Hardware recommendations

Mr. Odd · 2011-11-16, 17:27

I'm getting ready to replace my 4 year old Windows desktop and I'd like my next system to be optimized for serious factoring (140-150 digits). Anyone have specific hardware recommendations? I'm looking at the i7-990 CPU though I'm not clear if it's worth the extra cost over the i7-980. And I'm thinking 8gb of RAM but will 12gb be better? Does RAM speed have much impact? Any suggestions are welcome, thanks.

fivemack · 2011-11-16, 18:03

The first optimisation for serious factoring is to run 64-bit Linux; there's at least a factor two of performance from having access to the assembly optimisations in gnfs-lasieve4I14e. So you probably want to have one machine as your Windows desktop and another to do serious factoring.

And what you want from a factoring machine is lots of cheap cores; an i7-990 or i7-3830K is an awesome machine for doing linear algebra if someone else has done the sieving on a 180-digit number, but is not a good price-performance machine for doing sieving on.

I would get an AMD six-core Phenom with onboard graphics and 8G of memory; the board is about £65, the memory about £32, CPU is about £132 for a 3.2GHz six-core; with a small hard drive to store the relations and a case you're talking about £300.

Christenson · 2011-11-16, 19:13

I have roughly the system fivemack mentions; Lavalamp spelled out the parts in February or march or so of this year and I bought them. I've added a GTX440 GPU to it.

Do GPUs sieve yet? The only regret I had with that system is that I would have gotten a larger power supply to support a better GPU, such as the Nvidia GT560. Getting pin 997 on the CPU straightened out was a bit of a problem, and I have one chip that seems to run hot on the mobo, and I've been meaning to add a fan to run over that heatsink.

xilman · 2011-11-16, 21:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by fivemack

The first optimisation for serious factoring is to run 64-bit Linux; there's at least a factor two of performance from having access to the assembly optimisations in gnfs-lasieve4I14e. So you probably want to have one machine as your Windows desktop and another to do serious factoring.

And what you want from a factoring machine is lots of cheap cores; an i7-990 or i7-3830K is an awesome machine for doing linear algebra if someone else has done the sieving on a 180-digit number, but is not a good price-performance machine for doing sieving on.

I would get an AMD six-core Phenom with onboard graphics and 8G of memory; the board is about £65, the memory about £32, CPU is about £132 for a 3.2GHz six-core; with a small hard drive to store the relations and a case you're talking about £300.

I'd double the amount of memory and throw in a good CUDA-capable GPU such as the 560. Other than my GPU is a 460 (the 560 wasn't available when I bought my machine, Tom's system is a close match to mine. In particular, the unlocked AMD 1090 overclocks beautifully,

I also second the 64-bit Linux suggestion and would point out that if you really need Windows and don't want to buy two systems, then VMware does a pretty good job,.

Paul

LaurV · 2011-11-17, 03:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by xilman

VMware does a pretty good job

Yuck! Long live VirtualBox from Sun (now Oracle)!
Seconding (or thirding?) everything else. A GPU (even a small one) worth all the money!

xilman · 2011-11-17, 09:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by LaurV

Yuck! Long live VirtualBox from Sun (now Oracle)!
Seconding (or thirding?) everything else. A GPU (even a small one) worth all the money!

You are quite correct. In fact, I use VirtualBox myself. Both VB and VM do a pretty good job.

Brain · 2011-11-17, 10:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Odd

I'm getting ready to replace my 4 year old Windows desktop and I'd like my next system to be optimized for serious factoring (140-150 digits). Anyone have specific hardware recommendations? I'm looking at the i7-990 CPU though I'm not clear if it's worth the extra cost over the i7-980. And I'm thinking 8gb of RAM but will 12gb be better? Does RAM speed have much impact? Any suggestions are welcome, thanks.

If you can wait I strongly recommend buying an Intel Ivy Bridge processor (22nm shrink and new transistor technology) and a Nvidia Kepler generation GPU (28nm shrink) or ATI Southern Islands generation GPU (also 28nm) in late Q1/2012.

pinhodecarlos · 2011-11-17, 15:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by fivemack

The first optimisation for serious factoring is to run 64-bit Linux; there's at least a factor two of performance from having access to the assembly optimisations in gnfs-lasieve4I14e.

Is that true for gnfs-lasieve4I15e.exe and
gnfs-lasieve4I16e.exe?

fivemack · 2011-11-17, 15:16

Yes; it's true for all the gnfs-lasieve4 tools, I just mentioned 14e because that's the one that you'll be using at 140-150 digits.

fivemack · 2011-11-17, 15:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by LaurV

Yuck! Long live VirtualBox from Sun (now Oracle)!
Seconding (or thirding?) everything else. A GPU (even a small one) worth all the money!

A GPU is pretty much useless for GNFS factorisation - OK, it will speed up the polynomial selection a bit, but that's not the rate-determining step. And it does add quite perceptibly to the system's electricity usage even when not doing anything.

Mr. Odd · 2011-11-18, 22:46

Ok, you've convinced me to go the Linux (Ubuntu)/VMWare route but I'm still planning on getting a NVidia 560XTi - I was under the impression that having a CUDA-enabled GPU definitely helped with YAFU and MSIEVE. Anyway, thanks for the input!

2011-11-16, 17:27	#1
Mr. Odd Mar 2010 5·11 Posts	Hardware recommendations I'm getting ready to replace my 4 year old Windows desktop and I'd like my next system to be optimized for serious factoring (140-150 digits). Anyone have specific hardware recommendations? I'm looking at the i7-990 CPU though I'm not clear if it's worth the extra cost over the i7-980. And I'm thinking 8gb of RAM but will 12gb be better? Does RAM speed have much impact? Any suggestions are welcome, thanks.

2011-11-17, 15:16	#9
fivemack (loop (#_fork)) Feb 2006 Cambridge, England 7·911 Posts	Yes; it's true for all the gnfs-lasieve4 tools, I just mentioned 14e because that's the one that you'll be using at 140-150 digits. Last fiddled with by fivemack on 2011-11-17 at 15:21

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Android app recommendations	Uncwilly	Lounge	11	2020-10-07 12:40
Hardware recommendations for factoring	Mr. Odd	Hardware	7	2016-06-02 01:07
need recommendations for a PC	ixfd64	Hardware	45	2012-11-14 01:19
Video Card Recommendations	alexhiggins732	GPU Computing	19	2010-12-05 23:30
Recommendations (courses)	blob100	Other Mathematical Topics	20	2010-06-20 18:11

2011-11-16, 18:03	#2
fivemack (loop (#_fork)) Feb 2006 Cambridge, England 7×911 Posts	The first optimisation for serious factoring is to run 64-bit Linux; there's at least a factor two of performance from having access to the assembly optimisations in gnfs-lasieve4I14e. So you probably want to have one machine as your Windows desktop and another to do serious factoring. And what you want from a factoring machine is lots of cheap cores; an i7-990 or i7-3830K is an awesome machine for doing linear algebra if someone else has done the sieving on a 180-digit number, but is not a good price-performance machine for doing sieving on. I would get an AMD six-core Phenom with onboard graphics and 8G of memory; the board is about £65, the memory about £32, CPU is about £132 for a 3.2GHz six-core; with a small hard drive to store the relations and a case you're talking about £300.

2011-11-16, 19:13	#3
Christenson Dec 2010 Monticello 3403₈ Posts	I have roughly the system fivemack mentions; Lavalamp spelled out the parts in February or march or so of this year and I bought them. I've added a GTX440 GPU to it. Do GPUs sieve yet? The only regret I had with that system is that I would have gotten a larger power supply to support a better GPU, such as the Nvidia GT560. Getting pin 997 on the CPU straightened out was a bit of a problem, and I have one chip that seems to run hot on the mobo, and I've been meaning to add a fan to run over that heatsink.

2011-11-18, 22:46	#11
Mr. Odd Mar 2010 5×11 Posts	Ok, you've convinced me to go the Linux (Ubuntu)/VMWare route but I'm still planning on getting a NVidia 560XTi - I was under the impression that having a CUDA-enabled GPU definitely helped with YAFU and MSIEVE. Anyway, thanks for the input!