[Need Recommendations] super cheap workstation "cluster"

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Jun 30, 2016
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I am looking to try and build 4 nodes each with cheap gpus with directX 11 support.

Price point: under 500$ for the whole cluster.
I don't currently have access to 240V, so it must be a 120V.

Desired specs:
4 nodes

each with:
8 Gb ddr2/ddr3 ram
gigabit ethernet
dx11 gpu (512 Mb or more video ram, 3d mark of 800 or higher)
4 or more processor cores.

I don't think I need hard drives, if I can figure out how to network boot.

Does anyone have any recommendations?
 

Patrick

Administrator
Staff member
Dec 21, 2010
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Yikes! Maybe look for a Core i5 HD4000 based integrated GPU (not sure what the 3d mark is)? $125/ system is really low. Very tough set of requirements at that price point.
 
Jun 30, 2016
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Thanks! unfortunately I have not found anything with integrated video at that price point, but that actually does exactly what I want it to.
Ok, so I have a few options. For the most part I have found these dell R5400 workstations. They hold gpus, but I can't seem to see how those gpus are powered, or really find much information on them.

I keep looking at socket 771 and lga 1366 motherboards, but power supplies seem "expensive" when dealing with a 125$ node.
Heatsink costs also add up quickly.

I wish there was a simple way to use HP common slot power supplies as they are by far the cheapest power supply I can find. I've looked into trying to wire something up, there's a forum of RC enthusiasts that have turned HP power supplies into chargers.

I'm thinking, get something like this:

OEM Dell Poweredge R410 Dual Xeon LGA1366 Motherboard System Board 3GTGH N051F

Stuff some cheap processor, air cooler, ram in it.

The hard part is powering this cluster, and finding cheap heatsinks it seems.
Also I can build a case out of wood, so I'm not too worried about that.

But I need to know, can I boot this r410 motherboard without the server chassis? I had an HP DL580 Gen 5, and it wouldn't boot without all 4 power supplies, and all the fans in their spots (I don't have that anymore).
 
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markarr

Active Member
Oct 31, 2013
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4 of these is 422.40

HP SE316M1 DL160 G6 Server 2.13GHz Quad Core E5506 12GB P410 No 2.5" HDD

Looks like you could pick up some ATI HD5570's on ebay.
Biostar ATI Radeon HD5570 1GB DDR3 PCI-E Video Card + HDMI/DVI
AMD Radeon Graphics Card HD 5570 1GB GDDR3 DVI/HDMI/DP 599983-001 Free Shipping
ATI Radeon HD5570 PCI-e (R83K) DDR3 1G a HDMI/VGA DVI

Put the total at $530

You may be able to find some gpus cheaper by doing some hunting.

I went here and looked at anything with 800 or higher.
Graphics Card Reviews
 
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Patrick

Administrator
Staff member
Dec 21, 2010
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@CyberianSoldier I would strongly recommend just getting a pre-built system (maybe adding GPUs if they fit/ work). At this pricing it is hard to get components and piece them together. Each unique ebay/ paypal transaction will cost sellers $1 or so.
 

markarr

Active Member
Oct 31, 2013
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Wow! thanks!! this gets around needing an extra power cable for the gpu and everything!
Now those servers may be loud, I'm not sure if they react the same way as newer hp servers and ramp up the fans when a non hp card is inserted (have one at work but currently running vpn so can't test for you). They don't have a real ilo so I don't think they do, but still have remote management. If the fans don't ramp up they are relatively quiet more of a low drone rather than higher pitched.
 

voltarc

New Member
Jun 1, 2016
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Might be a silly question, but what are you doing that you need a cluster? Will a single 16-core server not work for your needs?
 
Jun 30, 2016
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unfortunately I have not gotten sufficient performance out of sharing a powerful GPU, and I've not had good luck getting a bare metal hyper-visor to work either (granted I attempted on an old laptop, so I had to package drivers with vmware).

If I was doing this as a single node, I would still need 4 separate gpus, as I am hosting a few cad workstations and this is also a simulation cluster. if it's an actual cluster, it's easier to find network performance bottlenecks in my simulations, and fix them here (in my home).

Technically 4 virtual nodes could theoretically work, but I feel I would need much more powerful gpus since it seems so much performance is lost in gpu pass-through.
(with hyper-v, I am getting roughly 3-5 fps with an R9-290)
(with a 4rd gen i5 laptop I get well over 60 fps doing the same task, this is how I came up with that g3d mark desired score)

however, if you have suggestions on 4 virtual nodes that would meet the qualifications, I'm super open to suggestions. I know those E5 cpus are super cheap right now, and I have a 24 core workstation running windows server 2012 R2, so I'm willing to get cheap gpus and try to get something working.
 

markarr

Active Member
Oct 31, 2013
421
122
43
unfortunately I have not gotten sufficient performance out of sharing a powerful GPU, and I've not had good luck getting a bare metal hyper-visor to work either (granted I attempted on an old laptop, so I had to package drivers with vmware).

If I was doing this as a single node, I would still need 4 separate gpus, as I am hosting a few cad workstations and this is also a simulation cluster. if it's an actual cluster, it's easier to find network performance bottlenecks in my simulations, and fix them here (in my home).

Technically 4 virtual nodes could theoretically work, but I feel I would need much more powerful gpus since it seems so much performance is lost in gpu pass-through.
(with hyper-v, I am getting roughly 3-5 fps with an R9-290)
(with a 4rd gen i5 laptop I get well over 60 fps doing the same task, this is how I came up with that g3d mark desired score)

however, if you have suggestions on 4 virtual nodes that would meet the qualifications, I'm super open to suggestions. I know those E5 cpus are super cheap right now, and I have a 24 core workstation running windows server 2012 R2, so I'm willing to get cheap gpus and try to get something working.
If you have individual GPUs you can pass them through directly to the vm in esxi. Look for people who have done cheap cards with vmware DVGA, but then you are looking at a motherboard that can do 4 video cards. You could find something in the LGA1366 range that will do that and should fall in your price range.

Something like this for $306
SUPERMICRO 846E1-R900B CSE-846 X8DTE-F 2x L5520 8GB 24x TRAYS

with 4 GPUs will have to find x8 cards or cut out the back of the slots.
 

voltarc

New Member
Jun 1, 2016
5
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Curious, what CAD and simulation packages are you running?

I'm leaning toward you really should build a dedicated solver rather than try to run both solving and workstations on the same machine(s), it works but if you try going really intense with either it could end badly. Unless you do like Monash's bc247 cluster where it runs after-hours, then it could work.
 
Jun 30, 2016
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The cad requirements are actually not that crazy. We are using autodesk inventor primarily, but yes, after reading about the bc247 cluster (running computationally intense tasks when not using the workstations) that was actually a major factor in it. That being said, I'm just using autodesk cfd (and various other packages as the needs arise).

As far as having a node that does the intense solving, that actually sounds like a great idea if these machines (or virtual machines) end up being insufficient.

I found this article on setting up a solver computer, hopefully that works.
How to setup the remote solver capability in Simulation CFD | CFD | Autodesk Knowledge Network
 

metril

New Member
Oct 1, 2015
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I just had to post because I just read "Autodesk CFD"...Are you seriously using that?!?! And if so, what for?