How much PPD from a GTS 250?

miniyazz

miniyazz

miniyazz

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So having recently acquired a GTS 250, I'm somewhat disappointed to note that my PPD may actually have gone down on replacing my 9800GT :confused:

I'm currently getting 4877 PPD on a 587 pointer with clocks at Core: 650, Shader: 1700, Memory: 875.
One of my 8800GTs is currently doing a 587 pointer (not a direct comparison, but pretty close) and is clocked at 700, 1800, 800 and is getting 5229 PPD.

Now by my reckoning, even assuming memory counts for nothing (which it doesn't), the 8800GT is set to <8% faster on the core and <6% on the shaders. Assuming it's 8% faster across the board, this gives an estimated 4842 PPD on the 8800 if clocked the same as the 250, which would be accurate if the 8800 and 250 were the same cards.

However, the GTS 250 has more shaders (128 vs 112) so as a rough estimate I should be expecting 5533 PPD from the 250 and 4842 PPD from the 8800, at equivalent clock speeds, which is over 10% more than what I'm actually getting.

Any thoughts on why I'm getting such relatively poor PPD? I noticed similarly poor PPD doing a 353 pointer as well :(
 
I'm not sure, but as a point of reference I have a GTS250 that's currently clocked at 702/1840/1000. It's just finished a 587 pointer (project 10516); at those clocks for that WU Fahmon reports a PPD of a smidgen under 6,000.
 
That definitely sounds like mine's underperforming then (although mine's doing p10501). Forgot to mention, I've tried it with and without -forcegpu nvidia_g80, no change, although perhaps I wouldn't expect there to be.

The only thing I'm noticing really is that MSI Afterburner indicates GPU usage is around 91% which would definitely explain the lower PPD, but I can't figure out why it wouldn't be maxing out. Configuration options are set to use maximum GPU power :confused:
 
For me, according to GPU-Z GPU load is at 99%. I've not used the -forcegpu flag so I don't know if that affects anything or not.

Are you sure yours is running at 3D clocks? As a side, the drivers I'm using are 197.45 - I know they're old but they work :p. I also have SLI disabled and Physx enabled, but I've no idea if either of those settings make any difference. The only other thing to add is that I'm running under XP.
 
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Doesnt seem right at all, my 8800 @ 600/1674/900 does 5200-5500 on a 353 pointer off the top of my head, have you increased core priority at all?
 
How would I check it's running at 3D clocks? GPU-Z reports the GPU clock being what I wrote above - would that simply reduce if I were using 2D clocks?

The drivers I'm using are 257.21 and it's on 7 x64 so I could try using older ones.

GPU-Z is reporting a steady 94% load.

I've set the priority of all folding processes to Above Normal, running -smp 7 so one core free for GPU and my usual workload, and there's always 3-8% (24-64% of the core) free, so I don't think the CPU component is being bottlenecked.
 
If GPUz says 3D clocks it should be ok.

Are you using MSi afterburner or EVGA wotsit to clock the cards? That has a monitoring tool as well which is what I use, you can clearly see the card ramp up when it starts folding.

My 9800GT Greens both do exactly 4,919.23 for a 353 @1500 shaders, actually with the core and memory clocked down lower than default. And thats off a Core2Quad non overclocked and crunching on the CPU at the same time.

So all we are left with is OS and drivers. You are on 7 x64 and I'm on XP32

Driver wise I'm on 197.xx something for the 9800GT's my other GPU machines are on 257.xx same as you but not the same GPU cores (Fermis)

Only one other thing, you said you set folding processes to above normal.

If you are using the console, run the configonly flag and in the advanced section set the Core Priority (idle/low):
CPU should be set to idle
GPU should be set to low
 
I've dropped back to the 197.13 drivers as I had them lying around. It has improved the MSI Afterburner/GPU-Z reported usage but it's still not sitting at 99% usage like the other cards, it varies between that and 96% - which tbh I might have to be happy with. The sun's started heating up my room quite a bit though so I'm having to clock back at the moment to keep things under 100ºC, which could be affecting things.

I'll stop automatically adjusting process priority for the moment and let the folding clients manage it themselves. It'll take a few hours for new WUs to be loaded but I'll see how it's doing around lunchtime and if there's any change.

Thanks for the help so far and I'll update with any progress :)
 
No improvement on the GPU usage with the default priorities (cpu idle, gpus slightly higher).

TBH temperatures are killing my PPD at the moment because of having to clock back. I may sell the GTS 250 on and stick with the 9800gt depending on how things go over the next couple of days.
 
In case anyone's interested, as a one-off today I noticed the GTS 250 hit 6770PPD on a p5772 :) Only for about one frame though unfortunately, but it has the potential! Highest I've reached on 353 pointers with the 8800GTs is ~6250PPD.
 
Just seen this, I thought you couldn't fold with different shader gpus in the same rig? I seem to remember reading somewhere that it pulls the PPD down to the lower gpu.
 
No they fixed that.

Plus a 250 is really just a 9800GTX which is really a 8800GTS

Just slightly different iterations of the same G90/92 core
 
Excellent, if my GS's start to die I'll be able to replace them for something different :)
 
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