What CPU (and mobo) to get for new build for data crunching?

[bovinda]

I'm going to be building a computer for a family member who wants to use it for software that has capability to utilize multiple cores (and CPUs) for data crunching (the program is Gaussian, an analytic chemistry program). So it will be running processor-intensive data analysis for long periods of time.

What CPU would be best for this? His budget (edit: for for the CPU alone) is anywhere from $300-1000 or so. If the performance difference isn't huge between $400 and $1000, then he'd go for the cheaper option. But if it makes a significant different, he'll shell out the cash for it.

And if you have mobo recs as well, those are appreciated too

 

[jhu]

Dual Xeon E5 2670. Should be able to get a system for about $800 max.

 

[Burpo]

Yes, hard to beat those for economy data crunching..

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-Syst...047626?hash=item51e73f790a:g:r3YAAOSw-KFXdQKc

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MATCHING-PA...596148?hash=item1ea20a3274:g:9wIAAOSwmtJXXvkA

 

[bovinda]

Hey guys, thanks for the suggestions. I should have clarified - the budget for the CPU alone is $300-1000. He's got plenty of cash for the rest of the system, but didn't want to go over $300-1000 just for the CPU. Is there a better Xeon processor (or pair) to get, in that case?

 

[jhu]

What is his total budget? Because there's almost nothing that beats a dual Xeon E5 2670 in a single CPU configuration (except perhaps an overclocked Core i7 6950X ).

 

[bovinda]

His total budget is probably $2200-2500. If spending a little more would bring significant performance, he'd probably do it.

 

[Ken g6]

Yes, hard to beat those for economy data crunching..

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-Syst...047626?hash=item51e73f790a:g:r3YAAOSw-KFXdQKc

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MATCHING-PA...596148?hash=item1ea20a3274:g:9wIAAOSwmtJXXvkA

I don't suppose he has a license for the networked version of Gaussian? He could get a couple of those machines and network them together with 10Gb Ethernet/40Gb Infiniband. (Not quite sure how that works, but either way it's fast.)

P.S. This thread is cross-posted [thread=2479709]in General Hardware[/thread].

 

[bovinda]

I don't know which version he has, actually. But I think he wants it it to be based out of a single computer, because it will also be used for other things at home. I'm assuming then it's the non-networked version.

Sorry about cross-posting! I was thinking I'd get different information (was going to focus more on the CPU and mobo here, and other parts suggestions in gen hardware). If it makes more sense to close one of the threads, please feel free to do so.

 

[daniel1926]

I have a dual E5-2670 system and have been extremely happy with how it handles tread heavy programs.

I haven't used his particular software package, but in my use case, a boat load of memory is extremely helpful. There are a good number of dual e5-2670 systems with 192GB of DDR3 available for around $1,250. Hard to go wrong with that kind of a setup.

Also, over the next year or two, additional data centers will probably migrate to newer equipment in which case, one should be able to upgrade to a 12 core E5-2695 v2 or an E5-2697 v2

 

[richaron]

Please forgive my bluntess, but asking for advice on this particular component is silly until you truly understand what would be best for the entire system. It could well be the best idea is to blow most of your budget on a pro GPU and get cheapest CPU possible.

After a very quick search I saw this program has some association with nVidia and could well have CUDA plugins (GPU acceleration), if true it could run orders of magnitude faster on a GPU & CPU choice is almost irrelevant.

If your mate is running quantum stuff & double precision then he'll be looking at at least Titan from nVidia (check for OpenGL/OpenCL support also though, as AMD mainstream cards generally perform better for fp64).

But many people who run this type of software also want to run ECC memory, which means if you want to go the GPU route with ECC you're into the professional range of cards which will basically be your entire budget (or more). The ECC point also effects your CPU/motherboard choice if you also want ECC system RAM, which you would.

Edit: just checked your duplicate thread and they doubt GPU support. Confirmation of this is important, or even the need for this exact software.