Re: [Wien] Hardware (i7-7700k?) for WIEN2k
Without knowing the new i7-7700K myself, a few recommendations: You do NOT need more memory than 64 GB (in fact we have at most 32 GB on our workstations). If a calculation requires that much memory, the single processor speed is too slow anyway. I'd go for the I7, because it has faster memory and faster clock speed. The advantage of a Xeon is usually that that you can combine 2-4 CPUs on a single motherboard. But usually have pay a lot for this possibility. PS: I'd certainly also get in addition a regular 2-4TB harddisk (costs nothing, but is very useful) Peter Blaha On 09/19/2017 06:20 AM, Gavin Abo wrote: Some additional comments: If you need an idea of about how computational intensive a WIEN2k calculation might be for around 60 atoms per cell or more. The links below and links in those posts might be helpful: https://www.mail-archive.com/wien@zeus.theochem.tuwien.ac.at/msg14035.html https://www.mail-archive.com/wien@zeus.theochem.tuwien.ac.at/msg01420.html https://www.mail-archive.com/wien@zeus.theochem.tuwien.ac.at/msg05784.html The hardware specifications for the i7-7700K and E5-2623 v3 processors should be at the links: https://ark.intel.com/products/97129/Intel-Core-i7-7700K-Processor-8M-Cache-up-to-4_50-GHz http://ark.intel.com/products/83354/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E5-2623-v3-10M-Cache-3_00-GHz The specifications look fairly similar. So maybe there would not be too much of a difference in the WIEN2k calculation run times between the two. The i7-7700K supports a Max Memory Size of 64 GB. The E5-2623 v3 could have a major advantage when it comes to supporting a Max Memory Size of 768 GB. However, if the motherboard the E5-2623 v3 goes on does not have memory expansion slots for more than 64 GB or if you never plan to add additional memory modules to increase the memory beyond 64 GB, then that would not matter. The i7-7700K does have about a 1 GHz faster processor frequency and it looks like it supports a faster RAM (DDR4-2133/2400, while the E5-2623 v3 supports a slower DDR4 with frequency of 1600 or 1866 MHz). So this might give it better performance than the i7-7700K if the calculation uses less than 64 GB of RAM. Above 64 GB, the workstation would likely use virtual memory and disk caching may significantly slow a calculation (whereas the E5-2623 v3 with more than 64 GB should extend the limit of this RAM bottleneck). The i7-7700K also supports DDR3L-1333/1600. If both the i7-7700K and E5-2623 v3 workstations happen to use the same DDR3 1600 RAM, then no speed up or slow down is expected from the RAM frequency. More importantly than all that may be the launch date for the E5-2623 v3 of Q3'14, while Q1'17 for the i7-7700K. The Xeon E5-2623 v3 has been around awhile. So Linux distributions most likely have drivers that support this processor. With the i7-7700K being so new, you might have to be more cautious. If you decide to get the i7-7700K, I recommend checking that the Linux distribution, compiler (in particular if you plan to use a non-Intel compiler like gfortran), and libraries (such as a blas library with the non-Intel compiler) that you will be using are able to support and recognize the processor. As an example, I think it was the Intel HD Graphics 530 onboard the Intel Skylake processors when they were first launched that didn't have a good Linux driver [ https://askubuntu.com/questions/698168/cant-get-intel-hd-graphics-530-skylake-i7-6700-to-work ]. If I recall correctly, the graphics were broken (or of poor quality) for several months until the drivers were finally released. Of note, there is also seems to be a E5-2623 v4: http://ark.intel.com/products/92980/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E5-2623-v4-10M-Cache-2_60-GHz On 9/18/2017 6:54 PM, Yundi Quan wrote: hi, 4 cores with 8 threads is probably OK for using WIEN2k to study transition metal oxides. For post-processing tools, such as wien2wannier, it requires more memory. But 64 GB is enough in most cases. I once bought a Dell XPS with 4 cores and 8 threads, 16 GB memory back in 2011. It worked well for most of my calculations. Hope this helps. On Mon, Sep 18, 2017 at 2:44 PM, Karsten Küpper> wrote: Dear WIEN2k-community, We want to buy a workstation dedicated to run WIEN2k. Our aim is to calculate mostly transition metal oxides with unit cells ranging from 24 - 128 atoms supercells. We are thinking about a workstation with at least 4 cores, at least 64 GB RAM, and a 1TB SSD as a starting point. 1) May that be a reasonable choice? 2) Has anybody experiences with the i7-7700K 4.2 GHz (maybe also compared to Intel-Xeon E5-2623 processors), as there is no benchmark test available on the WIEN2k homepage by now. Thanks for your efforts in advance! Kind regards Karsten Küpper ___ Wien mailing list Wien@zeus.theochem.tuwien.ac.at
Re: [Wien] Hardware (i7-7700k?) for WIEN2k
Some additional comments: If you need an idea of about how computational intensive a WIEN2k calculation might be for around 60 atoms per cell or more. The links below and links in those posts might be helpful: https://www.mail-archive.com/wien@zeus.theochem.tuwien.ac.at/msg14035.html https://www.mail-archive.com/wien@zeus.theochem.tuwien.ac.at/msg01420.html https://www.mail-archive.com/wien@zeus.theochem.tuwien.ac.at/msg05784.html The hardware specifications for the i7-7700K and E5-2623 v3 processors should be at the links: https://ark.intel.com/products/97129/Intel-Core-i7-7700K-Processor-8M-Cache-up-to-4_50-GHz http://ark.intel.com/products/83354/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E5-2623-v3-10M-Cache-3_00-GHz The specifications look fairly similar. So maybe there would not be too much of a difference in the WIEN2k calculation run times between the two. The i7-7700K supports a Max Memory Size of 64 GB. The E5-2623 v3 could have a major advantage when it comes to supporting a Max Memory Size of 768 GB. However, if the motherboard the E5-2623 v3 goes on does not have memory expansion slots for more than 64 GB or if you never plan to add additional memory modules to increase the memory beyond 64 GB, then that would not matter. The i7-7700K does have about a 1 GHz faster processor frequency and it looks like it supports a faster RAM (DDR4-2133/2400, while the E5-2623 v3 supports a slower DDR4 with frequency of 1600 or 1866 MHz). So this might give it better performance than the i7-7700K if the calculation uses less than 64 GB of RAM. Above 64 GB, the workstation would likely use virtual memory and disk caching may significantly slow a calculation (whereas the E5-2623 v3 with more than 64 GB should extend the limit of this RAM bottleneck). The i7-7700K also supports DDR3L-1333/1600. If both the i7-7700K and E5-2623 v3 workstations happen to use the same DDR3 1600 RAM, then no speed up or slow down is expected from the RAM frequency. More importantly than all that may be the launch date for the E5-2623 v3 of Q3'14, while Q1'17 for the i7-7700K. The Xeon E5-2623 v3 has been around awhile. So Linux distributions most likely have drivers that support this processor. With the i7-7700K being so new, you might have to be more cautious. If you decide to get the i7-7700K, I recommend checking that the Linux distribution, compiler (in particular if you plan to use a non-Intel compiler like gfortran), and libraries (such as a blas library with the non-Intel compiler) that you will be using are able to support and recognize the processor. As an example, I think it was the Intel HD Graphics 530 onboard the Intel Skylake processors when they were first launched that didn't have a good Linux driver [ https://askubuntu.com/questions/698168/cant-get-intel-hd-graphics-530-skylake-i7-6700-to-work ]. If I recall correctly, the graphics were broken (or of poor quality) for several months until the drivers were finally released. Of note, there is also seems to be a E5-2623 v4: http://ark.intel.com/products/92980/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E5-2623-v4-10M-Cache-2_60-GHz On 9/18/2017 6:54 PM, Yundi Quan wrote: hi, 4 cores with 8 threads is probably OK for using WIEN2k to study transition metal oxides. For post-processing tools, such as wien2wannier, it requires more memory. But 64 GB is enough in most cases. I once bought a Dell XPS with 4 cores and 8 threads, 16 GB memory back in 2011. It worked well for most of my calculations. Hope this helps. On Mon, Sep 18, 2017 at 2:44 PM, Karsten Küpper> wrote: Dear WIEN2k-community, We want to buy a workstation dedicated to run WIEN2k. Our aim is to calculate mostly transition metal oxides with unit cells ranging from 24 - 128 atoms supercells. We are thinking about a workstation with at least 4 cores, at least 64 GB RAM, and a 1TB SSD as a starting point. 1) May that be a reasonable choice? 2) Has anybody experiences with the i7-7700K 4.2 GHz (maybe also compared to Intel-Xeon E5-2623 processors), as there is no benchmark test available on the WIEN2k homepage by now. Thanks for your efforts in advance! Kind regards Karsten Küpper ___ Wien mailing list Wien@zeus.theochem.tuwien.ac.at http://zeus.theochem.tuwien.ac.at/mailman/listinfo/wien SEARCH the MAILING-LIST at: http://www.mail-archive.com/wien@zeus.theochem.tuwien.ac.at/index.html
Re: [Wien] Hardware (i7-7700k?) for WIEN2k
hi, 4 cores with 8 threads is probably OK for using WIEN2k to study transition metal oxides. For post-processing tools, such as wien2wannier, it requires more memory. But 64 GB is enough in most cases. I once bought a Dell XPS with 4 cores and 8 threads, 16 GB memory back in 2011. It worked well for most of my calculations. Hope this helps. On Mon, Sep 18, 2017 at 2:44 PM, Karsten Küpperwrote: > Dear WIEN2k-community, > > We want to buy a workstation dedicated to run WIEN2k. > Our aim is to calculate mostly transition metal oxides with unit cells > ranging from 24 - 128 atoms supercells. > We are thinking about a workstation with at least 4 cores, at least 64 GB > RAM, and a 1TB SSD as a starting point. > > 1) May that be a reasonable choice? > > 2) Has anybody experiences with the i7-7700K 4.2 GHz (maybe also compared > to Intel-Xeon E5-2623 processors), as there is no benchmark test available > on the WIEN2k homepage by now. > > Thanks for your efforts in advance! > > Kind regards > Karsten Küpper > > > --- > Diese E-Mail wurde von Avast Antivirus-Software auf Viren geprüft. > https://www.avast.com/antivirus > > ___ > Wien mailing list > Wien@zeus.theochem.tuwien.ac.at > http://zeus.theochem.tuwien.ac.at/mailman/listinfo/wien > SEARCH the MAILING-LIST at: http://www.mail-archive.com/wi > e...@zeus.theochem.tuwien.ac.at/index.html > ___ Wien mailing list Wien@zeus.theochem.tuwien.ac.at http://zeus.theochem.tuwien.ac.at/mailman/listinfo/wien SEARCH the MAILING-LIST at: http://www.mail-archive.com/wien@zeus.theochem.tuwien.ac.at/index.html
[Wien] Hardware (i7-7700k?) for WIEN2k
Dear WIEN2k-community, We want to buy a workstation dedicated to run WIEN2k. Our aim is to calculate mostly transition metal oxides with unit cells ranging from 24 - 128 atoms supercells. We are thinking about a workstation with at least 4 cores, at least 64 GB RAM, and a 1TB SSD as a starting point. 1) May that be a reasonable choice? 2) Has anybody experiences with the i7-7700K 4.2 GHz (maybe also compared to Intel-Xeon E5-2623 processors), as there is no benchmark test available on the WIEN2k homepage by now. Thanks for your efforts in advance! Kind regards Karsten Küpper --- Diese E-Mail wurde von Avast Antivirus-Software auf Viren geprüft. https://www.avast.com/antivirus ___ Wien mailing list Wien@zeus.theochem.tuwien.ac.at http://zeus.theochem.tuwien.ac.at/mailman/listinfo/wien SEARCH the MAILING-LIST at: http://www.mail-archive.com/wien@zeus.theochem.tuwien.ac.at/index.html