Prices and components change so quickly that I will not attempt to give more details. There are better sites for this information. Start here . The system then has 16 processors and 8 GB of memory. As for rack mounting, yes the cases cost me about 2.5 times the cost of a good stand alone case but, these cases will outlive me and the airflow through these cases is great.
Heat is a major killer of computer components.
I want a system that would last me for 3-4 years with a minimum amount of down time. If that costs me a few thousand dollars more, it seems worth it. Cabernet currently runs MC3D - Parallel, a code for solving the equations of motion for mantle convection in a 3D Cartesian geometry. MC3D was developed by Carl Gable and Brian Travis at Los Alamos National Lab. I worked on the parallelization of MC3D in the Spring of 1999 while on Sabbatical at IGPP Los Alamos.