GPU workstation build

From: Blake Mertz (blake.mertz_at_mail.wvu.edu)
Date: Mon Aug 20 2012 - 10:41:13 CDT

Hello,

I'm in the process of putting together a GPU workstation based off of
a Tyan S8232GM4NR motherboard -- it's a dual-socket AMD G34, with 4
PCI-e Gen2.0 slots that are spec'd to run at 16x
(http://tyan.com/product_SKU_spec.aspx?ProductType=MB&pid=696&SKU=600000215).
My two biggest concerns are:

1) the bandwidth on my motherboard with respect to the GPUs, and

2) which commercial Nvidia GPUs I should go with.

>From what I can tell by Axel Kohlmeyer's response to Matt Roark's
inquiry (http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/namd/mailing_list/namd-l.2011-2012/3416.html),
you have to look out for motherboards with integrated "PCIe bridges",
which I haven't been able to confirm on the S8232, either in the
manual or from looking online. Does anyone have experience using this
board for namd?

Also, I noticed Francesco Pietra has done some testing with GTX 680s
(which is what I happened to initially purchase), but I haven't seen
much else on namd-l discussing these cards. Has anyone else had a
chance to compare the 680 performance over the 580s? I've had a hard
time judging the advantages of the new Kepler architecture over Fermi,
especially in context of namd performance. Thanks for any help you can
give.

Blake

-- 
Assistant Professor
C. Eugene Bennett Department of Chemistry
West Virginia University
"Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have
perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe
that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be
attained." Marie Curie
"Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and
suddenly you are doing the impossible." St. Francis of Assissi

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