Main -> Dream system -> Workstation




Workstation overall description

The 3D/2D three-box (main, cooling and desktop boxes) 72GB dual overcklocked Intel Xeon W5590 workstation is based on the Supermicro X8DTG-QF motherboard. The system has two factory overclocked consumer Radeon HD 5970 (converted to professional-grade ones) and one GeForce GTX 285 card (converted to 2GB Tesla C1060) and very fast (about 3GB/s) SSD subsystem. The workstation has all needed connections and would-need data exchange devices.

The workstation is equipped by three vertical NEC Display Solutions LCD2490WUXI2-BK monitors, Logitech Z-5500 audio system and Wacom Intuos4 Large tablet.

Changes from the previous configuration:
Intel 6-core Xeon X5680 replaced 4-core processors.
980X
The overall system cost went up by about $100

The system is about two time cheaper than equival productivity ones from HP or Dell (even if to count in their price only one cheapest graphics card).


Specification

System stand / rack


Custom-built wooden table with the built-in wooden rack for UPS and network switch.

Overall dimensions are about (WxDxH) 120x70x70 cm

 Cost:
No more than $200


Communications


Gigabit switch
NETGEAR GS108T ProSafe Advanced Smart Switch
Cost:
NETGEAR GS108T - $85
Wireless router
Tp-Link TL-WR941ND Wireless N Router
Cost:
Tp-Link TL-WR941ND - $49
Modem
Zyxel Prestige 660H-D1 ADSL modem
 Cost:
Zyxel Prestige 660H-D1- $62
Skype phone
Von-Phone USB Skype Phone Adapter
 Cost:
Von-Phone USB Skype Phone Adapter - $30


UPS


UPS
CyberPower Smart App Sinewave LCD PR3000LCDRT2U 2250 Watt UPS
 Cost:
CyberPower Smart App Sinewave LCD PR3000LCDRT2U - $737

Main system box


System case

Modified Lian Li PC-A77B - 6 x 5.25" bays plus 9 x 3,5" internal bays
- seems to be the only easily adaptable for the motherboard.
5 x StarTech.com SATABAY425BK backplanes (4 x 2.5" drives in 5.25" bay, 4 SATA connections)
Modification:
The bottom part of the case backpanel modified to allow installation of 12-slot motherboard and eight water cooling pass-thrugh shutoff valves

 Cost:
Lian Li PC-A77B - $257
5 x SATABAY425BK - $205
Case modification - $30
Power Supply

Silverstone ST1500 1500W Power Supply
Supports up to four GPU, most powerful consumer grade I found

 Cost:
Silverstone ST1500 - $400
Additional power cable splitters - $10
Motherboard:

Supermicro X8DTG-QF - the only real superworkstation motherboard now. The drawbacks - limited memory size with (cheaper) 4GB modules and only x4 free slots after installation of 4 GPU/GPGPUs.

Cost:
X8DTG-QF - $454
Processors:

2 x Intel Xeon X5680 overclocked to 3.8-4.0GHz

 Cost:
2 x Intel Xeon X5680 - $3400
Memory:

72GB (24GB of working memory and 48GB RAM-drive):
2 x 24GB (3x8GB) DDR3 1066MHz 240pin ECC Registered CL9 Super Talent W1333RX24G memory kits .
2 x 12GB (3x4GB) DDR3 1066MHz 240pin ECC Registered CL9 Super Talent W13RX12GH memory kits .

Cost: 2 x Super Talent W1333RX24G kits - $2130
2 x Super Talent W13RX12GH kits - $780
Graphics:

2 x XFX HD-597A-CNB9 Radeon HD 5970 (with modified ATI FirePro V8750 firmware)
Will give the best graphics card for to-day
BFG Tech BFGEGTX2851024OCFUBE GeForce GTX 285 (with modified Tesla C1060 firmware)
Will give the best GPGPU for to-day

 Cost:
2 x SAPPHIRE 100280OCSR: $1440 MSI N285GTX: $400
RAID card:

LSI MegaRAID SAS 9260-8i SAS 6G RAID controller (in PCIe v.2.0 x16 slot).
2 x internal miniSAS Cables
2 x Chenbro CK13601 SAS 36-Port Expander Card (1 x miniSAS internal host connector, 1 x miniSAS external host connector, 6 x miniSAS internal connections (24 ports), 1 x miniSAS external expansion connector) - installed into free slot spaces
8 x SFF-8087 Mini SAS to 4x SATA Break Out Cables

 Cost (incl.shipping):
LSI MegaRAID SAS 9280-8e: $490
2 x internal miniSAS Cables - $34
2 x Chenbro UEK13601 with Chenbro CK13601 - $560
8 x Break Out Cables - $112
Other I/O cards:

AVerTV Duo Hybrid PCI-E II (aka "AVerMedia MTVHDDUET AVerTVHD") TV tuner (PCIe x1)
2 x Adnaco-H1 PCIe x1 HBA in (in PCIe x4 slots).
Adnaco-S1 expantion system provides up to 250m PCIe x1 extension from main system to auxilary box

 Cost: AVerMedia tuner - $85
Adnaco-H1 - included in the desktop unit Adnaco-S1 cost
Storage

120GB system storage:
3 x OCZ Vertex OCZSSD2-1VTX120G 2.5" 120GB SSD in (2 + 1 hot-spare) RAID 1 array - evenly distributed between two CK13601
450GB working storage:
16 x OCZ Vertex OCZSSD2-1VTX30G 3.5" 30GB SSD in (15 + 1 hot-spare) RAID 5 array - evenly distributed between two CK13601
2.2TB archive storage:
9 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3320418AS 3.5" 320GB HDD in (8 + 1 hot-spare) RAID 5 array - evenly distributed between two CK13601

 Cost:
3 x OCZ Vertex OCZSSD2-1VTX120G - $1077
16 x OCZ Vertex OCZSSD2-1VTX30G - $2080
9 x Seagate Barracuda ST3320418AS - $441
Front I/O:

SYBA SD-PCI-UHUB4 High Speed USB 2.0 4x Ports Hub with Addonics 3.5" drive bracket for 5.25" bay

 Cost:
SYBA SD-PCI-UHUB4 - $10
Addonics bracket - $5


Desktop I/O box


Holds front I/O and handy rear I/O connectors (both from main and attached systems)

Case

Lian Li PC-P80 - 12 x 5.25" bays
Modified for installation of two Adnaco-S1 backplanes
Cost:
Lian Li PC-P80 - $300
Case modification - $20
PSU

Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W PSU

 Cost:
Antec NEO ECO 520C - $70
Additional power cable splitters - $10
Backplane

2 x Adnaco-S1 PCI/PCIe Expansion System backplane - PCIe x1 link into two PCI plus two PCIe x1 slots

 Cost:
Adnaco-S1 (HBA, cable, backplane - $1794
Add-on cards and rear expansion connections:

Creative Labs PCI Express SoundBlaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series audio card (PCIe x1)
SYBA SD-PEX50011 USB/FireWire combo card (PCIe x1) - 2 x 1394b + 2 x USB external ports, 1 x 1394b + 3 x USB internal ports
SYBA SD-COMBO-02 USB/FireWire combo card (PCI) - 2 x 1394a + 2 x USB external ports, 1 x 1394a + 3 x USB internal ports
2 x MASSCOOL XWT-RC040 SATA Card (PCI), 4 internal SATA I ports
Nippon Labs ESATAB-2P 2 x eSATA ports bracket (uses two XWT-RC040 SATA ports) - installed into free PCI slot
SYBA SD-PCI-UHUB4 bracket hub - installed into free slot opening - USB external port into 4 x USB external ports
Okgear OK302 PCI 2 x Female Molex + 2 x Male 3-pin Fan Bracket - installed into free PCI slot - lets supply power for external devices

 Cost:
SoundBlaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty - $168
SYBA SD-PEX50011 - $38
SYBA SD-COMBO-02 - $17
2 x MASSCOOL XWT-RC040 - $44
Nippon Labs ESATAB-2P - $6
SYBA SD-PCI-UHUB4 - $8
Okgear OK302 power bracket (with shipping) - $8
Front I/O devices and connections

Creative's Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series sound card front end
SABRENT SBT-UFDB External USB Floppy Drive
IOMagic I523252 CD-RW with Koutech IO-UIC120 USB-to-IDE converter - seem to be the only CD-RW drive awailable
Sumsung SH-B083L/BSBP Blu-Ray DVD-RW with LightScribe
ASUS DRW-24B1LT/BLK/B/AS DVD-RW with LightScribe
Icy Dock MB4448AR-B USB-to-PATA Mobile Rack with Addonics 3.5" drive bracket for 5.25" bay installation - for 2.5" IDE drives
Icy Dock MB123AK-B Mobile Rack with Koutech IO-UIC120 USB-to-IDE converter - for 3.5" IDE drives
Addonics MSUDDUS Micro SATA UDD with Addonics 3.5" drive bracket - for 1.8" SATA drives
Icy Dock MB448SR-B Mobile Rack with Addonics 3.5" drive bracket for 5.25" bay installation - for 2.5" SATA drives
Icy Dock MB123SK-1B Mobile Rack - for 3.5" SATA drives
SYBA SD-PCI-UHUB4 bracket hub - installed internally for use by front I/O devices
SABRENT CRW-UINB 68-in-1 USB 2.0 Internal Card Reader with FrontX CPX508 cable
SYBA SD-U2HUB-4 3.5" Front Panel USB2.0 4-port Hub with Addonics 3.5" drive bracket
Case front 4 x USB2.0 ports with FrontX CPX508 cables
Case front IEEE1394a
port
Case front eSATA
port

 Cost:
SABRENT SBT-UFDB - $22
IOMagic I523252 - $33
3 x Koutech IO-UIC120 - $51
Sumsung SH-B083L/BSBP - $100
ASUS DRW-24B1LT/BLK/B/AS - $24
Icy Dock MB448AR-B - $35
3 x 3.5" drive bracket for 5.25" Bay - $15
Icy Dock MB123AK-B - $18
Icy Dock MB448SR-B - $25
Icy Dock MB123SK-1B - $29
Addonics MSUDDUS - $40
SYBA SD-PCI-UHUB4 - $8
Sabrent CRW-UINB - $9
3 x FrontX CPX508 cables - $18
2 x SYBA SD-U2HUB-4 - $20
5 x Addonics 3.5" drive brackets- $25


Cooling system


Five-pump Koolance ERM-3K4U5 system (3/8" tubing) with common reservoirs
Four pumps in use, one spare.

Fittings and tubing layout

Four coolong semi-loops:
CPU: ERM-3K4U5 QDC shutoff valve - 3/8" tube - case 3/8" QDC shutoff valve - 3/8" tube - 3/8" CO - processor 1 - 3/8" CO - 3/8" tube -3/8" CO - processor 2 - 3/8" CO - 3/8" tube - case 3/8" QDC shutoff valve - 3/8" tube - ERM-3K4U5 QDC shutoff valve
3 x GPU/GPGPUs: ERM-3K4U5 QDC shutoff valve - 3/8" tube - case 3/8" QDC shutoff valve - 3/8" tube - 3/8" angle CO - GPU - 3/8" angle CO - 3/8" tube - case 3/8" QDC shutoff valve - 3/8" tube - ERM-3K4U5 QDC shutoff valve

Notes:
CO - compression connection nozzle


The memory is cooled by 2 x 120 mm fans installed on custom brackets (similar, but bigger, to Corsair Dominator bracket)


Cooling units:

Koolance ERM-3K4U5

 Cost:
Koolance ERM-3K4U5 - $1400
Waterblocks:

Processor coolers: 2 x Danger Den MC-TDX for Intel I7/Nehalem/1366 Water Block
GPUs coolers: 2 x KoolanceVID-AR597, 1 x Koolance VID-NX285N
 Cost:
2 x MC-TDX for Intel I7/Nehalem/1366 - $120
2 x KoolanceVID-AR597 - $280
Koolance VID-NX285N - $100
Tubings/Fittings:

2 pairs of Koolance NZL-V10-16KG2 3/8" nozzles
3 pairs of Koolance NZL-L10P 3/8" nozzles
4 sets of Koolance VL3-10BKT 3/8" QDC (High Flow) Shutoff Nozzles
 Cost:
2 pairs of Koolance NZL-V10-16KG2- $24
3 pairs of Koolance NZL-L10P - $45
4 sets of Koolance VL3-10BKT - $148
Koolance tubing - $18


External I/O devices


Monitor, keyboard, mouse:

3 x vertical NEC Display Solutions NEC LCD2690WUXi2-BK (with calibrator)
Wacom Intuos4 Large with additional airbrush pen
Microsoft Keyboard 4000

 Cost:
3 x NEC LCD2490WUXI2-BK - $2841
Wacom Intuos 4 with airbrush pen - $538
Keyboard - $30
Other I/O:

Logitech Z-5500 - connected to Digital Audio Selector Switch
Logitech ClearChat PC Wireless - connected to desktop front USB port
cirago BTA-3190 USB 2.0 Bluetooth Dongle - connected to front USB port
Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000 - connected to desktop front USB port

 Cost:
Logitech Z-5500 - $380
Logitech ClearChat - $81
cirago BTA-3190 - $12
Logitech Quickcam - $78


Printers and scanners


Scanners:

Plustek OpticPro A320 - for paper scan
Epson Perfection V700 Photo - for film scan


Cost:
Plustek OpticPro A320 - $465
Epson V700 - $545
Printers:

HP Color LaserJet CP3520 - everyday printer
Epson Stylus Photo R2880 - high quality / tabloid printer
HP Designjet 130 - large format printer


Cost:
HP Color LaserJet CP3520 (incl. shipping) - $739
Epson Stylus Photo R2880 (incl. shipping) - $650
HP Designjet 70 - $861


Reserved


Some shipping, additional cabling, fittings, etc. - $400


For pricing sources see Best prices page

Total price: $27960