propose an inexpensive core monster build

[malaigo]

I've been looking at suitable systems to build around some old generation CPUs like a pair of E5-2690 v2 (10 core), since they don't look too expensive, but I'm wondering if this is the sweet spot in 2018, and whether it's truly worthwhile since 18 core single CPUs are now available. Example:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Matched-Pair-Intel-E5-2690-v2-SR1A5-3Ghz-10-Core-25MB-Socket-LGA-2011-Xeon-CPU/132527740333?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D50425%26meid%3D2f6f7af570be44eb87a38ebc5eadbb15%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D172689530234%26itm%3D132527740333&_trksid=p2481888.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3Ac2ba9e81-3a1e-11e8-bd0e-74dbd180804a%7Cparentrq%3A9e6e29711620a860e6d1d8c9fffcb6d8%7Ciid%3A1

I'm guess putting a pair of these into a Supermicro SYS-7037A-i and adding lots of RAM, SSD will run me $2K-$3K, not play money (for me).

(Of course, I would like a lot more cores, but it seems to get prohibitively expensive fast. I write my own software and I've tested it on someone else's spare Z820 on CentOS with two E5-2687W @ 3.10GHz; 16 cores total, 128GB RAM, and my software could make use of further parallelism.)

Thanks!

 

[kanewolf]

You didn't say what the software does, but I have to ask if you have investigated using AWS or Google compute to run your software vs purchase. If you need a large number of cores, but for a shorter (days/weeks) duration, "renting" cores in the compute cloud is a better cost proposition.

 

[malaigo]

I write software for academic research use, no GPU needed. No, I don't want to rent time on the Cloud. Runs can be very long, plus validation, testing, changing the theory, tuning etc. I already have ssh access to the spare HP Z820 on the other side of the world, I just want to see if it's possible to build something locally that's more powerful at minimum cost.

 

[kanewolf]

$1.50 / hour for a c5.9xlarge -- https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/pricing/on-demand/ means that you could use 1000 to 2000 compute hours on AWS for the cost of your personal host. Having a dev host that you can get builds done and basic checkout makes a lot of sense. Buying a lot of CPU doesn't unless you have specific things that EC2 can't do.

 

[malaigo]

Actually, someone has donated AWS time to me, so I'm familiar with the various tiers. I'm looking to build my own. I have free air-conditioning and free electricity. Any suggestions?

 

[malaigo]

Removed by moderator

This is a E5-2699 v4 22 core 55MB L3 for < $1300. Amazing price. Say 2 of them eventually, but start with one now. Do they have to be matched pairs?

What would be an inexpensive build be? Thanks!

 

[bignastyid]

The price is amazing because they are ES(Engineering Sample) cpus and are not legal to sell. They are Intels property. Buying them is akin to buying stolen goods and since we do not condone illegal activity here the link has been removed.

 

[malaigo]

The price is amazing because they are ES(Engineering Sample) cpus and are not legal to sell. They are Intels property. Buying them is akin to buying stolen goods and since we do not condone illegal activity here the link has been removed.

I didn’t know that. That explains the big price difference. Oh well.

https://communities.intel.com/thread/110476