High performance PC for scientific computing

M

MPC

Member
I am trying to build a high performance PC which will be used for scientific computing (analysis of large datasets, programming, office applications, web browsing, ...). The system will run Win7 and Ubuntu Linux via Oracle VirtualBox (with Win7 as the guest host).

My budget is 600 to 1200 pounds. Inside this price range I am looking for a system that offers good value for money.

My requirements are:
1. In general: High performance PC, can be used to analyse large datasets. I need a stable system that does not crash, so I am not interested in overclocking.
2. CPU: I am looking for a CPU which is on the higher end of the range, but I still want good value for money. I like the i7-4790k 4GHz because it ranks high on http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html. To me it looks like this CPU delivers the best value for money.
3. GPU: The PC will NOT be used for gaming. All I care about is that first, I can run 2 displays at up to 2560x1440 each, and second, that the GPU does not choke the performance of the system. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe I don't need a strong GPU because all I will do is display Office-like applications on 2 screens. The PC will NOT be used for sophisticated data visualisation, 3D, etc.
4. Cooling: I am looking for a quiet CPU cooler.
5. HD: Want to store my operating systems on SSD, but don't want to spend a lot on large capacity SSDs. 250 GB SSD for the OS together with a 1TB conventional HDD for applications and data seems a good compromise.
6. RAM: Need a decent RAM size to manipulate large data sets in RAM without HDD access. However, if I have a fast SSD then hard drive access might be less of an issue I suppose?

I am considering this spec:

Case
FRACTAL DESIGN CORE 1000 BLACK CASE

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-4790k (4.0GHz) 8MB Cache

Motherboard
ASUS® Z97M-PLUS: m-ATX, USB3.0, SATA 6.0, XFIRE

Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X BEAST DUAL-DDR3 2133MHz X.M.P (2 x 8GB)

Graphics Card
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR (GPU)

1st Hard Disk
250GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)

2nd Hard Disk
1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 32MB CACHE

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

Power Supply
CORSAIR 350W VS SERIES™ VS-350 POWER SUPPLY

Processor Cooling
INTEL STANDARD CPU COOLER

Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 150Mbps PCI-E CARD (£6)

USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS

My questions are:
1. Does this spec generally make sense, given my requirements? Are there any inconsistencies or performance bottlenecks?
2. Is there any better value for money high performance CPU in the market than the i7-4790k?
3. Will the on-board GPU satisfy my requirements (2 screens @ 2560x1440 each, not choking the performance of the system)? Would buying a cheap GeForce card add any value here?
4. Any views on whether 16GB RAM are required or if 8GB are also fine? Will Kingston Dual-DDR3 vs Kingston Hyper-X Fury vs Kingston Hyper-X Beast make any difference in my spec?
5. I am undecided on the cooler, either the Intel standard CPU cooler or paying 39 pounds extra for the cheapest liquid CPU cooler (the CoolerMaster Seidon 120M). If I go for the CoolerMaster, will the system run more quietly and will it be completely without fans or are there still some other running fans in the case, even when going for liquid CPU cooling?
6. Will 350 watts be enough? I would only want to spend extra money on more watts if really required.

Thank you in advance for your suggestions.
 
C

Cadwah

Rising Star
Hello there,

1. Yes it makes sense, the k version of the 4790 is unlocked for overclocking which you said you were uninterested in however it does have a higher base clock speed which you would benefit from. You could upgrade the 1TB mass storage drive to the Caviar black which might improve your data retrieval speeds. Wireless connections aren't very stable, you might be better using a set of homeplugs instead
2. I don't think so, as soon as you go higher than that you have to pay a premium not only for the chip but for the motherboard as well as it is a different socket type.
3. Yes, you can run 2 screens on the integrated graphics without any issues.
4. You will not benefit from the Beast RAM as it is only benefitted by an overclocked CPU. The Fury or standard 1600MHz RAM will suffice.
5. If you are going to be performing CPU intensive tasks then the standard intel cooler isn't the best. The triple copper heatpipe would be a better choice, it is also a quiet cooler. Yes, liquid coolers have fans on the case to cool the heat exchange.
6. If the configurator says that 350W will be enough then it should be, however it will leave no room for upgrades in the future. Say for instance a new program you wanted to use could take advantage of a graphics card cores to make calculations you would need to upgrade the PSU then, if this isn't needed then leave it as is.
 
mantadog

mantadog

Superhero Level Poster
1. Does this spec generally make sense, given my requirements? Are there any inconsistencies or performance bottlenecks?
Generally it's about OK, I will touch on the points below then summarise underneath anything that isn't covered.

2. Is there any better value for money high performance CPU in the market than the i7-4790k?
Not really, you could probably find higher performance/£ but in terms of value for your kind of needs I think the 4790k is spot on.

3. Will the on-board GPU satisfy my requirements (2 screens @ 2560x1440 each, not choking the performance of the system)? Would buying a cheap GeForce card add any value here?
I would certainly like to see a low - mid range card in here. Something like a GT 730 or GT 740 would be the minimum I would go for. Even though you are not pushing complex workloads though the card, dual 1440p displays is a fair amount of pixels to be driving.

4. Any views on whether 16GB RAM are required or if 8GB are also fine? Will Kingston Dual-DDR3 vs Kingston Hyper-X Fury vs Kingston Hyper-X Beast make any difference in my spec?
In terms of is 16GB overkill, that very much depends on exactly what you are doing. By the sounds of it 16GB is about right, 8GB might end up being a little tight. the faster RAM is about the same price but wont provide huge performance gains, so you would have no problems going for the slower stuff. The performance delta is way below 1% in most cases.

5. I am undecided on the cooler, either the Intel standard CPU cooler or paying 39 pounds extra for the cheapest liquid CPU cooler (the CoolerMaster Seidon 120M). If I go for the CoolerMaster, will the system run more quietly and will it be completely without fans or are there still some other running fans in the case, even when going for liquid CPU cooling?
The liquid cooling still has a fan, it's just the fan is connected to a radiator rather than a heat spreader. The case wills till have fans and it will still make some noise. Generally if you are not overclocking the triple copper heatpipe is more than ample and very quiet too.

6. Will 350 watts be enough? I would only want to spend extra money on more watts if really required.
With the addition of the dedicated GPU you will likely want 450w just to have some headroom. However the configurator adds 20% as a safety buffer anyway. So unless you get a warning message it will be fine.

now the last area I wanted to touch on was the HDD's. You say you want to just run the OS from the SSD, do you want to include any software on the SSD to? 250GB is a fairly chunky SSD, 120GB is more than ample for the OS and would leave you roughly 60-70GB for software. If you are going to be recalling data from the mechanical HDD I would suggest a caviar black for extra speed.

Thank you in advance for your suggestions.
 
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C

Cadwah

Rising Star
mantadog said:
3. Will the on-board GPU satisfy my requirements (2 screens @ 2560x1440 each, not choking the performance of the system)? Would buying a cheap GeForce card add any value here?
I would certainly like to see a low - mid range card in here. Something like a GT 730 or GT 740 would be the minimum I would go for. Even though you are not pushing complex workloads though the card, dual 1440p displays is a fair amount of pixels to be driving.
Click to expand...

I agree with this, I missed that you would be on 1440p monitors, my bad.
 
M

MPC

Member
Thank you Cadwah and mantadog for this very helpful advice. I have now almost all I need before ordering, just a couple of small follow-up questions:

1. I already have a PC which I have order from PC Specialist in early 2011. This one has 16 GB of KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P. I am planning to order the new PC with only 8 GB and then take 8 GB out of my old PC and add it to the new one. With which of the currently available Kingston memory types would my old Genesis memory be compatible?

2. What is the difference between the "normal" Kingston Dual-DDR3 and the Kingston Hyper-X Fury Dual-DDR3? They both seem to come at the same price.

3. I would prefer first going with the on-board GPU and only upgroad to the GT730 if there are any display issues. Initially I might only go with 1080p. The handbook of teh ASUS Z97M-Plus on http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1150/Z97M-PLUS/E9009_Z97M-PLUS.pdf says that it "supports up to three displays simultaneously". Considering that it has 1x HDMI, 1x DVI-D and 1x VGA ports, I assume that I would have to use 2 different port types if i want to connect 2 displays, is that correct?
 
mantadog

mantadog

Superhero Level Poster
1. The RAM will be compatible, or it should be anyway. You can run into problems if the modules are not 'matched' even within the same memory brand, however it is quite rare these days and modern motherboards are quite good at getting it to work. You may not have exactly the same performance as you would if you just bought 16GB of matched memory, but it wont be far off at all. So yeah no problems.

2. Not a lot. You get some pretty coloured heat spreaders on the fury, but in terms of performance they are equal.

3. yes that is correct, but you could get a monitor with say HDMI ports only and use a converter from the display port to drive it. Most monitors these days will have a variety of input ports anyway.
 
GeorgeHillier

GeorgeHillier

Prolific Poster
MPC said:
I am trying to build a high performance PC which will be used for scientific computing (analysis of large datasets, programming, office applications, web browsing, ...). The system will run Win7 and Ubuntu Linux via Oracle VirtualBox (with Win7 as the guest host).

My budget is 600 to 1200 pounds. Inside this price range I am looking for a system that offers good value for money.

My requirements are:
1. In general: High performance PC, can be used to analyse large datasets. I need a stable system that does not crash, so I am not interested in overclocking.
2. CPU: I am looking for a CPU which is on the higher end of the range, but I still want good value for money. I like the i7-4790k 4GHz because it ranks high on http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html. To me it looks like this CPU delivers the best value for money.
3. GPU: The PC will NOT be used for gaming. All I care about is that first, I can run 2 displays at up to 2560x1440 each, and second, that the GPU does not choke the performance of the system. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe I don't need a strong GPU because all I will do is display Office-like applications on 2 screens. The PC will NOT be used for sophisticated data visualisation, 3D, etc.
4. Cooling: I am looking for a quiet CPU cooler.
5. HD: Want to store my operating systems on SSD, but don't want to spend a lot on large capacity SSDs. 250 GB SSD for the OS together with a 1TB conventional HDD for applications and data seems a good compromise.
6. RAM: Need a decent RAM size to manipulate large data sets in RAM without HDD access. However, if I have a fast SSD then hard drive access might be less of an issue I suppose?

I am considering this spec:

Case
FRACTAL DESIGN CORE 1000 BLACK CASE

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-4790k (4.0GHz) 8MB Cache

Motherboard
ASUS® Z97M-PLUS: m-ATX, USB3.0, SATA 6.0, XFIRE

Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X BEAST DUAL-DDR3 2133MHz X.M.P (2 x 8GB)

Graphics Card
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR (GPU)

1st Hard Disk
250GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)

2nd Hard Disk
1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 32MB CACHE

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

Power Supply
CORSAIR 350W VS SERIES™ VS-350 POWER SUPPLY

Processor Cooling
INTEL STANDARD CPU COOLER

Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 150Mbps PCI-E CARD (£6)

USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS

My questions are:
1. Does this spec generally make sense, given my requirements? Are there any inconsistencies or performance bottlenecks? Generally the spec looks fine :)
2. Is there any better value for money high performance CPU in the market than the i7-4790k? I would get the non-k version, since you won't be overclocking
3. Will the on-board GPU satisfy my requirements (2 screens @ 2560x1440 each, not choking the performance of the system)? Would buying a cheap GeForce card add any value here? I would get a graphics card since the resolution you're using is pretty high, I would go with something like a 750 as it'll handle anything you need, uses a small amount of power and is relatively cheap
4. Any views on whether 16GB RAM are required or if 8GB are also fine? Will Kingston Dual-DDR3 vs Kingston Hyper-X Fury vs Kingston Hyper-X Beast make any difference in my spec? I would get the Fury RAM instead, as for the amount of RAM it depends on the applications used.
5. I am undecided on the cooler, either the Intel standard CPU cooler or paying 39 pounds extra for the cheapest liquid CPU cooler (the CoolerMaster Seidon 120M). If I go for the CoolerMaster, will the system run more quietly and will it be completely without fans or are there still some other running fans in the case, even when going for liquid CPU cooling? Just get a high quality air cooler, the water cooler still has a fan, just on the case instead of in the computer.
6. Will 350 watts be enough? I would only want to spend extra money on more watts if really required. If you add a GPU then get a 450w PSU instead

Thank you in advance for your suggestions.
Click to expand...

I would get the non-k version of the CPU, the Fury RAM, a GPU such as the 750 and get the Caviar black HDD instead :)
 
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