If you factor in "total system cost" vs. production is a non-server-based system like say a Ryzen 5950x vs. am EPYC or Intel server a better choice?

I can see how a non-server-based system is likely to be cheaper period. But would it also provide "more bang for the buck"?
Tom M

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Not enough information in the supposition.

How are you going to use the host? What type of projects? What type of tasks?

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Since I posted this specifically at U@H perhaps that would begin to offer some specifics?

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OK assuming only cpu tasks here, then the more cores you have running at the highest clocks would produce the best bang for the buck.

That means any Epyc processor with the same or more cores than an 5950X and running at close to the same clocks would produce more RAC.

Just take a look at my Epyc hosts with 40 Universe tasks running against my 5950X hosts running 26 tasks and even with a 875 - 1075 Mhz clock deficit, run circles around my 5950X hosts.

Same cost for the hardware between the server and PC platforms.

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And it's just been announced that the Threadripper Pro 5000 series will be available to DIY builders in the next few months.

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Grant
Darwin NT

Good news. And also smart decision to standardize on one socket and chipset for the motherboards.

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I've been pricing around some things but have yet to commit due to the high cost but here is what I found.

Ebay has some Epyc 7702P (Zen2 - 64 core) for about $1500 or less if you catch a deal, Another $550 for ram (8x16 DDR4 RDIMM ECC), though you could skimp and only do 4 sticks but that seems dumb if you are going to use it for anything else, and ~500-700 depending on your motherboard selection. ~$42/core

Compared to a 3950x (Zen2 - 16 core) for about $400, ram ~$125 motherboard ~$100, ~$39/core

About the same until you factor in about half the power use on the Epyc, extra case(s), power supplie(s), and cooling needed for the 4 systems then the Epyc starts to look pretty good.

For Zen 3, Epyc 7713 (Zen 3 - 64 core) for ~ $3000 or 7T83 (Zen 3 - 64 core higher frequency than 7713) for ~$3400. ~$64/core

These are almost double the processor price for ~20-30% more performance depending on your application. Not really worth it in my opinion.

The price premium for consumer parts is a lot less with a 5950x (Zen 3 -16 core) going for ~$500, ram ~$125 motherboard ~$100, ~$45/core


Upcoming developments that will affect pricing in a good way:

Zen4 release later this year for Epyc and consumer. While Zen4 hasn't been rumored to be some massive performance improvement, quite a few people/companies don't care and will upgrade anyway, dumping their old stock to the used market. AMD has been using most of their wafers on consoles and got caught with their pants down with huge Epyc and Radeon demand as evidenced by the huge price premium still in place for Zen 3 Epyc in the used market. Zen 4 parts will use a new socket/motherboard but have been recently rumored to come to the existing AM4 motherboards. I wont hold my breath we would get a 16 core variant of it though.

Slowdown in crypto demand.

Global recession on deck. Rest of year expected revenue across the semiconductor industry have been revised down by ~25%. Expect some good deals to come.

Upcoming developments that will affect pricing in a bad way:

Monkeypox and covid continue to accelerate and factories/provinces are shut down. (moderate price increases)

China decides to invade Taiwan. Low percent chance but if this one happens 10 year old computers will turn into solid gold and current computers will be unobtainium.

Notice I didn't mention Threadripper and Threadripper Pro. In my opinion these are completely not worth looking into as the costs are just insane with the small number of processors released and the absolutely abysmal release delay (Zen 3 Threadripper is just barely reaching availability years after Zen 3 Epyc CPUs came out). You can grab a usb/pcie sound card/wireless card for your Epyc motherboard if you absolutely need them.

I also did not price less than full core count processors as the best price/core is usually filling the CPU all the way up to minimize platform costs.

The last thing I didn't mention were any kind of Intel processors due to their high power use and high cost compared to AMD.

Personally I am looking to upgrade to a 5950x later this year when Zen 4 comes out for a cost differential of ~$200. If I had more spending money right now I'd go for a Zen2 Epyc or Zen3 Epyc if prices came down.

Ebay has some Epyc 7702P (Zen2 - 64 core) for about $1500 or less if you catch a deal, Another $550 for ram (8x16 DDR4 RDIMM ECC), though you could skimp and only do 4 sticks but that seems dumb if you are going to use it for anything else, and ~500-700 depending on your motherboard selection. ~$42/core

Four DIMM Configuration (Conditionally recommended only with EPYC
processors that have 128MB L3 or less ) as per AMD memory guidelines.

So if you restricted your choices to 7002/7003 series and 24 cores or less, you could get away with only 4 sticks of memory and save some bucks.

If you go for higher core counts, then you should populate all 8 memory slots.

I find no difference in performance with my 7402P or 7443P cpus with four sticks (16GB ea) at 64GB compared to 8 sticks at 128GB.

64GB is more than enough memory for any BOINC application and tasks I have come across so far.

If you are going to do more with the PC than just BOINC, adjust accordingly.

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Four DIMM Configuration (Conditionally recommended only with EPYC
processors that have 128MB L3 or less ) as per AMD memory guidelines.

Good point for the lower core count Epyc chips.


Also for reference Tom here is a list of Epyc processors that is nice and filterable/sortable. It does not include all custom chips made for certain vendors like the 7T83 I mentioned earlier. You can use it to narrow down your choices then make some custom ebay search links in a spreadsheet so you just have to click a few links to check prices.

https://www.cpu-world.com/info/AMD/AMD_EPYC.html

Zen 1 Epyc in my opinion isnt really worth it from a performance per watt point of view unless your power cost is low and you find a good deal.

--Edit, Tom looking at your computers it seems like you could upgrade your 7251P to a 7551P or 7601 to go from 8 to 32 cores with not that big of a TDP increase.
Also do your best to make sure the used Epycs you buy have not been pulled from a Dell or Lenovo motherboard as they will be vendor locked to only those manufacturers motherboards.

--Edit, Tom looking at your computers it seems like you could upgrade your 7251P to a 7551P or 7601 to go from 8 to 32 cores with not that big of a TDP increase.

I would consider them except they are not ROME cpus. The increase in efficiency/processing speed based on the reviews is significant.

If I limit myself to new Rome cpus in the USA (faster shipping) there are 7302's (16c/32t) for under $500. If I add refurbished I can find a 32c/64t QS for about $750 in the USA. And a 64c/128t QS with a missing memory channel (if the stars align) for under $1,300.

If I shop for the cheapest 7601 (overseas currently) I can get a lower than lowest Rome price but loose the generational gains from Naples to Rome.

I am going to chase the refund for my last attempted EPYC CPU upgrade this next week. And continue testing Ribbon Cables on the gpus.

If I was content with 2 GPUs on the MB I could stop testing/buying ribbon cables.

Tom M

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--Edit, Tom looking at your computers it seems like you could upgrade your 7251P to a 7551P or 7601 to go from 8 to 32 cores with not that big of a TDP increase.

==edit===
If I shop for the cheapest 7601 (overseas currently) I can get a lower than the lowest Rome price but lose the generational gains from Naples to Rome.
==edit===
If I was content with 2 GPUs on the MB I could stop testing/buying ribbon cables.

After examining my capital budget and my sensitivity to cost I bought the cheapest/new Epyc 7601 I could find. Since it is from China it is going to take a while to get here.

I have tested nearly all the ribbon cables I currently own. None are working.

So it LOOKS like I am going with a 7601 (32c/64t) + M2. SSD + 2 RTX 3080 ti FE gpus for now (as soon as they arrive).

AFAICT, it looks like the 7601 will be a straight linear scale up of the 7251 (8c/16t) that I have. The specs for the multi-core boost appear to be identical to what I am getting now.

Tom M

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