Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast
Results 11 to 20 of 21

Thread: GPU's gone wild

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Vermont, USA
    Posts
    1,379
    Hi PoorBoy!

    Thanks for the tip. I have had a hard time finding (helpful) info on that site. Not everyone posts their hardware setup, and the lines seem to blur across platforms.

    A simple solution for me on the Win 64 Box's is to not leave the BOINC Manager Window on any Manager Window that has activity.
    I'm must have missed this. I'll try it tonight.


    Brucifer,

    To me the 'best bang' would be an 8800GT (you can get them for ~$100 or less), with the fastest shader clock you can find (factory settings). You should be able to run a wu in around 15-17 hours, depending on your card.

    My eVga 8800GT increases my load around 60 watts when I apply 100% load (crunch) on it. I'm running a amd 9550 on ubuntu 8.04 and it pulls about 200-210 watts running 1 gpu and 3 boinc wu's...
    Last edited by Bender10; 10-26-2008 at 12:29 PM.
    Logic is the art of being wrong with confidence.


  2. #12
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Sydney, Australia
    Posts
    5,642
    Quote Originally Posted by Brucifer View Post
    For starters, what GPU cards are you talking about here?
    8800GTs are good if you can find any. Over here they've all sold out and you have to buy 9800GSOs or GTs for about $50 more (for the same card with a new name - nice Marketing Nvidia )


  3. #13
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Vermont, USA
    Posts
    1,379
    Hey Vaughan! I saw you made a splash into the world of PS3Grid.

    There was an new (ALPHA) client fielded the other day, 6.3.17 (on 10/24), that allows ALL CPU's to be utilized and allow the GPU to run solo. You can d/l it right from the Boinc site.

    Remember it is still an APLHA client. I installed it last night on my Win64 Quad, and it is running as advertised (4 CPU and 1 GPU tasks running).

    The Linux client should be out soon (I hope).
    Last edited by Bender10; 10-26-2008 at 12:31 PM.
    Logic is the art of being wrong with confidence.


  4. #14
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Vermont, USA
    Posts
    1,379
    My (Windows on AMD X2) GPU is actually using around 16-17% cycles from a CPU. But at least it is allowing 3 'total' (gpu + cpu) tasks to be performed at almost full speed.

    My Linux Quad GPU is using around 1-2% cycles and running 5 'total' tasks...
    Last edited by Bender10; 10-26-2008 at 10:08 PM.
    Logic is the art of being wrong with confidence.


  5. #15
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Vermont, USA
    Posts
    1,379
    Disclaimer: These readings are from my own observations of household power used, taken with a Kill.a.watt (P3) meter.

    I've been crunching on PS3grid for a little while...and the project has changed a bit since I started. Just a short time ago, the project Devs decided to provide support for GPU's (I guess the PS3 is just a big GPU anyway). But only Nvidia GPU's to date. Anyway, I have tried to stay with the GPU movement, and purchased a few to 'crunch' with. Here is a short rundown of my GPU units and their power consumption...

    All my 'crunchers' use onboard video, and have no other drives connected, execpt for the HD. Unless I have added a GPU to 'crunch' with. When I say '100% load', that is all cores crunching Boinc.

    I have added approx wu completion times. The time is variable (depending on the speed of your CPU), as the CPU impacts the speed at which the GPU is fed data.

    AMD 5200 X2 (65 w).....100% load.....~105 watts (baseline for comparison)
    OC'd to 2.8ghz
    w/ 8800GT.....................................---not tested yet...1 wu in 16 hours

    PS3 (40 gig).................100% load....~140 watts...........1 wu in 23 hours

    AMD 9550 X4 (95 w)......100% load....~140 watts (baseline for comparison)
    no OC, 2.2 ghz
    w/ 8800GS.....................................~200 watts (runs at ~ 50 C)....1 wu in 20 hours
    w/ 9800 GX2..................................~300 watts (runs at ~ 62 C)....1 wu (per gpu) in 15 hours

    Boy, when you add a GPU, you can say 'Good-Bye' to low power 'crunching'.
    Logic is the art of being wrong with confidence.


  6. #16
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Mid-Michigan
    Posts
    756
    Quote Originally Posted by Bender10 View Post
    Boy, when you add a GPU, you can say 'Good-Bye' to low power 'crunching'.
    but is that extra power worth the credit gained or would a separate entire comp be better(and more flexible)?


  7. #17
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Vermont, USA
    Posts
    1,379
    I am (for my own porpoises) experimenting with GPU's a bit. I am balancing my output (on PS3grid) by shutting down some crunchers. I have checked the power consumption of most of my boxes, as I have a ceiling for my power bill (self imposed).

    So, As I increase my power consumption to use a GPU. A standard cruncher has to get shut down. But I plan on upgrading my GPU boxes ( and some others...) to Quads this winter.

    Power 'trade-off'...As we know that mostly depends on the project you crunch, and how generous they are with their points, and how fast your 'crunchers' run through the wu's. Right now, as PS3grid is in 'Testing' mode (Alpha, Beta??), their points are locked at around 3,200 per wu. Is that good? Depends on how many you can 'crunch' in a day....

    Anyway, I still have ~7 crunchers, But I will only be running ~3 full time (each with a GPU).
    Logic is the art of being wrong with confidence.


  8. #18
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Posts
    638
    Keep up the great work Bender10. Any Idea how long it would take a quad core CPU to do one work unit?

    I have also added a PS3 for a bit. I also have to watch my electric bill as well.
    Last edited by Jason1478963; 11-22-2008 at 05:07 PM.



  9. #19
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Virginia, USA
    Posts
    969
    I toned down a bit also, , my bill was running about $450 a month during the summer. I have the windows open now at 27-34 degrees tonight.

  10. #20
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Posts
    638
    wow... I would think you would be able to shut the furnace off and heat your house with computers alone.



Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •