Garage Cruncher

BrownSparrow · 12 Oct 2010 at 14:59

Hi,

I was after some thoughts and words of advice.

My folks have said i can stick a machine in their garage for folding duties, we have friends and family that are afflicted by some of the conditions that folding is working on so they are happy to cover electricity costs.

I'm on a budget however and i haven't got any old machines with a PCI-e capable board. So, i was thinking along the lines of getting one of the cheaper pre-built overclockers systems (or building a cheapo one myself) and slapping a GTX460 in it.

I'm aware the psu's in the cheaper builds might need upgrading, but if you could build a single 460 system for between £300 - £400, do you think it'll be worth the expenditure? Could you/would it be worth while running an smp client as well on a core2duo or lesser cpu?

Thanks

Frozennova · 12 Oct 2010 at 15:37

GPUs offer the best performance per £ so a low cost Athlon dual core on a board that will take multiple GPUs is your cheapest option.

shadowscotland · 12 Oct 2010 at 16:20

MM wanted thread should get you a full system for £50 or so.
Freecycle even less if you have transport.
as long as it has a pci-e slot your good to go as a single 460 (especially if you down clock the core) doesn't take much juice

datalol-jack · 12 Oct 2010 at 17:29

as long as it has a pci-e slot your good to go as a single 460 (especially if you down clock the core) doesn't take much juice

It should be fine with a low power CPU and a steady entry level PSU; however, clocking down the core on an 4xx card is not advisable as it is hard linked to the shader clock in a 1:2 ratio.

Biffa · 12 Oct 2010 at 17:53

1. MM is out he doesn't have access
2. Spherical man parts to the concept the GPU is best bang for buck

If I was building a folding machine (not not Boinc) I'd build an i7 860 system for around 400 notes. Thats 30K PPD easy.

BrownSparrow · 12 Oct 2010 at 18:05

How many posts was it to qualify for mm, 500 or so wasn't it?

Hmm that sounds interesting, i could add gpu's over time.

miniyazz · 12 Oct 2010 at 18:19

250 posts is what you need for the MM

BrownSparrow · 12 Oct 2010 at 18:27

I need to get spamming!!

Looking at a cheap i7 build atm, what would you recommend as a minnimum psu? I think i have a spare 750w laying about.

datalol-jack · 12 Oct 2010 at 18:56

For a folding rig, depending on what you expect out of it, you could start as low as an efficient 400W model. If you plan to do a dual/triple mid range GPU upgrade later on, then your 750W will do nicely. Going the Xeon route might also be an option due to a lower power draw and fairly competitive pricing under P55 chipset compared to an i7.

BrownSparrow · 12 Oct 2010 at 19:12

I would like to go dual, maybe even tri gpu at some point so will try to accommodate accordingly, my only worry is home many connectors the psu has.

datalol-jack · 12 Oct 2010 at 19:18

You can get PCI-E power adaptors for those, which normally come with the cards or very cheap if bought online.

Snapshot · 12 Oct 2010 at 21:53

Biffa said:
If I was building a folding machine (not not Boinc) I'd build an i7 860 system for around 400 notes. Thats 30K PPD easy.

What do you need to clock an i7 860 at to get 30k PPD? Mine's at 3.3GHz and I'm not getting half that with a single SMP client.

Biffa · 12 Oct 2010 at 23:09

You need 3.8 and bigadv mate, once you get to around 35min TPF you start to fly

Biffa · 12 Oct 2010 at 23:48

Snapshot · 13 Oct 2010 at 07:32

Biffa said:
You need 3.8 and bigadv mate, once you get to around 35min TPF you start to fly

Thanks. Might try that as a project after my November holiday. I've had the rig up to around 3.5 when I was running bigadv but it was getting a bit warm so 3.8 might be my excuse to try watercooling.

BrownSparrow · 13 Oct 2010 at 09:52

Well i've had a look at a couple of options, i'm a little out of touch with components, so i might not have the correct memory etc. I have the PSU, dvd drive, and i think i've got a spare hard drive lying about. Let me know what you think..

Frozennova · 13 Oct 2010 at 10:07

I'd go the i7 route personally, get some cheaper ram, and a better case and cooler

dekez · 13 Oct 2010 at 10:22

Will 4Gb be enough to run bigadv?

Biffa · 13 Oct 2010 at 10:39

yep, bigadv on windows only uses 1GB

To the OP

Basket #1 25-30K points per day (if you overclock that CPU to 3.8 or 4.0Ghz)
Basket #2 11-15K points per day (if you overclock the CPU and GPU)

Notes:
1. You will need some sort of video card for Basket #1 but any old cheapo card will do.
2. Shop around you can get some good bargains
3. Because of the overclocking needs I specced a cooler case and better CPU cooler but YMMV
4. I too assumed you would be using some kit you already have

If you do go down the GPU route you might want to look at the GTS450, apparently overclocked they are pushing 12K

BrownSparrow · 13 Oct 2010 at 11:07

Are they easy to OC? Bit of a noob on that front, both for cpu's and gpu's. I also worry about stability when people start talking about oc'ing - its going to be left alone for long periods so i want as little admin as poss.

Thought all the modern boards had video on them these days, missed that!

Is the freezer 7 pro not up to the task then?