How to Build a Cheap 128 Core Server for a Chess Super Computer.

[charlitosway]

Hi.

I am trying to solve/write chess books and I am trying to build a special super computer/server to put positions to the software. The software runs chess engines with up to 128 cores.

I wanted to know if you guys could recommend a place I could find/build a server cheaply for those amount of cores.

I found a place called savemyserver.com, I dont think it will be cheaper than that, but if you know where please suggest/mention.

Thanks!!

 

[ss202sl]

AWS

 

[Peter Martin]

Yeah in the cloud

 

[Matt C]

Either find cloud services, or if you have the budget build your own.. Ryzen Threadripper is likely less cost per core.. You'll need to likely have a host + compute nodes if you want 128 cores (could it be 64 cores with hyper-threading?)

What's your budget is really what it comes down to.

 

[charlitosway]

the problem with AWS is that its $10 per hour for 128 cores. at 100 hours that comes out to $1000.
I could get a 128 core server (factory refurbished) for less than $3000. So I was looking for places where I could buy this stuff.

 

[Matt C]

the problem with AWS is that its $10 per hour for 128 cores. at 100 hours that comes out to $1000.
I could get a 128 core server (factory refurbished) for less than $3000. So I was looking for places where I could buy this stuff.

Be cautious as to what that $3,000 gets you. Does it include storage? How old is the architecture (does that matter? would it be more efficient with newer hardware and less cores, etc...)

 

[charlitosway]

no I just need the 128 cores and I am good. I could get 12 core servers for about $300. I would need 10 of them so thats $3000.

 

[jeremyj_83]

Supermicro will be your cheapest new server. You could get a 1U rack with dual 32 Core Epycs, RAM, and some storage for under $15k

 

[kanewolf]

no I just need the 128 cores and I am good. I could get 12 core servers for about $300. I would need 10 of them so thats $3000.

This statement says that a cluster is acceptable. That is different than 128 cores in a host. You could use Raspberry PI 3s in cluster to get 128 cores. You need networking in addition to hosts with a cluster implementation