GPU throttle

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ComputerGenie
Posts: 236
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2016 4:06 am

GPU throttle

Post by ComputerGenie »

I'm sure this has been asked and answered before, but I'll be buggered if I can find it.

Is there a way to throttle a single GPU on a multi GPU set up?
Some damage in miner room has forced me to either drop dedicated rig or put cards in PC. I really want to keep those cards running, but with 3 screens running on PC it makes "normal" usage suck when folding is running.

My "ideal":
GPU1 running on "low"/"medium" (leaving overhead for real-world usage)
GPU2 & GPU3 running "full"

Can this be done with newest client on Win7?
bruce
Posts: 20910
Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2007 10:13 pm
Location: So. Cal.

Re: GPU throttle

Post by bruce »

All V7 clients can place one or more GPUs that supply video to your screen(s) in "idle" ode which means folding will stop on that GPU whenever the mouse/keyboard is in use. It's not really what I'd call throttling but there's no rational way to actually do GPU throttling. (It's a breeze for CPU folding, but then OS does task management on a CPU and it is years ahead of anything that has been done for GPUs.)
foldy
Posts: 2061
Joined: Sat Dec 01, 2012 3:43 pm
Hardware configuration: Folding@Home Client 7.6.13 (1 GPU slots)
Windows 7 64bit
Intel Core i5 2500k@4Ghz
Nvidia gtx 1080ti driver 441

Re: GPU throttle

Post by foldy »

You just add a GPU1 slot extra option idle = true. Min idle time is set by Windows display timeout.

Another option may be depending on your "normal" usage to disable Windows Aero or disable GPU HW acceleration in internet browser or video player.
Last edited by foldy on Tue Feb 21, 2017 9:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
ComputerGenie
Posts: 236
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2016 4:06 am

Re: GPU throttle

Post by ComputerGenie »

Thank you both; that's what I was looking for.
ComputerGenie
Posts: 236
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2016 4:06 am

Re: GPU throttle

Post by ComputerGenie »

foldy wrote:...Another option may be depending on your "normal" usage to disable Windows Aero or disable GPU HW acceleration in internet browser or video player.
This a "production" unit, 3 screens are almost a necessity and all plug into GPU1. Setting minimum gfx options did make a small change, but when you have VisualStudio on 1 screen; Outlook on another; and even notepad open on the 3rd, folding bogs usage down to a crawl. I did also try splitting the load but that created an added issue if drivers took a dump on a given card unless I underclocked (which was counter-productive as a whole).

It's a nightmareish mess that will hopefully all be over by Friday, but in case it lasted until next week, I just wanted to maximize folding and personal productivity.
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