what is the smallest cpu / mb/ ram combo that can be put together and keep a gtx 260 busy .? the reason I ask as I have (4) older dell 2.2 celerons (they use agp graphics but have pci slots and ALL they do is crunch using windows xp pro AND 512 RAM 400 MHZ any ideas?

You can't ramm a PCIe card into a PCI slot.

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Linux Users Everywhere @ BOINC

As Desti says, are you referring to a PCI slot or a PCIe (PCI Express) slot? A GTX 260 is PCIe -- those 2.2 Celerons you say have AGP. Do they have AGP and PCIe?

And remember that you`ll need strong enough PSU (for full load 260GTX ofc) with correct connections.

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Performance and power consumption of 2.2 GHz Celerons is horrible, but they should be fine for running GPU-Grid. It's the platform you'd have to worry about.

MrS

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Scanning for our furry friends since Jan 2002

hey folks ! been gone for a little vacation , you are right I did not look at the spec's close and the systems are PCI no e , on systems with a PCIe slot what is the best combo of GPU / CPU with either a 9600 or a 2600 card and are there any brands of gpu that work well and some are duds? also I prefer Intel processors

hey folks ! been gone for a little vacation , you are right I did not look at the spec's close and the systems are PCI no e , on systems with a PCIe slot what is the best combo of GPU / CPU with either a 9600 or a 2600 card and are there any brands of gpu that work well and some are duds? also I prefer Intel processors

Well, I like my i7 (Intel) 940 which is in an Asus MB I can get the model number if you are going to build a system out of parts, 10K RPM Raptor drive with 160G (My work machine is my Mac Pro with 2.x G RAID 5 array internal) I put 3 sticks of 2G RAM in to satisfy the tri-channel memory system which with XP Pro gives me a "visible" 2.9 G RAM (With Vista I might see the whole 6 G, but have no interest in Vista's problems, thank you very much) ...

I am running two GPUs, a 9800 GT which is PNY and the GTX 280 which is EVGA both seem to work well within the limits of their capabilities ... of course I have only been running them a couple weeks and that means that it is early days ... but, I do run 24/7 and so far so good ...

THe 9800 takes about 90 ms a step, the 280 about 30 ms ...

Not sure if that is what you wanted ... but it is what I got ... :)

I tend not to buy pre-built systems as I find I am tearing out things like the GPU / video card for other reasons and buying a better / different one later on making the default one a waste of money ...

Well, I like my i7 (Intel) 940 which is in an Asus MB I can get the model number if you are going to build a system out of parts, 10K RPM Raptor drive with 160G (My work machine is my Mac Pro with 2.x G RAID 5 array internal) I put 3 sticks of 2G RAM in to satisfy the tri-channel memory system which with XP Pro gives me a "visible" 2.9 G RAM (With Vista I might see the whole 6 G, but have no interest in Vista's problems, thank you very much) ...

Out of interest does XP see all 8 cores? I thought it was only meant to show 4.

Re: The memory, if you want to go above 4Gb (well at least to be able to see/use it) you'd need a 64 bit operating system ie XP64 or Vista x64.

MarkJ wrote:

Out of interest does XP see all 8 cores? I thought it was only meant to show 4.

If you activate HyperThreading in the BIOS the OS recognizes 8 cores; deactivate it and you have only 4...

It shows 8 ...

XP's limitation is/was for physical cores ... not virtual CPUs ...

I cannot remember if that is also per chip so that a dual i7 system would still show 16 CPUs ... now that would be a fun system ... :)

Of course, I still have room to grow in this system in that the MB allows 3 GPU cards so I can add there ... :)

No need to right now, for one thing I would have to replace the PS and there are no other projects worth attention using the GPU ... or that have a stable application ... or that I am interested in ...

On a lighter note ... once my wingmen come in I should get my CEP gold (if my math is right) and though my concentration is on Cosmology right now, still doing WCG work on the Mac so I should be going over 390K soon too ...

And I pulled in 17K for SIMAP (in, what was it, 4 days?) and it was not even a super focus what with WCG ... maybe the end of January I will do that to see if I can push SIMAP way up there ...

Having fun now ... :)

how hard in % does running both GPUs tax the CPU?

how hard in % does running both GPUs tax the CPU?

When I had two GPUs in my i7 and runing 6.55, there were 10 tasks tagged as running, but the 8th CPU task got no CPU ... one of the reasons why I moved the card to the other box. Because the scheduler code does not really handle GPUs properly and it does not look the the proposed fixes will address these issues, well, discression seemed the better part of valor ...

hey folks ! been gone for a little vacation , you are right I did not look at the spec's close and the systems are PCI no e , on systems with a PCIe slot what is the best combo of GPU / CPU with either a 9600 or a 2600 card and are there any brands of gpu that work well and some are duds? also I prefer Intel processors

Lets see what we can come up with:

A. I'm not an Intel user, but even a Celeron would feed a GPU ok.

B. Choosing a MB for a dedicated GPU cruncher. Decide if you will run 1 or 2 GPU's. Or if you may want to add a 2nd GPU later. This will require..2 pcie slots.

You should be able to build a single slot, GPU cruncher for ~$300 or less (without GPU) on a uATX MB. With a dual core (or single if you re-use one you already own) cpu, and a couple gig of ram.

Sidenote: The further up the ladder you go in GPU's, the more 'airflow' you will need in the case... I have an 8800GT in a uATX case, works fine 24/7...

C. Power supply. Bigger is not always better. Look at the current specs for the card you are buying. Some power supplies are listed as high watt output, but the current rating may not be enough for your GPU(s).

D. Try out Linux64 (free). This is in response to your question about the % of CPU usage to feed a GPU. So far Linux boxes are only showing 1-2% of CPU usage to feed -EACH- GPU. Windows is much worse (15-35% for -EACH- GPU).

E. Choosing a GPU is the hard part (and matching it to a p/s). An 8800GT is the lowest I would go. The 8800GT is a solid, proven performer (also works good on other projects). The 9800 GT/GTX series is looking better now as the prices go down. A GTX260 (with 216 stream processors) is the highest I would go (~$250). General opinion is the GTX280 (~$400) may not be worth the price (yeti..).

F.Don't buy a G80 series GPU (8800 Ultra, 8800 GTX (768 ram), or 8800 GTS (320/640 ram)) no matter what the price.

G. Specific GPU brands are a 'feel good' choice. I have had good luck with eVGA and XFX others may not have...you may buy the GPU that went by the Quality Control station when the inspector was on break...who knows...lol

H. I hope this helps a little.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect
the views and opinions of the GPUgrid project, or any of the volunteer members that have already posted....

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Consciousness: That annoying time between naps......

Experience is a wonderful thing: it enables you to recognize a mistake every time you repeat it.

I agree with almost everything Bender said, maybe except the "try linux" ;) Let me just try to work out the important points some more. You ahve to be clear about certain points before it makes any sense to choose components:

A) do you want to build a dedicated cruncher or is the machine used interactively?

B) how serious are you about credits.. do you just want to contribute a little for a minimum investment or get the most of out of your money, even if it means higher initial cost?

C) can you reuse parts?

D) is cooling noise an issue, i.e. where will the machine be placed?

And some thoughts, not complete:

A) Interactive use: you'd want a fast GPU (GTX 260 or better), otherwise the system feels quite sluggish.

B) If you have to build a new system you'll probably get the most credits/$ out of a GTX 260 Core 216. For a minimum contribution the 9600GSO with 380 or 760 MB looks good.

C) For example a small single or dual core socket 939 Athlon 64 in a nForce 4 SLI board would make a good dedicated GPU cruncher. Nowadays these CPUs should be cheap, the mobo could be used / cheap. Just for GPU even 512 MB of RAM is fine, on a dual core which also runs CPU projects you'd be better off with 1 GB, but more is not necessary. Is there a 300 or 500W PS you could reuse?

D) Cooling a fast GPU does make some noise.. if the machine lives in a living room it might be good to go for a G92-based GPU and use aftermarket cooling.

MrS

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Scanning for our furry friends since Jan 2002