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Old 25th August 2009
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Post Personal Super Computer

It may sound very absurd but this is true. I'am only 20 years old but I have a plan to order a Personal Super Computer from the US within next two years. SW Technology's Personal Super Computer Series seems the right option. On the other it isn't the only option. Money isn't problem at all. The only problem is that I may need an power adapter to get it working here in Finland. It would be more than usable at least more than 20 years for me or actually so far it works. Is it worth of money?
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Old 25th August 2009
BSDfan666 BSDfan666 is offline
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They don't appear to be offering anything that you probably couldn't locate locally in "Southern Finland".

Looks like they're just offering rackmount cases with off the shelf hardware.. what's so special?

EDIT: The inclusion of NVidia GPU hardware is an instant sign to avoid them without a second thought.
EDIT2: So it would seem the NVidia hardware is what classifies this these systems as personal super computers, but it seems very likely that it's proprietary and requires using kernel blobs.. if that doesn't bother you, go for it.

Last edited by BSDfan666; 25th August 2009 at 06:15 PM.
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Old 25th August 2009
arch arch is offline
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those machines are not silver bullet - that is, there are build for specific task. that task may eat a lot of cpu but less memory and little need to speak to other nodes over the network. it can be memory hungry and average use of cpu.. and so on and so on. to build/bуy such thing as super computer first you had to have problem to solve and you have to be fluent on that problem on paper. that is complete understanding of the problem to be solve and later build calculating unit to solve this problem. you can use nvidia;s cuda for massive parallel calculations - of course it has it's own limitations. you can build cluster from of the shelf hardware, with 100/1000mbit network. or go wit blade server and inifiband switch.so.. get to now math - it's sound pathetic but you need it to solve any problem you have. then make yourself competent enough in computer hardware - there is more than one architecture - i386 or AMD64 and take right decision about your super computer architecture. get to know programming - c/c++, fortran .. etc.. languages.
aaaaaaaaaaaand in the end - formulate your problem, and take appropriate approach in solving it, at lower as possible cost for you as money and time.
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Old 25th August 2009
arch arch is offline
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agrr slow typing...bsdfan was first

Quote:
Originally Posted by BSDfan666 View Post
EDIT: The inclusion of NVidia GPU hardware is an instant sign to avoid them without a second thought.
why's that?
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Old 25th August 2009
BSDfan666 BSDfan666 is offline
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I've explained why in my second EDIT, but it is a simple preference.. and I also happen to use OpenBSD.
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Old 25th August 2009
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Quote:
It would be more than usable at least more than 20 years for me or actually so far it works.
There is no computing technology that was on the market twenty years ago that would be cost effective today. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore%27s_law

Just look at the cost per megaflop 20 years ago.
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Old 26th August 2009
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I would suggest buying a nice high end workstation or gaming system with all the newest top of the line stuff since money is no object. That way you have a machine that can last 10 or more years.

I did this five years ago and have not had a need to even look at upgrading or replacing my workstation. Which kind of sucks since I don't have an excuse to buy a new machine.
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Old 27th August 2009
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DIY following this example:

http://www.shutdownabort.com/seymour/index.php


Have fun!
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Old 28th August 2009
ocicat ocicat is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Turquoise88 View Post
Is it worth of money? [/FONT]
If you have to ask the question, then the answer is probably "no".

If you had started with "Problem xyz is typically done on this type of supercomputer, & I really want to learn about this...", then the answer might be "maybe".

As with other responders in this thread, get something current. Computers are tools & commodities. Most people trade-sell-buy a new computer every ~five years. After you have bought your supercomputer & your friends are tired of hearing, "Hey, I bought me a supercomputer!", what will you do then?

If you do end up buying a supercomputer, please take care of it & keep it maintained. Once you tire of it, please donate it to a museum where it can be used for educating the public. A number of computer museums restore hardware if they have multiple copies, & make them available online for educational purposes. You can help teach the next generation learn from innovations made in the past.
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Old 31st August 2009
gamemaniac gamemaniac is offline
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If money is not a problem then it is absolutely fine to go for the Supercomputer but if you think that you are going to use that computer for 20 Years then I would say you should not invest your money thinking of so long especially in the ever changing world of technology.

Regards
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Old 10th June 2010
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Smile After the nine months of consideration

I have now considered the upcoming "super computer" for nine months. I can admit that usability of 20 years was rather exaggerated. Now I expect usability for between from 8 to 14 years. "High-end workstation" could be better definition for this computer than "super computer". I'am not anymore planning for purchasing my workstation from overseas when I can purchase it from my location (Southern Finland) althought there's only one retailer.

This is my selection:

Supermicro SuperWorkstation 7046A-T

motherboard: Supermicro X8DAi
maximum RAM: 192 Gb
maximum amount of CPU's: 2

My configuration:

- One Intel Xeon 5680 (6-core 3.33GHz) processor (second CPU is planned to buy later)
- 4 Gb's of random access memory (will be expanded later to 16 Gb)
- One 2 Tb and one 750 Gb SATA hard disk drive
- PCI-E display adapter, video memory something between 512 Mb's and 2 Gb's
- Writing DVD/CD drive with LightScribe support

Operating System:

primary: 64-bit BSD

- NetBSD/amd64
- PC-BSD or DesktopBSD amd64 port

secondary (yet unclear): 32-bit Windows XP or 64-bit Linux

- Windows XP Professional with SP3 (only for some commercial games)
- GNU/Linux (used if display adapter problems or if UMTS/3G Internet access requires)

Price: something between 3000 and 4000 euros
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Old 10th June 2010
rpindy rpindy is offline
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What will you use that box for?
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Old 10th June 2010
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@Turquoise88

IMHO You would do much more better with Quad Core Intel Nehalem (8 threads), 2 x Intel SSDs for RAID1 for / filesystem and next 9-12 VelociRaptor HDDs for RAID50 for ZFS storage, and another 2 Intel SSDs for L2ARC, along with 16-32GB RAM.

But personally, I think that You just got too much cash and do not know how to spread it ;p
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Old 10th June 2010
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I don't have any money, can you give me some money?
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Old 11th June 2010
rpindy rpindy is offline
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Or if you're in the mood to spend a ton of money on hardware, check this out:

www.openbsd.org/want.html
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