We are expanding our computational fluid dynamics (CFD) cluster at work, so I will be ordering four of these nodes. They need to offer reliability (since they will be at 100% load 24/7) and the most computational power per dollar possible. I will not be doing any overclocking. The machines will have Gentoo Linux installed and will be interfaced using Gigabit Ethernet. They need to have integrated video for occasional debugging.
I've been out of the hardware loop for a few years, but this is the best I could come up with after minimal research. Please let me know if there are any incompatability issues or if there are any better options for a given component. Micro-ATX is the form factor of choice due to space constraints. I have no AMD/Intel loyalties; our last build was AMD, but it looks like Intel has better offerings right now. The overall per-node budget is $500 shipped.
Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 Conroe 2.33GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6550 - Retail
$178.99
ASUS P5L-MX LGA 775 Intel 945G Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$74.99
CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop
$75.99
Athenatech A3603BB.400 Black Steel MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case 400W Power
$39.99
Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JD 80GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
$42.99
Intel PWLA8391GTL 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps PCI Low Profile Desktop Network Adapter - OEM
$29.90-We have to use this NIC for Linux compatability reasons
LITE-ON Black IDE CD-ROM Drive Model LH-52N1P-185 - OEM
$12.99
TOTAL: $483.86 shipped
Thanks
I've been out of the hardware loop for a few years, but this is the best I could come up with after minimal research. Please let me know if there are any incompatability issues or if there are any better options for a given component. Micro-ATX is the form factor of choice due to space constraints. I have no AMD/Intel loyalties; our last build was AMD, but it looks like Intel has better offerings right now. The overall per-node budget is $500 shipped.
Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 Conroe 2.33GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6550 - Retail
$178.99
ASUS P5L-MX LGA 775 Intel 945G Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$74.99
CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop
$75.99
Athenatech A3603BB.400 Black Steel MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case 400W Power
$39.99
Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JD 80GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
$42.99
Intel PWLA8391GTL 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps PCI Low Profile Desktop Network Adapter - OEM
$29.90-We have to use this NIC for Linux compatability reasons
LITE-ON Black IDE CD-ROM Drive Model LH-52N1P-185 - OEM
$12.99
TOTAL: $483.86 shipped
Thanks