Need for speed.

"gaf1234567890" <gaf1234567890.TakeThisOut@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1138929034.570183.61340@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
> Russel Sprout wrote:
> > I am not interested in gaming or video/image manipulation, just pure
umber
> > crunching. I'm working on a project where a program is run several
times,
> > currently each run takes around 10 mins, CPU is running at 100%, but its
not
> > using much RAM (PC2100) and disk activity seems to be low. I'd like to
cut
> > this to 2 mins or below. Specifically I'm running degrib with the -prb
> > swich, if that means anything to anyone. It decodes compressed weather
model
> > data in GRIB2 format, files are typically big, 32Mb.
> >
>
> What type of numbers are being calculated? Int32, Int64, 64-bit Float,
> 80-bit Float or any of the Streaming (SIMD/SSE) calculations?
>

I doubt there is any need for 80 bit float. I'm going to try compiling
myself as Grumble suggests, so I'll take a look at the code. I'll also spend
a few hundred on a faster processor and better RAM and HDD. I'll probably
build the machine myself as most of the higher end PCs seem to have flashy
video/sound/TV cards etc which ! will not needed and then they seem to skimp
a little on HDDs.

Any further suggestions on a good MOBO, CPU and RAM conbination will be
appreciated.

Thanks all.

Steve.
 >> Stay informed about: Need for speed. 

On Fri, 3 Feb 2006 09:27:07 -0000, "Russel Sprout"
<steve DeleteThis @idontthinkso.net> wrote:

>I doubt there is any need for 80 bit float. I'm going to try compiling
>myself as Grumble suggests, so I'll take a look at the code. I'll also spend
>a few hundred on a faster processor and better RAM and HDD. I'll probably
>build the machine myself as most of the higher end PCs seem to have flashy
>video/sound/TV cards etc which ! will not needed and then they seem to skimp
>a little on HDDs.
>
>Any further suggestions on a good MOBO, CPU and RAM conbination will be
>appreciated.

Since you don't care about gaming, try a mobo with integrated video.
Recently I had a good experience with MSI RS482M4 - nice little
micro-ATX with surprizingly good video (for integrated one, that is)
and even dual video output - one DVI, one VGA, $74 @ Newegg.com. NIC
and sound (hi-def) included. RAM - up to 4 GB DDR 3200 (aka pc400),
but your old 2100 will work. CPU - any A64 939 that fits your budget,
from 3000 all the way up to FX60.

Good luck.

NNN
 >> Stay informed about: Need for speed. 

On Fri, 3 Feb 2006 09:27:07 -0000, "Russel Sprout" <steve DeleteThis @idontthinkso.net>
wrote:

>
>"gaf1234567890" <gaf1234567890 DeleteThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
>news:1138929034.570183.61340@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
>> Russel Sprout wrote:
>> > I am not interested in gaming or video/image manipulation, just pure
>umber
>> > crunching. I'm working on a project where a program is run several
>times,
>> > currently each run takes around 10 mins, CPU is running at 100%, but its
>not
>> > using much RAM (PC2100) and disk activity seems to be low. I'd like to
>cut
>> > this to 2 mins or below. Specifically I'm running degrib with the -prb
>> > swich, if that means anything to anyone. It decodes compressed weather
>model
>> > data in GRIB2 format, files are typically big, 32Mb.
>> >
>>
>> What type of numbers are being calculated? Int32, Int64, 64-bit Float,
>> 80-bit Float or any of the Streaming (SIMD/SSE) calculations?
>>
>
>I doubt there is any need for 80 bit float. I'm going to try compiling
>myself as Grumble suggests, so I'll take a look at the code. I'll also spend
>a few hundred on a faster processor and better RAM and HDD. I'll probably
>build the machine myself as most of the higher end PCs seem to have flashy
>video/sound/TV cards etc which ! will not needed and then they seem to skimp
>a little on HDDs.
>
>Any further suggestions on a good MOBO, CPU and RAM conbination will be
>appreciated.

First, you need to figure if a dual core processor is worth anything to
you, either because the program is efficiently multi-threaded or possibly
because you want to be able to do other useful things while it's running.

I don't know your application but for most general purpose work AMD64 CPUs
are beating Intel P4s quite handily and running cooler into the bargain.
Next you need to figure if ECC memory is desirable. The AMD64 field is a
bit confused right now: there are Athlon64s & Opterons which fit in a
socket 939 and Opterons which fit in a socket 940; both Athlon64s &
Opterons can do ECC but AFAIK there is only one mbrd mfr, Tyan, who makes a
s939 version. All s940 mbrds should handle ECC.

If you go s939, it doesn't matter if you get an Opteron or Athlon64 - the
former is claimed by the overclocking/gamer crowd to have a better memory
controller but I'm not sure why. In fact I'm baffled as to why AMD has
decided to sell s939 Opterons - it only makes choosing a CPU confusing.

For a mbrd, I've been using MSI recently and I haven't had any problems
with them apart from some which came with a bad batch of chipset fans...
which they replaced promptly. MSI's BIOS updates, for new CPU
compatibility and chipset feature improvements have been very good and
timely. Now you need to figure which chipset feature set you want: e.g. is
Firewire and dual network interfaces something you'd want?... things which
are generally only on the higher priced mbrds.

For the mbrd chipset, I've used both VIA and nVidia and for performance
it's a toss-up - nVidia has been a bit in front with latest features like
SATA-2 but the advantage is debatable. nVidia has some fancy hardware
assist in their NIs but it just doesn't work right - in fact I had to turn
off Checksum Offload to get the damned thing to work right.

For memory, I wouldn't even bother considering anything but Crucial but for
best performance, you want to keep the rank count down: with AMD64 CPUs,
above 3 ranks of memory, you might have to back off on memory timings or
clock speed. This means you should try to get DIMMs with 512M-bit chips...
preferably with the Micron memory chips; Crucial *is* selling some DIMMs
just now with Samsung chips and they are fussier about timing.

For a HDD, especially SATA-2, Seagate is working well (best ?) with nVidia
nForce4 chipsets. Maxtor has, of course been taken over by Seagate
recently but there have been problems with their HDDs at SATA-2 speeds.

If you tell a bit more about features important to you you'll get pointers
to specific mbrds.

I'm not sure you're going to get down to 2mins for your jobs but I'd think
5mins is certainly feasible. Good luck with it.

--
Rgds, George Macdonald
 >> Stay informed about: Need for speed. 

"Russel Sprout" <steve.DeleteThis@idontthinkso.net> wrote in message
news:44f9f0F1unk4U1@individual.net...
> Well not extreme speed, but a little better than I have now - AMD Athlon
XP
> 2200+.
>
> I am not interested in gaming or video/image manipulation, just pure umber
> crunching. I'm working on a project where a program is run several times,
> currently each run takes around 10 mins, CPU is running at 100%, but its
not
> using much RAM (PC2100) and disk activity seems to be low. I'd like to cut
> this to 2 mins or below. Specifically I'm running degrib with the -prb
> swich, if that means anything to anyone. It decodes compressed weather
model
> data in GRIB2 format, files are typically big, 32Mb.
>
> Any sugestions, price is a consideration, but I'd like the best bang for
> bucks. The program is 32 bit, but I think there may be a 64 bit version
and
> it may also be optimised for multiple proccesers.
>
> TIA
> Steve
>
Thanks for all the replies, lots to think about!

Steve
 >> Stay informed about: Need for speed. 

On Tue, 07 Feb 2006 18:07:18 +0100, Grumble <devnull DeleteThis @kma.eu.org> wrote:

>George Macdonald wrote:
>> I don't know your application but for most general purpose work AMD64
>> CPUs are beating Intel P4s quite handily and running cooler into the
>> bargain. Next you need to figure if ECC memory is desirable. The
>> AMD64 field is a bit confused right now: there are Athlon64s &
>> Opterons which fit in a socket 939 and Opterons which fit in a socket
>> 940; both Athlon64s & Opterons can do ECC but AFAIK there is only one
>> mbrd mfr, Tyan, who makes a s939 version. All s940 mbrds should
>> handle ECC.
>
>Unless I am mistaken, most socket 939 motherboards do accept
>unbuffered ECC DIMMs.

Thanks for that correction - MSI's mbrds don't support ECC but apparently
Asus and some others may.

>e.g. my ASUS A8N-E's spec says:
>
>4 x 184-pin DIMM Sockets support max. 4GB DDR400/DDR333/DDR266
>ECC/non-ECC un-buffered DDR SDRAM memory

Yes OK *but* according to Asus' qualified vendor list there are very few
ECC DIMMs which work in their s939s... possibly because it's a market --
i.e. unbuffered ECC -- the enthusiast memory providers don't address.

--
Rgds, George Macdonald
 >> Stay informed about: Need for speed. 

..
>> Well not extreme speed, but a little better than I have now - AMD
>> Athlon
> XP
>> 2200+.

>> Steve
>>
> Thanks for all the replies, lots to think about!
>
> Steve
>
>


Does anyone know if AMD markets their own compiler? I was working with some
guys that were doing some intensive math work back a year or so ago on
RedHat ES, They had found that Intel markets a compiler for Linux and it
really helped out for some of the calculations they needed to do.
 >> Stay informed about: Need for speed.