Dedicated folding GPU and Gaming GPU

Paddy4929

Paddy4929

Paddy4929

Associate
Joined
23 Feb 2009
Posts
38
Hello all,

I have an ASUS P5Q Deluxe mother board with a 280GTX running on it. I am curently only folding on this card part-time as when I'm gaming I have to turn off folding otherwise my FPS drops too much in COD4/5 etc.
I noticed another PCI-E 2.0 slot, I am considering purchasing another 280GTX. I am aware that you can setup multi-GPU's for folding. But is it possible to fold on one 280GTX and use the other just for gaming? Will the GPU folding in background effect the gaming GPU?

Regards Paddy
 
Yes its possible (at least it should be), and no it should not effect your in game performance as the client uses almost no CPU time. All you would have to do is make sure SLI/physx are not enabled and then add the '-gpu 1' flag to the second client to tell the client to target only the second card. The SLI thing should not be an issue on the p5q board since its non SLI - i am a little less sure how physx would work if you wanted to use that in game. I imagine you can target that to one card as well, although i am not sure.

If you want to maximise your ppd, make sure to get a card with the same number of shaders as the GTX (really only another GTX280), else you may run into the shader bug problem. Running an 8/9 series card along with a GTX series also seems to cause some problems, so its probably best to avoid this combination too!
 
yep its possible, i'm currently using two 8800gtx's for folding and a third for my gaming all on the same mobo.
Only thing to consider is that under vista you have to fool the OS into thinking there is a second monitor attached and extend your desktop onto it.
 
Brill thanks for the replies. I will be purchasing another 280GTX soon. I'm on vista64 so I'm gonna make some 'dummy' plugs' for the 2nd monitor.
 
It'll be fine if you can keep it cool. The 200 series do not play nicely with older generations despite using the same set of drivers. I haven't got my 8800gt working along side the 280 yet and I've been trying off and on for weeks
 
Hello, My specs are as follows:

1000W PSU
Asus P5Q Deluxe MB
Intel quad core
4gb Ram
280GTX
250GTS
OS: Vista 64 bit
Nvidia drivers: 182.50

I have recently added the 250GTS into the second PCI-E slot. I was going to have the 250GTS folding 24/7 whislt I use the 280GTX part-time for folding and gaming. I have followed the multi-GPU setup guide, the 250GTS shows up and I have made a dummy plug and extended the desktop. Unfortunately when I try to fold on the 250GTS it EUE's straight away. I'm at a loss as to how I can correct this problem. I have put the last portion of the log below. Any help would be appreciated.

05:14:28] + Attempting to send results [April 22 05:14:28 UTC]
[05:14:29] + Results successfully sent
[05:14:29] Thank you for your contribution to Folding@Home.
[05:14:33] - Preparing to get new work unit...
[05:14:33] + Attempting to get work packet
[05:14:33] - Connecting to assignment server
[05:14:33] - Successful: assigned to (171.67.108.11).
[05:14:33] + News From Folding@Home: GPU folding beta
[05:14:34] Loaded queue successfully.
[05:14:35] + Closed connections
[05:14:40]
[05:14:40] + Processing work unit
[05:14:40] Core required: FahCore_11.exe
[05:14:40] Core found.
[05:14:40] Working on queue slot 00 [April 22 05:14:40 UTC]
[05:14:40] + Working ...
[05:14:40]
[05:14:40] *------------------------------*
[05:14:40] Folding@Home GPU Core - Beta
[05:14:40] Version 1.19 (Mon Nov 3 09:34:13 PST 2008)
[05:14:40]
[05:14:40] Compiler : Microsoft (R) 32-bit C/C++ Optimizing Compiler Version 14.00.50727.762 for 80x86
[05:14:40] Build host: amoeba
[05:14:40] Board Type: Nvidia
[05:14:40] Core :
[05:14:40] Preparing to commence simulation
[05:14:40] - Looking at optimizations...
[05:14:40] - Created dyn
[05:14:40] - Files status OK
[05:14:40] - Expanded 46689 -> 252912 (decompressed 541.6 percent)
[05:14:40] Called DecompressByteArray: compressed_data_size=46689 data_size=252912, decompressed_data_size=252912 diff=0
[05:14:40] - Digital signature verified
[05:14:40]
[05:14:40] Project: 5765 (Run 11, Clone 362, Gen 266)
[05:14:40]
[05:14:40] Assembly optimizations on if available.
[05:14:40] Entering M.D.
[05:14:47] Working on Protein
[05:14:47] Run: exception thrown during GuardedRun
[05:14:47] Run: exception thrown in GuardedRun -- Gromacs cannot continue further.
[05:14:47] Going to send back what have done -- stepsTotalG=0
[05:14:47] Work fraction=0.0000 steps=0.
[05:14:51] logfile size=0 infoLength=0 edr=0 trr=23
[05:14:51] - Writing 635 bytes of core data to disk...
[05:14:51] Done: 123 -> 123 (compressed to 100.0 percent)
[05:14:51] ... Done.
[05:14:51]
[05:14:51] Folding@home Core Shutdown: UNSTABLE_MACHINE
[05:14:55] CoreStatus = 7A (122)
[05:14:55] Sending work to server
[05:14:55] Project: 5765 (Run 11, Clone 362, Gen 266)
[05:14:55] - Read packet limit of 540015616... Set to 524286976.


[05:14:55] + Attempting to send results [April 22 05:14:55 UTC]
[05:14:56] + Results successfully sent
[05:14:56] Thank you for your contribution to Folding@Home.
[05:15:00] EUE limit exceeded. Pausing 24 hours.
 
You might have trouble folding on your GPU as the 280GTX dont get along well with the 250GTS as it is based on the G92 core.
 
Biffa said:
But the 280 will fold at 260 speeds as far as I am aware
Click to expand...

i dont know about that as ive found with my gx2 and my 8800gts 320 folding together in the same rig the gts card seems to be the one not folding to its full potential.
the gts seems to running at a 1000ppd lower now than when it was running together with another 8800gts 320.
When i had the 2 gts running i was averaging 8000 ppd now with 1 of them running with my gx2 im only averaging around 13000 ppd.
if i run the gx2 on its own i average around 10500 ppd so im losing around 1000 - 1500 ppd by running the 2 different cards together.
i only wish it worked out mathematically with the gx2's added 10500ppd to 1 of the gts's 4000 ppd giving me an average of upto 15000 ppd.
 
I think it depends on what order you have the cards, whichever one is initated first the other cards will take their queue from. I'm surprised you don't have more problems, yes the two cards are pretty close but isnt the GTS a G80 card and the GX2 a G92?

Also the cores we crunch have changed quite a lot recently, have you checked what the GTS does on its own with the current work units? It could be that its just struggling.

Looking here it seems that 8800GTS 320 is about the same as a 8800GS or 9600GSO in terms of performance, I know my 8800GS was starting to fall behind compared to everything else I had.

8800spec.png


I don't have experience with mismatched cards, I read enough about it before going multi-gpu, and I know that its hard enough getting 3 or 4 cards playing nicely together without making it harder for myself. :D

So my experience is limited to running 3 or 4 of the same card sorry.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom