Re: Advice on buying GPUs

From: Ajasja Ljubetiè (ajasja.ljubetic_at_gmail.com)
Date: Thu Jun 02 2011 - 09:46:55 CDT

>
> Sorry for the TOFU style reply. I am working on our largest cluster right
> now hoping to salvage a busted raid.
>

No problem (I did have to google "TOFU style reply" though :) Good luck with
the raid.

>
>
I would go for all 32-core opteron and get time on GPU clusters externally.
> GPU machines are currently much less in demand than conventional ones, so it
> is much easier to get time on them (and more). At best I would just buy one
> GPU node for learning and testing. Unless you want to start a career as a
> sysadmin or HPC specialist, you are better off buying something that is less
> work to run well so you can focus on your research.
>

I'll definitely buy one GPU node (It's fun to learn). But you are right -
it's not exactly the point of my PHD...

>
>
In re: benchmarks. They are rarely using a representative data set and only
> use som "kernel" of NAND and other codes. This is what vendors like since
> this just gives you a single number to compare to. In real life you need a
> balanced system and that is more than the fastest CPU.
>

Thanks for the advice,
I'll go browsing for prices now:)

Best regards,
Ajasja

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