Let's go Team !!

[_dangtx_]

basically if you got the cash(or willing to spend) a big chunk off the bat, bigadv single or dual socket(wich duallie mobo is cheap and oc's?). if not, then you may want to fish a 4pci-e board and cards as they come for cheap

 

[El_Fiendo]

Yes, they are indeed.

Interesting read (again), single vs. dual sockets. I'm not convinced if the dual socket solution - overclocked - would not be a viable solution under a linux environment. And I say overclocked, since not one single dual socket board can do so - unless I'm mistaken. My E5520s run bone stock, with a 33 minutes tpf. Imagine oc'ed...

The new EVGA dual socket board that will be out in a couple of months supports overclocking, so if you'd be willing to upgrade to that you should be able to do it. It's the only one I've seen do it, though I've heard stories of SetFSB OC'ing. Haven't seen proof of it though.

As for CPU folding vs. GPU, my decision came from feasibility of my basement and resources. I run 2 machines packed to the gills with folding hardware instead of numerous smaller ones simply because only one circuit feeds my entire basement. I think 3 machines + extra fluff on it would leave it at almost max draw for that breaker, as I've popped the breaker with 3 machines + extra fluff and a steam cleaner. Three machines wouldn't work so great as I've also got a TV in the basement that gets used alot as well. With that in mind, I decided to cut down on electrical overhead by getting higher end stuff instead of a higher quantity of lower end. Now I'm at the point of wanting to upgrade my farm again, but I want to get the electrical up to snuff first so all I did was delay the problem.

Get what works best for you, or what you feel would be the most fun to work with. I swear by my i7, I deem it to be one of the best computers I've purchased to date (and I barely use the thing in favor of my Phenom II :haha.

 

[lowfat]

Yes, they are indeed.

Interesting read (again), single vs. dual sockets. I'm not convinced if the dual socket solution - overclocked - would not be a viable solution under a linux environment. And I say overclocked, since not one single dual socket board can do so - unless I'm mistaken. My E5520s run bone stock, with a 33 minutes tpf. Imagine oc'ed...

Is this under LMware or native Linux? If VMware you are just using 8 threads, not 16. Would be a considerably improvement.

And I can imagine once the eVGA board hits, most of the folders who are using multi-CPU LGA1366 systems will be purchasing one. Even a mild OC of 3.6GHz w/ a pair of E5520's will make enourmous PPD.

 

[MarkOne]

Call me old Fashioned but I still prefer a Multiple GPU solution machine to the CPU Crunchers.

will start to thing the same here. yesterday after my bigadv finish I get only a regular WU.

For the multi CPU ... we are just talking here, I spent all the money I have on folding for now , does not stop to dream and talk about it .

3.0 bring a little detail than I forget... OC ,
so Dan unless you find me a cheap board with dual socket that OC... I believe the single socket I7 is the cost effective one.

I also have a dual socket board, supermicro like 3.0 but older model, 6 years old I think, with Xeon single core with HT, and Scii Cheetah and Adaptec card . I buy it at the time for the trill of it. now it's use only for keep my Acomba accounting software and some excel and word files. very cost effective :doh:

And I can imagine once the eVGA board hits, most of the folders who are using multi-CPU LGA1366 systems will be purchasing one. Even a mild OC of 3.6GHz w/ a pair of E5520's will make enourmous PPD.

why I have the feeling than this guy will make me fill my CC do we have a way to put the word EVGA in the ignore list

 

[chrisk]

Call me old Fashioned but I still prefer a Multiple GPU solution machine to the CPU Crunchers.
Mainly because if a WU fails, What I lose to Science is small. And Points loss even smaller (1 Card Craps out its 5-8K). And if A Card Fails , it is easily replaced. When one of those WU fails for you guys its a big loss, and if something gets dumped in your system then it takes much longer to recover. That being said your rigs also take less power than mine, Generate less heat and are easier to maintain once setup.

To Each their own. I'll keep building my Farms.

ST

I'm just running 5 clients for high 60K PPD total, and my circuit breaker complains less often than when I was getting high 30K PPD.

 

[3.0charlie]

Is this under LMware or native Linux? If VMware you are just using 8 threads, not 16. Would be a considerably improvement.

And I can imagine once the eVGA board hits, most of the folders who are using multi-CPU LGA1366 systems will be purchasing one. Even a mild OC of 3.6GHz w/ a pair of E5520's will make enourmous PPD.

VMware, unfortunately (8 threads indeed). This is my main rig, and I need Windows apps. Since I still can use the rig while it folds, I have to stick to the MS stuff...

 

[Zero82z]

The new EVGA dual socket board that will be out in a couple of months supports overclocking, so if you'd be willing to upgrade to that you should be able to do it. It's the only one I've seen do it, though I've heard stories of SetFSB OC'ing. Haven't seen proof of it though.

As for CPU folding vs. GPU, my decision came from feasibility of my basement and resources. I run 2 machines packed to the gills with folding hardware instead of numerous smaller ones simply because only one circuit feeds my entire basement. I think 3 machines + extra fluff on it would leave it at almost max draw for that breaker, as I've popped the breaker with 3 machines + extra fluff and a steam cleaner. Three machines wouldn't work so great as I've also got a TV in the basement that gets used alot as well. With that in mind, I decided to cut down on electrical overhead by getting higher end stuff instead of a higher quantity of lower end. Now I'm at the point of wanting to upgrade my farm again, but I want to get the electrical up to snuff first so all I did was delay the problem.

Get what works best for you, or what you feel would be the most fun to work with. I swear by my i7, I deem it to be one of the best computers I've purchased to date (and I barely use the thing in favor of my Phenom II :haha.

An i7 machine running -bigadv produces comparable or better PPD/W than the most efficient GPUs.

 

[Arinoth]

An i7 machine running -bigadv produces comparable or better PPD/W than the most efficient GPUs.

Yep it is. You can average a a lot higher on an bigadv wu then you can with any gpu or gpu combo. Lost work units? They may happen though i have had long stretches (weeks i'm saying) where i did not lose a single one. Once you have a truely stable OC the only problems you'll ever lose a work unit is if your computer crashes (which it shouldnt if its a stable oc), you lose power (though i've seen it resume a wu that was backed up after a power outttage and not lose it) though you could use a backup battery, and more.

What i believe a lot of people dont want to deal with is the little bit of hastle there is setting up a bigadv wu. Since its really trial and error as you need to sometimes fine tune an OC, figure out what settings to use, how much ram to give it etc. Though once this is done you can see quite a big higher ppd. If i were to build a folding rig it would definitely be another i7 just for the fact that unless fermi really lights up ppd it'll still be a better route to go, plus you can populate the i7 rig with gpus and not lose that much tpf in the process.

Example (personal):
i7 920 OC @ 3.8 GHz (C0/C1)
CPU folding set to normal priority

NO GPU folding
tpf averages around 33 mins with our without computer usage

1 GPU Folding (GTX 260)
tpf averages around 33 mins when computer not in use, about 34ish when in use
Priority set to high for GPU

2 GPU Folding (dual GTX 260s)
tpf averages around 34-35 mins when computer not in use, about 36ish mins when in use
Priority Set to High for GPUs

PPD
No GPU Folding: 25 366 ppd
1 GPU Folding: 24 255 + 8 000 (from gpu) = 32 255 ppd
2 GPU Folding: 23 222 + 16 000 (from 2 gpus) = 39 222 ppd

Edit: If i had a kill-a-watt meter or something equivalent i'd run tests to show the amount of overall wattage used compared to the ppd produced.

 

[chrisk]

If your rig gets shut down all the time (either on purpose or accident) then bigadv may not be for you. If I never had my rigs on UPSes I don't think I would ever complete one.

That being said, I can only recall losing one due to me restarting improperly, and I think I lost one last week when one of my rigs crashed (but can't recall for sure).

 

[_dangtx_]

arinoth, it would be a good idea to get one. cheap way to find out