I'm looking to invest in a new Windows based computer to run Fluent. Any ideas on what processor / mainboard / memory combinatiom I would want to get to maximize performance?

Thanks,

Mike

Perfectly honest, anything about 2.5Ghz/1Gb or ram will run most cases under 1 million cells ok....but if you got the cash, I would recomment going for at least 2Gb of Ram or something with dual processors.

Our department ordered a Windows based PC to run Fluent with:

3.2Ghz Dual Xeon 2Gb PC3200 Ram 160gb HDD in Raid 0

Don't know the rest of the specs, sorry.

I ordered a P4 2.8 800FSB with 2GB 3200 DDR and that seems to work very fast when compared to the sun machine of the same price. It cost about £600 ($1100) about a year ago – so should be much cheaper now. However, I am running Linux and would suggest anyone consider doing so to run fluent because of the performance and stability advantages that are documented on a number of these posts.

I have heard that Pentiums are better for running Fluent that the equivalent AMD, but I have no personal experience of this.

When buying a processor it seems that the best performance/price ration occurs is you buy a few generations down from the state-of-the-art. e.g. a 3.8GHz will cost you three times as much as a 3.2GHz.

What about the 64-bit AMD vs a dual CPU Xeon?

If You're looking for stable workstation:

AMD Opteron 146(or higher) ~260$

Asus SK8V motherboard ~180$

2GB RAM (CORSAIR XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series, (Twin Pack) 184 Pin 2GB(1GBx2) ECC Registered DDR PC-3200)~600$

or only 1GB of RAM,it depends on number of cells.I work with mixing tanks,approx. 800.000 cells, k-epsilon/k-omega/MRF and 1 GB is enough for me).

Opterons perform better than Xeon/P4 due to integrated dual channel memory controller-memory bandwidth is critically important for CFD.They have also better 64-bit registers than Xeon/Pentiums w/EM64T(64-bit Fluent 6.2 is coming...

Or something like this: AMD ATHLON 64 3500+(90nm Winchester core) ASUS A8V Deluxe mobo 2GB RAM CORSAIR XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series, (Twin Pack) 184 Pin 2GB(1GBx2) ECC Registered DDR PC-3200

Please write what kind of models are you gonna run, Luke

I don't think that Fluent supports 64-bit for windoze yet.

http://www.fluent.com/software/platf...ware/platform/

I am running AMD and Linux

you certainly can choose many variation or flavours of linux, in particular Fedora Core 3 runs fluent well despite not being in the list of supported kernels. I would recommend an Nvidia card particularily due to the ease of setup with you windows manager in linux.

In regards to the procs I have 1 gig of memory and a Barton 2500+ and it is the head node for a 4 node beowulf which is made up of similar systems. They are correct re the 64-bit the memory bandwidth is certainly a critical factor. But further understanding the difference b/w the CPU's processing cycles is important. Despite Intel's sheer horsepower in that it can do more CPU cycles per second than an AMD -- AMD is more efficient in its CPU cycles ie it can do more work per cycle. So there are definitely tradeoffs!

Certainly STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS if you can for this...my linux box runs much faster than when I used windows.

hope this works out for you and remember is its linux use NVIDIA

Cheers,

DH

Fluent 6.2(beta version)-yes. Of course with 64-bit linux(e.g.Suse)or beta WinXP 64-bit edition (however, as every betas it can be unstable,so i suggest SUSE). Official 64-bit WinXP is to be released within a few months.(as Fluent 6.2)

Thanks for the help. As for Linux vs Windows, my masters thesis is due in 6 months and I don't want to attempt to change horses mid race.

My model is a 2d axi-symmetric swirl model of a semiconductor crystal grower. It includes a DO radiation model, no turbulence, and is about 100,000 cells.

I'm looking at a P4 3.0 with an Asus mainboard and 1GB of Samsung PC3200 DDR400 RAM. The cost is about $1000 CDN ($800 US)

Will this suit my needs?

Thanks,

Mike

...and link: http://www.fluent.com/about/news/pr/pr79.htm

AMD Athlon 64 3200+s.939(Winchester core),Asus A8V,1GB Corsair XMS(TWINX1024-3200C2PT),look at www.newegg.com Price is similar, performance much better. Even my "old" A64 3200+s.754(only single memory controler) outperforms my friend's P4 3.2/1GB.

Go for the Asus P4C800-E Deluxe motherboard. Lots of bang for the buck. I would also consider getting CL2 Ram like Kingston HyperX

then can 64 bits AMD be used in the Fluent? since i found that in both thread that someone argued AMD was better than intel processor, while others sais Fluent did not support the running of FLuent.

Please give me some clear indication. As i wanted to shift the system from intel 3.4Ghz to AMD 3500+

Thanks

Dear Mike, Can I have your case/dat file? Model for crystal grower is my interesting subject. Thanks and Regards, JW

I think your config is enough for the simulation you are trying to perform. Go for it.

Got my new Fluent PC today - 3.0Ghz Dual Xeon, 2Gb PC3200 Ram, and a 160gb Raid-0 array.

Doing benchmarks on it now, but bloody hell, it is fast.

Hi Riaan! Could you post your benchmark results here? I'm wondering how big is difference between our machines(I'm running only single A64 3200+,1GB PC3200)

Thanks

If I check the Specf2000 benchmark on http://www.spec.org, the Itanium 2 blows everything else out of the water. A 1.6 GHz Itanium delivers 1.75 the power of a 3.6 GHz Xeon, so isn't that a much better alternative?

I know HP is dropping the development of the chip and all, but it will be a while before AMD and Intel should reach these kinds of speeds.