OK...Gonna build a new "SETI CRUNCHER" Need some recommendations

[Soggysocks]

Been building Pentium,s for a while now, but, maybe time to expand a bit. Need some feedback (boards, processors, memory) you know the routine Some links for the best prices would help. The price guides on the tech sites are OK, but, I know there must be better deals out there.

Mind you, gotta keep it under $500 U.S. ( Excluding Case, HDD, PSU, or videoboard )

 

[Freewolf]

The for sell/ trade forum is a good place to start. Orther then there Newegg is usually where I go.

 

[JimMc]

For a Seti cruncher, it's hard to beat a 2.4C with HT. I spec'ed out some stuff at Newegg, looks like you can get into a fairly nice rig for around $500 or so.

P4 2.4C $164
Asus P4P800 $108 (built in network & sound)
2X256 Crucial PC3200 $70
Lite-On CDR/DVD $50
WD 80GB 8MB Buffer $72
Powercolor Radeon 7000 $41

Total (inc Shipping) $505

Obviously I shorted you a case and keyboard/mouse and monitor. You can ususally find a decent case at Newegg on special with free'ish shipping for $30-40, and OD or somebody will have some mice/KB deals for $10 or so after rebates. No floppy, I think they are pointless now. On the monitor, you could drop anywhere from $10 at a thrift shop to major $$$ depending on your usage. Also didn't include an OS, that's between you & Bill Gates.

If you want to go AMD, I'vew built 2 Shuttle AN35N/Barton 2500 (both running at 3200) from Newegg. It'll run about $155 for the CPU/MB instead of $272 for the P4, saving you about $120. The other parts are interchangeable. The vid card is ancient, but good 2D quality if you're not gaming. If gaming is important, go the AMD route and upgrade to a Powercolor 9600 Pro or XT with the $120 savings. The Crucial RAM ain't the most expensive stuff, but I've had pretty good results with it.

 

[SoulAssassin]

Search the hot deals forums for "400SC" there's nearly always a good deal on them in the 350-400 range. You'll have to slap in more memory and probably want a faster vid card if you're doing any gaming but it's a good place to start. I've built 3 or 4 of them for people and they're solid.

 

[networkman]

Make it funky!

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Do what JimMc said, except for motherboard pick an Intel brand motherboard with integrated graphics since SETI doesn't need a fast graphics card. If all it will do is SETI@HOME, then pick up the cheapest 20GB or 40GB drive they carry, one stick of 256MB since you won't need any more than that. You don't need a CDR/DVD drive, just get the cheapest CD drive for installing windows you can find, or maybe even take one out of another computer and use it to install things with. The ONLY thing that really matters for SETI@HOME is cpu speed. Video card, hard drive, OS, etc. don't really play a role in how much it crunches WU's. If you price this out correctly:

CPU: $164
Motherboard: Probably around $110 for Intel with network, audio, and video
RAM: $35
HD: $20 to $30

That's $339, plus you need a case and PSU. If you can find cheaper memory, some old used 5GB HD's for sale, same motherboard I reccomended at pricegrabber.com, etc., it may be possible to build two P4 2.4C setups within $500, it'll probably go to $600, but you get twice the performance.

 

[RaySun2Be]

Powercolor Radeon 7000

Definately NOT for heavy duty gaming. I'd have to go back and look, but they left some critical stuff out of the 7000. (bought one on a good deal once, and it sucked for games (UT, etc.).

 

[paf077]

Well for that amount you could build 2 crunchers easily
2x 2500+ Bartons
2x 256mb pc3200 ram
2X ECS nFoce2 ultra board w/cheepoman bios ( to o/c) sound and nic built in
2x 30 or 40gb hdd
2x radeon 9200
1x cdrom to install OS and just switch it from one to the other

This would put out 22 to 24 WUs/day

Just get 2 psu and you dont need cases!!!

I would like to have $500 to do the same,


Paf

Pa

 

[Overkiller]

^and they are super super super quiet stock...about 10x quieter than my P4 2.8@3.2....when i built a barton 2500+ system for a friend's relation i was amazed..i could barely hear an audible hum coming out of the system..mine roars

 

[lobadobadingdong]

Originally posted by: Overkiller
^and they are super super super quiet stock...about 10x quieter than my P4 2.8@3.2....when i built a barton 2500+ system for a friend's relation i was amazed..i could barely hear an audible hum coming out of the system..mine roars

depends on the cooler, the last stock cooler I got sounded like a small turbine. I typically get oem with a speeze big rock2 on my amd procs now. less than 28db.....ultra quiet.