home CFD build - input needed (first build)

[70m1]

Hi all,

Looking to build a computer for running a CFD simulation (for my dissertation).
This will run under linux and is multi-threaded and very processor intensive. Once my dissertation is finished I will be looking to add a graphics card for gaming.

My budget is £600 (UK) And I am looking to buy from www.dabs.com (or anywhere else if deals are better)

I will be using it with a 1080p monitor, and I own a keyboard and mouse and won't use an optical drive.

Overclocking: I am not sure about this, I would like input on this please.

I will probably add a standard harddrive (and install windows) at a later date. for now 128gb is enough

Proposed system:

Processor:
i7-3770k: http://www.dabs.com/products/intel-core-i7-3770k-s1155-3-5ghz-8mb-7YXF.html

Ram: http://www.dabs.com/products/patrio...600mhz-viper-3-black-mamba-dimm-cl9-89TQ.html

Motherboard: http://www.dabs.com/products/gigabyte-z77-ds3h-s1155-intel-z77-ddr3-atx-8307.html

SSD HDD: http://www.dabs.com/products/sandis...ta-6gb-s-2-5--7mm-solid-state-drive-8HBN.html

PSU: http://www.dabs.com/products/best-value-alpine-700w-psu-120mm-red-fan-4-x-sata--pfc--78ZS.html

CASE: http://www.dabs.com/products/best-value-777-t-bird-blue-gaming-case--no-psu--7W6P.html



Any input on this? Any tips? Thanks, all help appreciated.

Tom

 

[riversend]

So your CFD programs do not benefit from a GPU for visualization? I have not done any CFD work since school, but it seems like there might be a benefit there. If multi-core is more important than single thread speed you could go with an AMD solution, just a thought to save a few pounds.

 

[70m1]

Hi thanks for the reply, single thread performance is important. If you run the simulation not in parallel you get allot more information about what the simulation is doing so I will be doing that (occasionally). Also I will be pre and post processing without a gui so the graphics chip will be largely redundant.

 

[jaedaliu]

Can your CFD software benefit from the computational ability of a GPU? How long does it take to perform a run? If you aren't running multi threaded at all, you can look at the i5-3570k instead to save a few dollars, as it's very similar to the i7-3770k except it does not have hyperthreading.

 

[70m1]

Sorry I wasn't very clear with my reply. Some times I will run on a single processor for a few hours, perhaps a night. But the full simulation run will be on as many cores as I can get for a few days to a week. Hyperthreading apparently works very well here. And pre- processing is also single core work.

OpenFOAM (the CFD package) does have the option to use the GPU for compute, but from the research I looked at 3 *Tesla GPU is only slightly faster then an i7 extreme. GPU compute only comes into its own with extremely complex meshes I believe.

 

[Torn Mind]

It appears that you can get some of your components for less at Aria PC.

Overclocking will require aftermarket cooling. I am not sure if it is appropriate for your use scenario, so I can't help answer that question.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks
CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£239.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£67.99 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£69.50 @ Dabs)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£69.96 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£48.17 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£12.85 @ Aria PC)
Total: £508.46 (Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.) (Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-06 17:59 GMT+0000)

Add your case total to this since the case is not in their database.

 

[mfenn]

It appears that you can get some of your components for less at Aria PC.

Overclocking will require aftermarket cooling. I am not sure if it is appropriate for your use scenario, so I can't help answer that question.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks
CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£239.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£67.99 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£69.50 @ Dabs)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£69.96 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£48.17 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£12.85 @ Aria PC)
Total: £508.46 (Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.) (Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-06 17:59 GMT+0000)

Add your case total to this since the case is not in their database.

This looks good to me. The one change that I would make is to drop the CPU down to the i5 3570K because OpenFOAM, like most CFD codes, does not benefit from hyperthreading. You'll actually get 2-3% lower performance with it enabled.

 

[70m1]

Thanks for the input. That PCPartPicker website is gold!

Looking forward to building this now.