capacity to run COMSOL when our primary machine is already in use. I know that COMSOL is extremely demanding and that anything I build on a budget will take a long time to do most simulations.

And I was planning on going cheap on the CPU/mobo so that I could throw in 16gb of ram and 2x24" monitors, as having monitor space is more important for my everyday needs.