Building home server, want to contribute... (gpu selection question)

Message boards : GPUs : Building home server, want to contribute... (gpu selection question)
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LightningZ71

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Joined: 10 Feb 15
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Message 60207 - Posted: 10 Feb 2015, 14:47:05 UTC

I've recently been given an HP Proliant ML350 G5 server by a client that no longer has a need for it. It's current specs are:

1 X Intel Xeon E5430 (2.66Ghz, 4Xcores, 2 X 6MB L2, 1333mhz FSB)
12 GB RAM
Lots of Hard disk space

I've done a little research and am planning on acquiring an additional processor (kit with VRU/heatsink/proc) taking it to 8 cores.

The server has 6 expansion slots:
3 X PCI-e 1.0 X4 (x8 physical plug, only 4 channels)
2 X PCI-X 133Mhz
1 X PCI-X 100Mhz

The PCI-X slots have various storage cards (RAID controller/adaptec SCSI/iscsi)

I plan to run a flavor of Linux setup with all sorts of home server functions, but also intend to run at least 4 instances of CPU distributed computing to occupy one of the processors.

This leaves me with the following question:
I have a limited budget for GPUs, so the lower end of the pool seems to be where I'll be swimming. I'd like to purchase three cards to fill those PCI-E slots with. The catch is that they can't require too much power, and they have to be able to work in the server without my having to cut the end of the PCI-E slot. My research has led me to eye specifically the NVidia GeForce GT 730 (1GB, 64 bit DDR3) and the AMD Radeon R7 250. Why those two? They can be had for less than $80 each and are physically PCI-E 8X cards that can fit into the motherboard without modifications.

I'm willing to take other suggestions.

Longer term, this is just a test server. If I can make this work right on a limited budget, near the end of the year, I'll be putting some money towards a more substantial machine, the HP proliant DL580 G5. It has 7 PCI-E slots available (though one will likely have to hold a NIC/iSCSI card). I'll be moving the cards from the ML350 to the DL580 and turning the ML350 into nothing more than an iSCSI storage target, unless my budget is much more than I anticipate.

I'm willing to take any advice that anyone has on this. These machines will be primarily used as a general purpose server for the house (I have a large family that does a LOT of things online, streams movies and music, etc). I'm also an IT professional, so I'm also using these systems to teach myself about the various technologies that are out there that I don't get to work with on the job. Power usage isn't a HUGE issue, though I'm definitely not looking to waste a lot of it. But, regardless, power isn't super expensive here. I'm more worried about the circuit capacity of the outlets that I'll be plugging these into and may have to make some upgrades to my home's electrical wiring. Honestly, space is more of an issue than anything. I can't setup a fleet of individual PCs all over the place, so the high density usage of the servers is more attractive to me. Fan noise isn't a problem as the boxes will be up on a shelf in the back of the utility/wash room.

One last question, what are some projects that are CPU only (don't have GPU implementations). I'm considering spending the money to outfit the DL580 with 4 X Xeon L7455 processors (6 cores, 2.133Ghz, 12MB L2, 65 Watts) giving a total of 24 cores. I could dedicate 20 of them to crunching for a project without running the power bill too far through the roof.
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Message boards : GPUs : Building home server, want to contribute... (gpu selection question)

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