Kindly request advice about Hardware
#1
Hello All,

I would like to buy a new machine to run the oclHashcat. I kindly request you all to advice me about the hardware selection .

1. Gainward GeForce® GTX 980 4GB (http://www.gainward.com/main/vgapro.php?id=952&lang=en)

2. Gainward GeForce® GTX 970 4GB (http://www.gainward.com/main/vgapro.php?id=954&lang=en)

Does these two models got the reference design ?

Can I expect these models to have the following performance results ?

http://golubev.com/gpuest.htm

GeForce GTX 970 1664 1178 1960.19+ 8067M 2579M 49128 1226964 149889 4d 11h $329 7.84
GeForce GTX 980 2048 1216 2490.37+ 10248M 3277M 62415 1558822 190430 3d 12h $549 5.97

Is there any specific motherboard, memory, processor, HDD model should be considered for the optimum performance of oclHashcat along with any of these GPU ? Does the other components got any significant role in the oclHsahtcat performance ?. Is there can be any performance bottle neck ?

Also can I use two Gainward GeForce® GTX 980 4GB or two Gainward GeForce® GTX 970 4GB in a same machine ?

Thank you very much for your advice and help,

Regard's

vBoyz
#2
Yes, both are reference designs. And you can also use two of them in one machine.

That said the rest is less important. Get a SSD and you're fine. 16GB RAM and you're fine.

CPU is needed only for the CPU version of hashcat and stuff like sorting or zipping, so a nice i3 with HyperThreading performs ok and sufficient under hashcat. The bigger Quadcores without HT are not that big step forward compared to their price. The next push comes from the Quadcores with HT, like a 4790K, but the price jump to the i3 is rather big. Tip: a Xeon CPU gets you Quadcore and HT and only lacks the overclocking feature. If you don't want to overclock anyway, it's your choice (E3-1230/1231/1240/1241, all v3 because that's the newest Core with AVX2). All these are socket 1150 of course. If you really want to do lots of CPU hashcat a 6-core i7-5820X might even be better for you. AMDs 8320/8350/8370 is also a good and cheap alternative, although the motherboards are a bit outdated.

A good motherboard with chipset Z-series will be prepared for two graphic cards. Wouldn't be bad if your case has some coolers to keep everything silent. If you don't have a case, take a look at the Cooltek W2, it's very nice.

That's it in a nutshell Wink

And most mportant, don't save money on the PSU. 1000W are fine if you use two GTX980. If you plan to enhance someday to a third or even fourth, get a 1200W or 1500 model.
#3
Thank you very much for your reply and advice.

Finally I decided the following configuration.

2 x Gainward GeForce® GTX 970 4GB (http://www.gainward.com/main/vgapro.php?id=954&lang=en)

E3 - 1240

Samsung 250GB 850 EVO SSD SATA3 MZ-75E250B/EU

ASRock Z87 Extreme3

4 x Crucial 4GB DDR3 1600MHz CL11

Raidmax Thunder Pro RX-1000AE

Thermaltake V3 Black Edition VL80001W2Z Black SECC


Could you please review my final hardware selection ?
#4
Well from here it looks ok. Instead of 4x4GB RAM I would buy 2x8GB to save the slots for a later upgrade.
And the mainboard can only handle two GCs, if you want to upgrade later there will be no way. If that concerns you check out the Gigabyte GA-Z87X-OC Force or ASRock Z97 OC Formula. But then of course they are more expensive. Besides your selection looks flawless.