So I just built a 24 core workstation...

[Brampton_Boy]

Well, built might be a bit of a misnomer - I got a second hand hp proliant g7 server on kijiji.

For $300, I got:

2x12 core Opteron 6176
48Gigs Ram
Dual 1200x Power Supply
10x150Gig SAS Drives

Now the question becomes: What do I do with it?

I kind of got it on a whim because I was looking to replace the computer in my office (I do alot of number crunching, so I figured the more cores the better). Turns out this thing is loud as hell, and there is no way I can have it in a shared work space.

Anybody have any cool ideas? I don't really run virtual machines, but I figure I can turn it into a Folding@Home box.

 

[ToxicShocker]

You lucky bastard. That sounds like a great deal. You should build a frankencase with insulation and baffling

 

[thoughtsone]

Not to much to do if you are not using anything core intensive, the 6176 is a bit slow frequency wise, most video or game systems need GPUs. However you could use it as a database server, maybe a overkill CRM system, or have it mine bitcoins lol. Folding at home is good. SO what you can do is put in in a full ATX case with liquid cooling to make it not so loud. I have a feeling its using blowers instead of standard desktop fans, so the form factor would likely just need a case switch to make it not so loud.

You could also part it out for more than 300.00
The CPUs are maybe 75-100 a pc, memory could fetch you some, case probably get you 200.00

 

[PEB]

Use it for modeling get something that use distributed rendering? Unfortunately outside of hosting or cloud computing there is really not much you could use it.

 

[Brampton_Boy]

Not to much to do if you are not using anything core intensive, the 6176 is a bit slow frequency wise, most video or game systems need GPUs. However you could use it as a database server, maybe a overkill CRM system, or have it mine bitcoins lol. Folding at home is good. SO what you can do is put in in a full ATX case with liquid cooling to make it not so loud. I have a feeling its using blowers instead of standard desktop fans, so the form factor would likely just need a case switch to make it not so loud.

You could also part it out for more than 300.00
The CPUs are maybe 75-100 a pc, memory could fetch you some, case probably get you 200.00

Yeah, it's single threaded performance is abysmal, so it won't do me much good in the gaming department. I probably will install windows server on it and toss in a couple of high capacity mechanical drives (it evidently has sata ports + sas).

As for parting it out, I am entirely too lazy to make a quick buck. It has a pretty cool novelty factor to it, and I am already setting my eyes on something I can use: 2xXeon e5 8 Core CPUs. The Sandy Bridge models are going for as little as $60 on ebay, and I can get 32GB of ECC ram for $50 from the same seller. The biggest cost is the motherboard, which runs north of $400 (that is a little outside of my price range).