Server for development and AI training on Tower.
Server for development and AI training on Tower.
Hi everyone,
I’m thinking about purchasing a tower server for my home office to support development and long-term AI training. I’d value your advice, tips, and suggestions on the setup I’m considering.
Current configuration:
- Dell T640 8LFF
- 2 × Intel Xeon Gold 5120 (14C, 19.25M Cache, 2.20 GHz)
- 2 × 32GB DDR4 RDIMM at 2400MHz
- RAID DELL PCI-e H730p (2GB+FBWC)
- iDRAC 9 Express
- Power supply: Dell 1100W
- 2 port 1Gb/s (integrated)
- SSD: 960GB SAS 2.5" with tray caddy
- NVIDIA Tesla V100 32GB PCI-e
- Budget: around $4350, refurbished, excluding GPU
What are your thoughts? Does this look like a good fit? Any recommendations or concerns? Thanks!
Two DIMMS are quite wasteful. Every CPU features SIX memory controller channels. For optimal results, you should use twelve DIMMs instead of just two.
Not claiming the machine is a slouch, these CPUs are reaching their sixth year now, and on the used market they're extremely affordable. You could grab a set for around twenty dollars. I'm not the most precise person in this shed here at Tom's, but it's worth considering.
Two DIMMS is quite inefficient. Each CPU has six memory controllers. For optimal performance, you should use twelve DIMMs rather than two. Makes sense. Perhaps I should look into more DIMMS with smaller capacity to cut costs. On the other hand, I don't want to fill too many slots...
> I'm not the sharpest tool in the wood shed here on Tom's, but something to consider.
It's very cheap. Would you mind suggesting some reputable companies where I can find a refurbished server at a good price?
Ensure your CPUs match perfectly, including the stamped stepping numbers on the chips, to achieve the dual CPU capability you desire. Also, consider completely filling all memory slots with the appropriate RAM for optimal performance.
Would you prefer performance or just in case? 12 x 8GB still offers more memory than your initial idea and would result in significantly better performance.
If you're not planning to use 12 DIMMs, consider purchasing a single CPU with six DIMMs instead.
Most motherboards that support first-gen scalable designs also accommodate second-gen options.
The 6246R features 16 cores with a base clock speed of 3.4Ghz.
Even though it has many CPU cores, limiting them due to insufficient RAM bandwidth slows down progress.
That is a problem. For the budget of $4.5k I need a good tower server (possibly refurbished with a warranty) equipped with a descent server-class GPU card optimised for machine learning (I'm not a gamer). And I lack both knowledge and expertise to pick proper offerings.