[trans(sonic)_pride]

Hello everyone,
I am currently planning research for a paper I am writing. I am an undergrad so my uni will not give me cluster time. I need a pc to run simulations in OpenFOAM. The budget is 2000-2500$

Regarding RAM:
I am planning to get 128 or 256 GB, enough to populate all memory channels. If I need to take special care in speed cas latency or whatever, let me know.

Regarding the GPU:
I understand that a good cpu is not important for CFD, as GPU acceleration is clunky and isn't often implemented. I will just choose a good enough cpu to model with. Maybe an RTX4000, RTX5000, 3070, 3080 or 3090, depending on the budget, how the market progresses these following weeks...

Regarding the CPU:
I am looking at used Xeons or Epyc CPU's. I stopped considering Threadrippers since they only have quad channel RAM. Xeons seem to have less cache than Epyc, so I am more inclined towards Epyc.
The only Xeon that has really caught my attention is the w-3175x, as it has a good base clock and 28 cores. Apart from that, I can't decide between the Epyc 7551p (the cheapest option, I can have it for 200$, and if it performs similarly to the next CPU's it will be my choice), 7402p and 7542p.
Maybe I could stretch my budget to get a 64 core, but I feel like there is little improvement past 24 cores having seen some benchmarks. Tell me your opinions.

[wkernkamp]

What kind of openfoam simulations do you plan to do? Some time accurate simulations can run for days. In that case, I would suggest a dual cpu system, because it would double your productivety.


However, if the simulations are typically less than an hour, you might go for a system that also does well for general use. This would mean 16 cores and a high clock for good single thread performance as well as decent CFD performance from 16 cores for eight memory channels.

[lourencosm]

Could you update on your choice?

My personal experience in desktops (intel i7-5820k) is that the number of memory channels are the real bottleneck. Do you agree?

Thank you