# Can you spec me a super-fast number-crunching computer?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-spec-me-a-super-fast-number-crunching-computer/178098>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 28, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-spec-me-a-super-fast-number-crunching-computer/178098 "2003-05-28T20:18:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Tomcat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Tomcat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tomcat)\
**Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-spec-me-a-super-fast-number-crunching-computer/178098/21 "2003-05-30T07:46:13Z")

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Aaahhh…thanks. I can’t void warranties with company stuff, too irresponsible for shareholders.

-Tcat

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**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\
**Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-spec-me-a-super-fast-number-crunching-computer/178098/22 "2003-05-30T11:55:40Z")

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Hmm… overclocking and serious number crunching computers arent a healthy mix. Especially if you produce erronenous output.

As for the Tyan’s. The MPX chipset is getting very dated (single channel 133Mhz DDR, no SATA, no Gigibit LAN etc) It would probably be far more cost effective to go with a faster single processor, especially if memory bandwidth is a concern.

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**Author:** ![Inoshiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a9adbd/32.png) [@Inoshiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inoshiro)\
**Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-spec-me-a-super-fast-number-crunching-computer/178098/23 "2003-05-30T17:54:07Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Tomcat \*  
> \*\*Because that is what I use in the office, and that is what my employees know…I need to be able to run MatLab and Statistica, as well as Excel to translate it into a useable format (or at least have an exportable file to Excel). Plus the data I will be using comes from Bloomberg, so it needs to be able to use DDE links (hmm, maybe just text files, hmmm…)
> 
> \*\*

Matlab runs on Linux. Don’t know about Statistica. You can use [Open Office](http://www.openoffice.org/) (free, runs on Linux) to create spreadsheets in Excel format.

> [@](#):
>
> \*\*  
> I do have a Linux server, so…I can run it on that. But if you are suggesting a different system or setup, then please suggest away and I will listen.
> 
> Plus, I have heard that dual-processors are the fastest, and that they only work on Windows systems. Correct me if I am wrong.
> 
> -Tcat \*\*

Um, no. Linux has supported dual processors for years. It also scales to thousands of processors if you need it.  
[(Beowulf clusters)](http://www.beowulf.org/).

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