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CliveSend message
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Hi:
I have this desktop PC that is in need of a hardware upgrade. I understand it is a Dell Vostro 430 which came out in 2009. Yes, it is a little long in the tooth. I was thinking of swapping out both the motherboard and video card and turning this into a cruncher for GPUGRID and World Community Grid. It has a quad core CPU but it is not hyper-threaded. Rather than purchasing a new computer, I was thinking of upgrading this older computer.
I see there is a section on recommended video cards to use when doing WUs for GPUGrid.net but there does not appears to be anything related to upgrading an older computer and turning it into a cruncher.
Any suggestions on recommended motherboards, CPUs and GPUs?
I will want to keep the costs reasonable. I will be doing a clean install of Windows 7 SP1. All but the power supply are original componments.
Clive Hunt |
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 skgivenVolunteer moderator
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I don't see the point of replacing the motherboard and GPU but keeping an old case, old PSU and possibly the old CPU?
Either replace the GPU in the existing system, or sell the system and build a new system to crunch with.
If you want to keep the CPU you will be very restricted in what motherboard you can use. You will be stuck with an old, uneconomical design.
The 5year old PSU is probably inefficient. It usually pays for itself in electric bill savings to replace older PSUs.
The case might not have good cooling and it might not be of standard size.
If you are going to crunch on a GPU(s), just add a GPU to your existing system (if possible) or build a system to GPU crunch.
Get a motherboard and PSU that can support the GPU(s) you want to crunch on. You will also need enough RAM, a reasonable CPU and ideally a secondary disk drive for Boinc.
There are other threads and posts on this topic (though not on your exact system):
http://www.gpugrid.net/forum_thread.php?id=3532
http://www.gpugrid.net/forum_thread.php?id=3933
http://www.gpugrid.net/forum_thread.php?id=955...
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TJSend message
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I am a Dell fan or better was a Dell fan. They make good PC's ad mostly silent too.
However their fan connectors are different. So you cannot easily replace a fan from Dell to a MOBO of not Dell. The plug will not fit. You need to cut the wires a length after the plug, do the same with a new fan, for the plug you need to fit the MOBO, and solder this to the old Dell fan. Wlel that would not make sense, agreed?
So you need to replace the fans too or get old one's as you need the connectors. And for some Dell's the fan mount is even different as well. You have to be inventive and handy with tools and metal to get things fit in place. It seems a waste of money to me.
For the rest I agree with skgiven.
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Hi Clive,
I'm not as pessimistic as SK about your plan, but caution is definitely advised. DELL (and HP etc.) like to cut corners where ever possible, which sometimes means they sacrifice general compatibility (different connectors for fans, PSU etc.). They can do so becasue they know exactly in which way the ordered system will be used. Which is fine, until you want to change things.
First and foremost: why do you want to upgrade your system? Is it "just because it's old", for BOINC or for other tasks as well? If the machine "feels slow" and still has a hard drive, then upgrading to a SSD would give you a far higher percieved performance boost than a new CPU.
And is it a Core 2 Quad, Core i5 or something else? The i5 from 2009 would be from the first generation, but is still a very respectable CPU today, whereas the Core 2 Quad can start to feel a bit dated. The energy efficiency of the i5 is also quite a bit better, under full load and at idle.
Which PSU do you have now? I guess the original one was replaced by DELL at some point?
Maybe you could just add a GTX750Ti to your current system. What ever DELL did, such a small card should always fit. The next bigger card which currently makes sense for GPU-Grid is the GTX970, but it's very likely too powerful for your system. In about 2 weeks the GTX960 should be revealed and sit right in the middle between the other 2 GPUs mentioned - this could be a nice alternative, if your system can handle it.
MrS
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CliveSend message
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Hi:
I thought rather than acquiring a new system, I would use this older system as a cruncher for Bionic. The PC has start up errors with Windows 7 which I can resolve by doing a full clean install. I thought by upgrading the motherboard, CPU (currently has Intel Core 2 8200) and adding a more current GPU, this machine could be put back into service and also be used as cruncher. The original power supply went to heaven and was replaced with a P.S. with an output of 324W.
I thought I would extend this PC's useful life by adding an updated M.B., and an an i5 or i7 CPU and a newer video card, I would have another cruncher, extend the useful life of this PC and prevent adding it to the pile of techno dump.
I am not going to upgrade the V.C. on either one of my laptops and definitely not on the Alienware laptop.
Clive Hunt |
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skgivenVolunteer moderator
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I thought by upgrading the motherboard, CPU (currently has Intel Core 2 8200) and adding a more current GPU, this machine could be put back into service and also be used as cruncher. The original power supply went to heaven and was replaced with a P.S. with an output of 324W.
The E8200 CPU was launched during the first quarter of 2008, so it's almost 7years old and the Q8200 was launched in the 3rd Q of 2008. In terms of CPU crunching the E8200 is not up to much. The Q8200 could still offer something.
The 324W PSU probably isn't worth keeping (for a mid-range system), you probably wont be able to use the RAM (unless its DDR3) and I guess your HDD is old=unreliable+slow.
So in reality you are looking at replacing the Motherboard, CPU, RAM, HDD, GPU and PSU - that's basically the whole system!
As MrS suggested, as is, the system could probably support a 750Ti or would be 960 (if the PSU has a 6-pin power connector).
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Clive, your intentions are honorable. I also like to reuse things and especially computer hardware as much as possible. In your case you've got 3 options:
1. Simply add a GPU and reinstall. The GTX750Ti would be a good choice, GTX960 will be borderline regarding its PSU requirements and case cooling. GTX970 is definitely too much for it.
2. Upgrade the internals. For a BOINC cruncher you could surely reuse the HDD, whereas CPU + Mainboard + RAM + GPU definitely have to be upgraded. This leaves you with immediate problems:
- you've probably got a custom ATX plug going from the PSU to the mainboard, i.e. you can only add DELL mainboards
- the CPU cooling may be coupled with the case cooling and tailored to the current mainboard and its CPU socket position -> this might not work with a new mainboard
- custom fan headers have already been mentioned. You wouldn't need to solder these, though, as one could also use luster terminals
3. Do nothing :p
And there's the question of PSU efficiency. DELL does have efficient PSUs, but I don't know if your model is one of these. If it's got an "80+ Gold" sticker.. well, it's gold ;)
Otherwise buying a more efficient unit would save you money within a few years if you're number crunching on the GPU 24/7 (depending on your electricity price, overall power consumption and how bad the current PSU is, of course).
BTW: your CPU is not too bad, as long as you only want to use it for general office work or to feed a GPU running BOINC. It's weak spot is single threaded performance (all 4 cores are hardly used, even today), but todays entry level systems aren't any better yet. So what ever you end up doing regarding BOINC, don't throw it away yet. It can still be a fine office box.
MrS
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