mflanaga
...and there's plenty of opteron cpu deals floating around out there. The only thing you can't get away cheap with is the board and memory. You can use any old hard drive and a moderate PSU and you do not need a case so long as it won't be a hazard for anyone in your home.

I read the comment about "Opteron deals" quite often in various threads.  Does that mean used 6172 through 6174 series on eBay at ~$450-$500 per CPU or are there better prices somewhere?  Seems when I see prices below the $450 mark, it is usually associated with an eBay Seller that has little (or questionable) rating and the qty is typically one instead of four.

I wasn't referring to any particular current deal, just in general. I have seen some that pop-up on other folding team forums also from time to time.

mflanaga
There are some regular non-ebay server supply places that have legitimate deals, such as:
Description: HP - AMD OPTERON DODECA-CORE 6174 2.2GHZ 12MB L3 CACHE 3.2GHZ FSB SOCKET LGA-1974 PROCESSOR (598729-001). NEW BULK. IN STOCK.
QTY PRICE  
$662.00 I have dealt with these guys before. if you want a link, PM me

Thanks for the replies.  I was just testing the price ranges that I've been seeing to whatever you may have been seeing.  For me, I'm leaning toward an Interlagos such as the 6272.  In the $500 or greater cost category, I'd rather at least have a new processor with a warranty.  I know that the 6100 series has it's advantages, but from what I've read, the ILs are doing pretty well, just a bit behind some of the 61xx CPUs.
 
Shrek, the link that you shared just hangs up for me.  It appears to be a UK link and I'd be looking for a US source for product.
 
It is good for us to also share pricing deals that we find for those interested in building a 4P.  There are lots of choices in 61xx and 62xx series CPUs and associated price points.  Good hunting everyone...

Yep, I'd read that over at [H] and it is an excellent point for anyone that will overclock their Opterons, especially since Tear is the man that holds the cards on that custom BIOS for OC.  I'm not particularly hell-bent at this point to OC the Opterons, but I do like to OC...so, many things to consider for sure.  Thanks for adding that point Mf. 

I wonder if Nate could build some kind of custom cpu blocks?  Custom 4P cpu blocks! :D

shrekdaklown

there are some blocks out there already 
http://www.aquatuning.us/product_info.php/info/p10711_Aquacomputer-cuplex-kryos-Delrin-for-socket-G34--G1-4.html

http://www.dangerden.com/store/maze4-for-athlon64-opteron-754-939-940.html

http://koolance.com/cpu-360-processor-water-block

I know that there are others available.  Just that Nate does good work.  I'd rather pay him than someone else.

texinga

Agree about Nate...much beloved in the SR-2 circles for his blocks.

Back to Interlagos for a moment, I'd like to bounce a question off the 4P gurus.  Reading the AMD product info, it says that these chips have a "Turbo Core Max Frequency" thing built into them similar to what we see on Intel chips.  For the 6272 (which runs stock at 2.1GHz), the frequency can be kicked up to 3.0Ghz under load.  So, I'm thinking (and tell me if I have this wrong), why worry about trying to do a .5Ghz OC, using a custom BIOS on a 61XX Opteron if I can get 3.0GHz on the Interlagos chip anyway?

There's an interesting thread about Il's vc. magnys for folding. A little old now but still relevant to your question: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1652213
 
One post says it all:
 
"I am not optimistic about the results.

The SPEC benches show that the a 2.2ghz 48 core 6174 system is only 25% slower than a top of the line 64 core 6282 SE rig. This is despite the 6282 having a 36% clockspeed advantage (after all core turbo) AND a 33% core count increase.
http://www.spec.org/cpu2006/results/res2011q4/

About the only thing that has increased clock for clock with IL is power draw."
 

I really never looked in the pricing on the IL chips. So far I've purchased 6x 6100 series chips for under $350 per chip.
 
BTW Newegg had a several openbox dual Tyan board for $282
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813151213R

bowlinra
On the positive side, I may have been inspirited to start another guide: "How to make a homemade rack and folding servers in the garage without driving the AC bill thru the roof." Thoughts?

I thought you might be interested. I created a build guide for my garage rack.
Home Rack Garage Build - Beating the Folding Heat of Summer 

I tell ya guys, the best thing I ever did to allow/enable Folding in the summer was to install double-pane windows in my home.  It has literally been a "night and day" change that retains the AC so much better.  I can't unleash a bunch of GPUs, but am doing much more CPU Folding than ever before.  If you can, take a look at your situation from a sealed-home perspective.  If you're living in a home like I had that was built using the least expensive, base insulation methods, it can make a big difference (on several levels) to fix those problems. 
 
Let's go "EVGA Hell Folders" and let's fight to keep the #1 team position.  Don't give up no matter what [H] is doing or saying! 

bowlinra

Anyone gotten the July / August bill yet?

I'm practicing my Olympic sprints to the mailbox before the wife gets home everyday now!  

Yes mine was $522.xx!!!! $982.xx for a 2 month bill last time, had extra so paid $1200 so this month wouldn't be as hard to make.

With all the new arrays of 4P box popping up, I want everything to pay attention amount of heat that's generated can cause the house AC to work much harder than before and results in alot of additional cost.

I remember this topic.  Since I got my own place now, I have been very watchful of my electric usage.  So far $48 this month, but only recently has the A/C been on.  But also, the first thing I did when I moved in was to change every light bulb to a CFL or LED.  Now I'm getting the old windows replaced with energy star rated windows (< .30 U-Factor).  I do have my solar battery backup, but the solar panel isn't strong enough to power a folding rig 24/7, nor is the battery bank capcity high enough.  Its just enough to keep a refridgerator going for a week until power is restored.  Thou I am thinking about adding a 90-100 watt PV panel to the already 50W PV panel.