Honestly, I think that if the TeAm wants to fund something like this, we should fund our own crack-rack, like back in the olden days.
Meanwhile...Ooh, look,
a parts list I can criticize! :twisted:
Case: I'm no case expert, but that's a lot of money for a case. You don't really need a case for a DC "crack-rack". I recall somebody putting one together with several threaded rods, with nuts holding each mobo in place. (Not counting the nut who put it together. )
-$200 + say $50 for parts per PC.
Net: -$150
Mobo: So that's what you're putting four GPUs in. At this price range, you ought to consider an LGA-2011 setup:
-
ASRock Fatal1ty X79 Professional
-
i7-3930k
50% more cores for less than 25% more $.
Net: +$165
- GPUs: I wouldn't get 680s, when GTX 670s can be had for $360 or less. I'd also suggest you consider getting some AMD cards - 7970s are in a similar price range and can be much better for some projects. (And worse at others.)
Each: -$120
Net: -$480
- PSU: High power, high price, but bad brand. I like the looks of
this FSP. 1000W
should be sufficient.
Net: -$80
- CPU: See above.
- RAM: You don't want 1.65V RAM - I gather it can burn out the memory controller on the CPU. Fast RAM isn't bad if you can get it, though the quad-channel LGA-2011 chipset alleviates this somewhat.
Here is a good 1866 kit for under $200.
Net: -$155
- Hard drive: I wouldn't bother with an SSD. Just get a good standard HDD. Its performance isn't that relevant to DC.
Net: -$140
- Keyboard, monitor: Just get one set. You can connect them to the different machines occasionally, but generally you should just remote desktop or VNC to the other machines when you need to.
Net: -$200 per PC
- Blu-ray burner: You don't need a blu-ray burner for these systems. One DVD drive can work for installing Windows on each of them, then you're done.
Net: -$76 per PC
- Windows: All versions of Windows 8 can access 128GB RAM. So can Win7Pro. You don't need the high-end versions.
Net: -$80
- CPU cooler: Just get
an air cooler that fits. If you do the crack-rack thing, you can set the spacing so it fits. A ~$30 Hyper 212 Evo seems to be the best bang-for-the-buck.
Net: -$90
- UPS: You don't need a UPS for these systems. Just make sure they have surge protectors, that you set them up to boot on power received, and that they are set up to resume crunching on boot.
Net: -$420
Total net per PC: $4900 - 1700 = $3200
Now you can afford to build a crack-rack with seven nodes instead of five!