Dual Nehalem (i7) Ray-Tracing Machine

[stefa...@yahoo.com]

SBJ: Dual Nehalem (i7) Ray-Tracing Machine.

I've been looking for the Work-Station based on Dual Nehalem (x8 i7-
cores/16 logical CPUs) for Ray-Tracing application. "In house" built
WS was an option unless I could find a provider who charges less then
x1.3 of custom built machine. Such providers as Dell, HP, Lenovo
apparently charge way above the threshold I had in mind; for example
Lenovo sale price for dual W5580/12GB WS is $7,834.00 with 1x250HD and
2D VC NVC290. Less known provider as "Next International" asked for
similar configuration $5027.95 ( with better VC and HD ). It was close
to acceptable ratio so I took the risk and ordered one WS from them.
The order/delivery execution was flawless. Probably this exp. may be
useful for someone looking for similar WS setup.

Below you may see two mid & high end configurations ($2667.95 /
$5027.95):

A link to the WS configuration page: http://www.neqx.com/config.asp?config_id=S4UXQC

Configuration:

Superserver:
SUPERMICRO SUPERWORKSTATION 7036A‐T (4xHD MAX.)
[base price = $671.95]

Processor 1 & 2:
Mid / High - (a) & (b) options accordingly:
a) DUAL INTEL XEON QC E5530 (2.40GHz/8MB/5.86GT/S) CPU [+$1150.00]
b) DUAL INTEL XEON QC W5580 (3.2GHz/8MB/6.4GT/S) CPU [+$3510.00]

Memory (Divided evenly between CPUs):
12GB (6x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz ECC REG.
[+ $474.00]

Hard DiskSATA1:
WESTERN DIGITAL WD3200AAKS: 320GB SATAII 7200RPM 16MB
[+$53.00]

Video card:
ASUS PCI‐EXPRESS EN9600GT/HTDI/512M NVIDIA GEFORCE EN9600GT
W/512MB DDR3
[+$109.00]

DVD Recorders:
SONY NEC AD‐7220S‐0B SATA (+) 22x8x18 (‐) 18x8x18 /48x32x48 DVDRW
& CDR‐W COMBO DRIVE INT.
[+ $45.00]

Operating System:
MS WINDOWS XP PRO 64‐BIT [+ $165.00]
NOTE: The subtotal before shipping and tax is $2667.95 ... $5027.95

Regards,
Stefan

P.S. It would be interesting to compare with "built in house" similar
setup.