Ultimate Folding Rig

[Schlup]

I'm in search of the ultimate folding rig.  Not a farm, but one rig that will process crazy amounts of PPD.  Here's what I have so far...

ASUS P6T7 WS Supercomputer Motherboard which has 7 PCIe x16 slots = $399.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16813131390

Ultimate Folding Rig

Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz Quadcore = $268.00
http://www.buy.com/prod/213825592.html

Ultimate Folding Rig

(7) GeForce GTX 480 Hydro Copper FTW Edition = $649.99 x 7 = $4549.93
http://www.evga.com/products/moreInfo.asp?pn=015-P3-1489-AR&family=GeForce%20400%20Series%20Family

Ultimate Folding Rig

(2) Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 = $433.99 x 2 = $867.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148347

Ultimate Folding Rig

(2) OCZ Vertex Turbo 120GB SSD = $379.99 x 2 = $759.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227470

Ultimate Folding Rig

COOLER MASTER HAF 932 = $138.00
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4146085&SRCCODE=LINKSHARE&cm_mmc_o=-ddCjC1bELltzywCjC-d2CjCdwwp&AffiliateID=dlUPo6w0KBI-s5DQB614deeNyRy2K1tXFg

Ultimate Folding Rig

(2) Antec TPQ-1200 1200W = $232.99 x 2 = $465.98
http://www.buy.com/prod/211343279.html

Ultimate Folding Rig

Koolance ERM-2K3U = $689.99
http://www.koolance.com/water-cooling/product_info.php?product_id=779

Ultimate Folding Rig

(7) VGA/DVI All-In-One Dummy Plug for Folding@Home = $7.49 x 7 = $52.43
http://cgi.ebay.com/VGA-DVI-All-In-One-Dummy-Plug-for-Folding-Home_W0QQitemZ190384152135QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2c53c79e47#ht_682wt_1165

Ultimate Folding Rig

The only other thing I will need is some extra tubing for the water cooling kit, since I have to cool (7) very hot video cards.

Grand Total = $8193.00
Estimated Folding Performance = 105,000 PPD

[NavyChief]

All I can say is WOW!!

$7,700+ for a folding computer!?!

From what I was reading on the EVGA forums, many people with 2 water-cooled video cards need a very large or dual radiator to keep it cool. For 7 video cards you will need maybe 3 whole water setups. The sheer amount of coolant that must be pumped around cannot be done with only a single pump. With the seven cards interlocked at the top for the coolant flow, the loop will be immense. The cooling setup will have to be specialized.

[Got_Amm0]

nice setup. but for folding thats alot of extra money lol

[NavyChief]

I like how slim the EVGA GTX 480 Hydro Copper FTW Edition video card is. Putting 2 of these in a system would be easy. Normally the higher end video cards are the double-slot variety and putting two of them in a system normally has them right next to each other. These slim versions would allow for you to put the cards in whatever configuration you want.

[tehfunk101]

I don't think a coolant loop would be possible with 7 of those cards back to back, the connectors pointing down onto the next card might be too close to the card below it to fit the tube on. that block should have its ports point outwards to the sidewindow instead!. Anyone else see what I'm trying to explain?

[Monkey_Grill]

Are you really going to buy this?

[Schlup]

All I can say is WOW!!

$7,700+ for a folding computer!?!

From what I was reading on the EVGA forums, many people with 2 water-cooled video cards need a very large or dual radiator to keep it cool. For 7 video cards you will need maybe 3 whole water setups. The sheer amount of coolant that must be pumped around cannot be done with only a single pump. With the seven cards interlocked at the top for the coolant flow, the loop will be immense. The cooling setup will have to be specialized.

Point heard and understood, I'm glad you found some info on that, I edited the OP to include a much higher end water cooling setup.  This will be sure to cool all 7 cards fine as it it made to cool multiple systems at once.

[Schlup]

I don't think a coolant loop would be possible with 7 of those cards back to back, the connectors pointing down onto the next card might be too close to the card below it to fit the tube on. that block should have its ports point outwards to the sidewindow instead!. Anyone else see what I'm trying to explain?

Yeah, I hear what you are saying, I was thinking the same thing.  Could just replace the current connectors with a couple 90 degree connectors and that would be resolved.

[tehfunk101]

Yeah, I hear what you are saying, I was thinking the same thing.  Could just replace the current connectors with a couple 90 degree connectors and that would be resolved.

Good idea, that would do it!

Point heard and understood, I'm glad you found some info on that, I edited the OP to include a much higher end water cooling setup.  This will be sure to cool all 7 cards fine as it it made to cool multiple systems at once.

holy bajeezus, that thing is a monster!  It looks like the radiator in that thing got plucked out of a honda civic!
Its stats say it provides 2000W of heat dissipation, so some with some quick math...

GTX480 =  250W TDP  ;  i7 930 = 130W TDP

250*7 + 130 = 1880W < 2000W,     Theoretically, it would work wonderfully!

[Schlup]

They also offer one with 3000W of cooling dissipation, however it is much more expensive and I think unneeded.  I configured this rig for optimum folding at a reasonable price.  It could be better/higher end but it would result in a much higher price and not much if any increased performance of folding.

[Schlup]

Are you really going to buy this?

At this point, no.  This is meant to be a topic of discussion on what is and what to include in the ultimate folding rig.  Not to mention the video cards aren't even readily available to purchase yet, especially 7 of them.  When I saw the single slot design of the GTX 480 Hydro Copper FTW Edition the idea popped into my head as I remembered seeing a 7 PCIe slot mobo a while back.  This rig WOULD definitely be the highest performing single rig every built for folding.  Since a lot of design work and ideas would need to go into it I figured I would start this thread to get some discussion about what would be needed and if there are any bottlenecks anywhere.  Who knows maybe somebody will come by and want to purchase one of these rigs, if so I would build it for them.