Bargain Hardware Thread

E_tron · 2004-08-05, 15:31

The Athlon 64 Lineup is actually starting to get cheap.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...ctCode=80698-R

An Athlon 64 for under $150?

moo · 2005-01-16, 01:37

Well im starting this thread the perpose is to show people mabey a place were u found some decently priced stuff hardware,etc,etc
heres what i found today
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...p?EdpNo=999003
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...6386&CatId=191

moo · 2005-03-19, 21:18

Well as thread title says cheap hardware is riseing
as you can see prices are droping on some older intel and amd hardware
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...5900&CatId=188
and
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...2068&CatId=191
if you have a farm you might conseder these as future nodes untill rebates run out. feel free to post more links to cheap hardware.

rx7350 · 2006-03-08, 16:40

Opinions, please, on the 'best bang for the buck', barebones, case-less system built only to run Prime95. After a quick look at Newegg, I came up with this:

Pentium D dual-core 805 Smithfield 2.66Ghz, 533 Mhz FSB 2X1Mb L2 $143
Asus P5V800-MX Socket T (LGA 775) VIA P4M800 micro ATX $54
OCZ Premier Value (2X512MB) DDR400 3-4-4-8 $89
Western Digital 40Gb Sata150 $43
Antec Smartpower 2.0 SP-350 350W $52

Total system price (excluding OS) $381

Other considerations:
1) What can I change (memory to 512Mb, etc) to reduce cost
2) Does XP Pro utilize dual-core processor better that other OSs, like XP
Home
3) The Asus mobo has onboard video and audio, does that increase iteration
times enough that a cheap video card should be considered
4) I assume a 15% overclock should be easily obtainable, yielding 3Ghz+
5) On the 'old' benchmark tables it looks like 512Mb L2 caches have better
iteration times than 1024Mb caches
6) What's the best way to remote to systems that don't have KVM
connections
7) It's not the fastest processor, but it's the cheapest I can find, and it
functions as two nodes

I probably have more questions, but that's all I can think of right now.

I read all thru the hardware forum, but I didn't see any 'recent' thread on this
subject.

Any help, opinions, suggestions, etc, would be much appreciated!!!

Mystwalker · 2006-03-08, 16:59

1) 512 MB RAM should be enough.

2) I'd use Linux - no license fees, optimal CPU utilization, and a simple SSH access solves 6)

5) I guess the real difference is the pipeline depth. The first P4's had a shorter pipeline, which is generally better for "instruction per clock", but worse for maximum frequency.

E_tron · 2006-03-09, 05:28

i would suggest celeron Ds, but 140usd for dual core is as cheap as 70usd celeron ds.

rx7350 · 2006-03-09, 18:44

And using a dual-core only requires me to use one mobo, one power supply, one set of memory, etc, instead of two of everything if I used a single core chip. Lets me create two nodes together cheaper that I can create two nodes separately.

Still, it seems I should be able to reduce the cost further - I'm still looking.

E_tron · 2006-03-10, 06:21

try using something like linux booted from a PXE network boot. That should get rid of the HDD and other storage mediums. Consider buying less, but faster memory. you can get away with 128MB, but i dont think many premium products come that small.

rx7350 · 2006-03-10, 15:51

How much memory does a Linux distro need to run? I've had suggestions from other Forum members to use Debian, Gentoo, or Ubuntu.

I'm not familiar with 'GXE network boot' . Please explain. I wired my house with CAT5 to be used exclusively for a home LAN (ethernet), and I have other desktops pcs in use with lots of available hard drive space. Eliminating the need for a hard drive would be a significant cost reduction. I assume mprime can be configured to write to a network share (or whatever). Does the available network storage have to be on another LINUX client?

Where's the best place for info on 'GXE network boot' ?

sdbardwick · 2006-03-16, 01:24

For those living near a Fry's Electronics (at least in Southern California) they have an Intel Pentium D 805 (probably without HSF) and ECS motherboard (ATI chipset) for $160.00
I wouldn't advise using ECS in a primary system, but they have been working fine for me as DC nodes.
L.A. Times Fry's ad:
http://latimes.p2ionline.com/shoppin...categoryid=816

IronBits · 2006-03-16, 04:50

Any consideration for 24/7 electricty cost?
How many watts does it consume?

2004-08-05, 15:31	#1
E_tron Sep 2002 Austin, TX 3·11·17 Posts	Bargain Hardware Thread The Athlon 64 Lineup is actually starting to get cheap. http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...ctCode=80698-R An Athlon 64 for under $150?

2005-01-16, 01:37	#2
moo Jul 2004 Nowhere 1100101001₂ Posts	Deals thread Well im starting this thread the perpose is to show people mabey a place were u found some decently priced stuff hardware,etc,etc heres what i found today http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...p?EdpNo=999003 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...6386&CatId=191

2005-03-19, 21:18	#3
moo Jul 2004 Nowhere 329₁₆ Posts	Bargain Hardware Thread Well as thread title says cheap hardware is riseing as you can see prices are droping on some older intel and amd hardware http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...5900&CatId=188 and http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...2068&CatId=191 if you have a farm you might conseder these as future nodes untill rebates run out. feel free to post more links to cheap hardware.

2006-03-08, 16:40	#4
rx7350 Feb 2006 AR, US 144₁₀ Posts	Lowest cost build - best bang for the buck. Opinions, please, on the 'best bang for the buck', barebones, case-less system built only to run Prime95. After a quick look at Newegg, I came up with this: Pentium D dual-core 805 Smithfield 2.66Ghz, 533 Mhz FSB 2X1Mb L2 $143 Asus P5V800-MX Socket T (LGA 775) VIA P4M800 micro ATX $54 OCZ Premier Value (2X512MB) DDR400 3-4-4-8 $89 Western Digital 40Gb Sata150 $43 Antec Smartpower 2.0 SP-350 350W $52 Total system price (excluding OS) $381 Other considerations: 1) What can I change (memory to 512Mb, etc) to reduce cost 2) Does XP Pro utilize dual-core processor better that other OSs, like XP Home 3) The Asus mobo has onboard video and audio, does that increase iteration times enough that a cheap video card should be considered 4) I assume a 15% overclock should be easily obtainable, yielding 3Ghz+ 5) On the 'old' benchmark tables it looks like 512Mb L2 caches have better iteration times than 1024Mb caches 6) What's the best way to remote to systems that don't have KVM connections 7) It's not the fastest processor, but it's the cheapest I can find, and it functions as two nodes I probably have more questions, but that's all I can think of right now. I read all thru the hardware forum, but I didn't see any 'recent' thread on this subject. Any help, opinions, suggestions, etc, would be much appreciated!!!

2006-03-09, 05:28	#6
E_tron Sep 2002 Austin, TX 3·11·17 Posts	i would suggest celeron Ds, but 140usd for dual core is as cheap as 70usd celeron ds. Last fiddled with by E_tron on 2006-03-09 at 05:31

2006-03-08, 16:59	#5
Mystwalker Jul 2004 Potsdam, Germany 3×277 Posts	1) 512 MB RAM should be enough. 2) I'd use Linux - no license fees, optimal CPU utilization, and a simple SSH access solves 6) 5) I guess the real difference is the pipeline depth. The first P4's had a shorter pipeline, which is generally better for "instruction per clock", but worse for maximum frequency.

2006-03-09, 18:44	#7
rx7350 Feb 2006 AR, US 2⁴×3² Posts	And using a dual-core only requires me to use one mobo, one power supply, one set of memory, etc, instead of two of everything if I used a single core chip. Lets me create two nodes together cheaper that I can create two nodes separately. Still, it seems I should be able to reduce the cost further - I'm still looking.

2006-03-10, 06:21	#8
E_tron Sep 2002 Austin, TX 231₁₆ Posts	try using something like linux booted from a PXE network boot. That should get rid of the HDD and other storage mediums. Consider buying less, but faster memory. you can get away with 128MB, but i dont think many premium products come that small.

2006-03-10, 15:51	#9
rx7350 Feb 2006 AR, US 2⁴·3² Posts	How much memory does a Linux distro need to run? I've had suggestions from other Forum members to use Debian, Gentoo, or Ubuntu. I'm not familiar with 'GXE network boot' . Please explain. I wired my house with CAT5 to be used exclusively for a home LAN (ethernet), and I have other desktops pcs in use with lots of available hard drive space. Eliminating the need for a hard drive would be a significant cost reduction. I assume mprime can be configured to write to a network share (or whatever). Does the available network storage have to be on another LINUX client? Where's the best place for info on 'GXE network boot' ?

2006-03-16, 01:24	#10
sdbardwick Aug 2002 North San Diego County 1010101101₂ Posts	For those living near a Fry's Electronics (at least in Southern California) they have an Intel Pentium D 805 (probably without HSF) and ECS motherboard (ATI chipset) for $160.00 I wouldn't advise using ECS in a primary system, but they have been working fine for me as DC nodes. L.A. Times Fry's ad: http://latimes.p2ionline.com/shoppin...categoryid=816

2006-03-16, 04:50	#11
IronBits I ♥ BOINC! Oct 2002 Glendale, AZ. (USA) 1113₁₀ Posts	Any consideration for 24/7 electricty cost? How many watts does it consume?

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