Recently, I had
to place an order for a work desktop (and of course you all know that I work
with neuroimaging data). So, I had to specify the minimum requirements that I
needed in the system. Anyone who has done something like this before would
understand the complications (and the joy) associated with this.
There are a
number of parameters to choose from especially when you don’t have a very
strict restriction of money. This is complicated by the fact that there are no
guidelines that tell you how to proceed. Since, I went through this (and had
nothing else to do), I decided to write this post about how I went ahead with
the specifications.
Note: Following
are mere guidelines!!
First of all,
you need to ask certain questions.
1.
Type of work: What kind of data processing do you require? Does
your work include basic fMRI processing (resting state and task related), structural
analysis, DTI analysis or connectivity analysis etc. Certain kind of analysis
would require more processing and RAM while others don’t. My work involves
basic task related analysis of fMRI data as well as some structural analysis.
2.
Amount of Money: How much money are you allowed to spend? This might
sound trivial, however, money is a very big constraint and you would preferably
try to reduce the costs (I will give both high end as well as less expensive
options both of which should work fine).
3. Assembled
or not? Do you have the
required technical skills to assemble a desktop from basic parts? In most
cases, this may not be valid, as most of you would have a purchase/technical
store that would get assembled computers from manufactures. Getting an
assembled configuration gives you lesser choices but is already optimized by
the provider company so that you don’t have to worry about compatibility
issues.
So here are my
recommendations. I believe it’s always better to get a system better than your
current requirements (as they are sort of investments and are not bought
frequently).
The three things
that you need to pay the most attention to are : CPU, RAM, Graphics card.
CPU:
There are two major providers of CPU- Intel and AMD. I personally don’t have
experience with AMD processors. Intel produces a large variety of CPU
processors and there are a number of them to choose. The most famous being the
i series processors for laptops and desktops. What you should prefer, however,
are the Intel Xeon processors. These are workstation processors designed for
stability and continuous work (which I believe most of the neuroimaging folks
would relate to!!). Xeon processors are classified according to the series (no
surprises there!!). E5 I believe are the latest (as of March 2014). CPU benchmarks
(passmark) is a great tool to know how the processor you have chosen performs
compared to other processors in the market. You should also check their price
performance (compared to price how good they are).
My choices for
the CPU:
3.
Intel Xeon E5-1650 @ 3.20GHz
4.
Intel Core i7-4930K @ 3.40GHz
RAM:
RAM is a critical component of the system and you would require lots of it
especially for neuroimaging analysis!! Generally, the more the better. A RAM of
around 16 GB (preferably divided as 8x2 or better 4x4 ) should work for most of
the analysis. Also, it’s important to get the latest and the best in the
technology. I would suggest getting DDR3 (third level of RAM technology) at 1866MHz.
My choice:
1.
16
GB DDR3 1866MHz
Graphics Cards: Many researchers would say that graphics cards are not
necessary component of a neuroimaging system.
However, recent advances in image processing and use of heavy
visualization softwares requires using atleast a mid level graphics card. It’s
important to note that while many of us would be tempted to get the best
graphics card from GeForce or Tegra or Tesla (mostly so that the system can
satiate our gaming needs as well!!) , Quadro are the preferred graphics cards
for neuroimaging analysis. These are designed to be workstation graphics cards
and are stable and can work continuously for hours.
My choices:
1. NVIDIA®
Quadro® K2000 2GB GDDR5 CUDA core
2.
NVIDIA® Quadro® 2000D
3.
NVIDIA®
Quadro® 600, 1 GB, 96 CUDA cores,
There are other
requirements that are not so critical like hard disk, operating system,
monitor. But they depend more on your preference. I would recommend 2
mechanical Hard disk 1TB or 2TB each (SSDs are new, not so stable, have had
issues with Linux!!). I personally prefer Ubuntu 12.04 (Long term support)
and a high resolution 23 inch
(1920x1080) monitor.
I took considerable
help from these additional resources:
