Personal computing discussed
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I might start saving for a dedicated folding build as a side project of mine. I want to make sure I get the most bang for the buck with one PC, so I assume I would do a 4 video card setup.
Just to make sure, is it possible to have 4 GPU's on one motherboard fold efficiently? Will I need a quad core CPU to handle all the processing or will a dual core CPU be ok?
In terms of power, how big of a power supply would I need? Is there any type of calculator where I can determine what power supply will be good enough for a 4 video card setup that will just be folding? I'm assuming that I would get 4 8800gt's.
How many amps would the PC be drawing? Would it be anywhere near tripping the circuit breaker when connected to a standard power strip? Is there a standard tripping point? (In case I add another older PC's to the farm)
flybywire wrote:David, the 9600GSO's are getting around 3700ppd while the 8800GS is getting around 4400ppd. Keep in mind that the 9600s' cores are all running at 550MHz while the 8800's core is at 680MHz. I'll try to overclock the 9600's to get their ppd closer to 4000. One thing I'd learned from this project is that when you're setting up a mult-gpu setup, you need to have cards with similar number of stream processors, otherwise the performance will be impacted drastically. For example, I used to have the 8800GS sitting in a system with an 8800GT (112 SP's) and the ppd for the 8800GS (96 SP's) was 3000, however, when I moved it to this setup with the 9600GSO's (96 SP's), the 8800GS' ppd when up to 4400.
themattman wrote:I have none, so you are better than me already.Thanks for the post flybywire. With my mediocre soldering skills I think I could pull that off.
themattman wrote:There is no Linux GPU client yet AFAIK. So your host system will have to be XP or Vista (probably Vista since the GPU2 client CPU utilization is less). Should you decide to run a CPU client in addition to the GPU clients, then you have a choice of WinSingleCore, WinSMP, or LinuxSMP via virtualization.For the most PPD, would it be better to run Linux, XP, Vista, or Linux through XP/Vista? Are linux drivers usually up-to-date?
themattman wrote:I would think a 600 is good enough. But those Corsair 750TX's are quite cheap.Trying to cut costs but not quality, would a 600 watt power supply be sufficient for the PC's use or should I play it safe and go with a 750W power supply?
themattman wrote:David reported the 2nd GPU on this GX2 not doing the same ppd as the 1st, so may be 4 single-GPU cards would be better? Not sure about this one. People in the know should chime in on this.Would it be better to do a 4 card setup or get two 9800GX2's? Which would give the most PPD after some light overclocking?
themattman wrote:P182 is not exactly cost-effective (cheap), but it is quiet. If the box is folding only I would go as cheap as possible.As a sidenote, I am looking around for a cool and quiet case. The Antec P182 looks like a quality choice.
Flying Fox wrote:flybywire wrote:David, the 9600GSO's are getting around 3700ppd while the 8800GS is getting around 4400ppd. Keep in mind that the 9600s' cores are all running at 550MHz while the 8800's core is at 680MHz. I'll try to overclock the 9600's to get their ppd closer to 4000. One thing I'd learned from this project is that when you're setting up a mult-gpu setup, you need to have cards with similar number of stream processors, otherwise the performance will be impacted drastically. For example, I used to have the 8800GS sitting in a system with an 8800GT (112 SP's) and the ppd for the 8800GS (96 SP's) was 3000, however, when I moved it to this setup with the 9600GSO's (96 SP's), the 8800GS' ppd when up to 4400.
Could it be just the WU mix that you are getting?
JPinTO wrote:
As a note, I'm finding a lot of high frequency screaching from the Nvidia GPU's. I had a high acclaimed PCPower&Cooling 750Watt supply that made a 9800GX2 screach to the point it drove myself and my wife crazy. I swapped the PS for a Zalman 850W, and the whining noise dropped dramatically.
JPinTO wrote:It's "-gpu 0" not "-gpu0", right?
david00214 wrote:JPinTO wrote:It's "-gpu 0" not "-gpu0", right?
Yes indeed. Thanks! At appears I need that remedial reading class after all
JPinTO wrote:david00214 wrote:JPinTO wrote:It's "-gpu 0" not "-gpu0", right?
Yes indeed. Thanks! At appears I need that remedial reading class after all
Resolved, then?
farmpuma wrote:David,
Are you running a second video card along with your 9800GX2 and if so, what motherboard are you using? If it's a mobo that switches the PCIe x16 slots to PCIe x8 when two physical cards are installed, you might be running out of bandwidth for your 9800GX2.
flybywire,
Congrats on a sweet quad GPU setup and thanks for the how to do it! I like my Antec 300 almost as much as I like my Antec 900.
JPinTO wrote:I got my underproducing 9800GX2 + 8800GTS PC back online. I removed the 8800GTS, powered WinXP up and down, reseated the 8800GTS and I've got 5000PPD on all 3 GPU's.
My symptoms were that GPU-Z was reporting no Shaders on one GPU. My shaders are back (for now), and I'm back to 16000PPD. Finicky sucker.
david00214 wrote:
JPinTO wrote:david00214 wrote:
Did you try installing it in another PC to see if it is the 9800GX2 issue or a PC issue (OS/motherboard)? PITB for sure, but worth it for the 3500PPD that you are missing.
Alternately, I guess you could deinstall the card and drivers, and reinstall it to see if it will help.
- JP
JPinTO wrote:Nice work flybywire! I've been slacking, You're catching up.
farmpuma wrote:flybywire,
Congrats on a sweet quad GPU setup and thanks for the how to do it! I like my Antec 300 almost as much as I like my Antec 900.
david00214 wrote:PPD is at 6900 for my 9800GX2. It's still underperforming