Video Card Decision - Looking for feedback

[NalaAddict]

So,

After not being in a position to get the gpu I wanted (either one ... neither the 980 gtx nor the XFX R9 390 8gb), I ended up with this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150730
This, clearly, comes with similar disadvantages the 960 or 970 would vs the 980; namely, less Stream Processors or in nvidia's case...cuda cores. That core count is usually the first thing I look at. I have not had the greatest experience with the 660 gtx that I am currently running...not with folding and not with games in general, so for the first time in 7 years I decided to get an ATI card.

How a card is going to end up performing with folding is of paramount importance to me; and just as important with how well it will handle everything else...although I consider folding performance first. I am curious as to how much of an increase you believe I will see with this 380 vs the 660 gtx I'm used to, and also just how much of it I likely lost by not obtaining the 390 or the GTX 980. I'm also curious as to, in the future, which of the two video card giants is suggested. I'm going to be searching the forums for something about gpu architecture as well. I saw one for cpus, but not so much for specifics on gpus. Specifically there, I'd like to see a priority list in terms of what effects folding when looking for cards.....as I'm sure it's more than just cores/stream processors to take into account.

Thanks in advance.

[davidcoton]

FAH is vendor neutral, and has not to date indicated any preference. Some WUs run better on one vendor's GPU than another, but it's difficult to find collated information of good quality. The main problem is to spot systematic differences in GPU performance when there is a significant variation between individual WUs, even from the same project. Varying clock rates between different cards using the same GPU also make comparisons harder. Now you have the card, you will be able to make comparisons with your 660 yourself

It's rather obvious, but the other major factor affecting processing speed is the GPU clock speed. Memory clok has little effect, bus transfer rate is important in high-end systems.

[NalaAddict]

I didn't suggest there was a lean toward one manufacturer or the other .... but there are obvious differences in gpu architecture, driver support, etc. In the past I've seen lower performance, and frankly less support for amd/ati in the graphics department. But with negative experiences with both the 660 and the 285 I once had in multiple facets, I figured it was time to jump sides. The 960 does have a higher clock rate, but its memory bandwidth is seriously gimped ... the number of cores is 'very' little of an upgrade over the 660 .. and it just seemed like going that route was a poor option. The 970 has been fraught with issues with frame stuttering, heat, and stability...and it's also the cost range of the 390 I was unable to get. The 980...well, now yer pushing 500+ for a card which is well beyond my ability. Though between AMD's offerings and Nvidia..this is the 1st point at which I side with nvidia if I'm spending that much and get the 980. Again, budget has a high factor in this, as the 380 is just under 1/3 the expense of a 980.

[bruce]

I don't use either number of cores or clock rate ... I multiply the two together -- which makes it closer to GFLOPS. or I use GFLOPS if those numbers are available. They're all just estimates anyway and none is perfect.

The size of VRAM is not a useful number for FAH but is important for a high-resolution monitor (or monitors). Even with some exotic proteins that are planned for Core_21, 8 GB sounds like more than you need for FAH.

[wilding2004]

I can't say how the R9 380 will fold, but you probably should have gone for a 970. The issues you describe are related to really high resolution gaming, nothing else. And the memory bandwith of the 960 is irrelevent to folding. The maxwell architecture is just "better" for folding atm. There's nothing new in the 380 archticture, and the previous generation was poor at folding.

You can't really say in the past there was less support for amd/ati, when to start with GPU folding there was NO support for Nvidia. I don't see it as jumping sides, get whichever piece of kit does the best job at the time. I've built roughly equal numbers of Intel, AMD, ATi, Nvidia systems over the years.

[NalaAddict]

That really doesn't make me feel that great. Bearing in mind that I also have to consider overall performance..and from a gaming perspective, the 380 outperforms the 960. Beyond the 960, however, nvidia is still on top. They do, however, need some competition...because otherwise their GPUs will be priced so high as to be out of reach of those on a budget or fixed incomes... not that it isn't still the case with the x80 (where x is the current series) cards. I'll probably switch back to nvidia the next time, but I did not have enough for a 970 to begin with...only a 960. It's hard not to wait until the next gen of cards comes out ... in nvidia's case that's http://www.pcworld.com/article/2898175/ ... y-sli.html . Even if I couldn't afford one of those monsters, it would almost have to bring the price of the maxwells down significantly...making that option and the idea of a GTX 980 realistic.

Thanks for the input.

[NalaAddict]

I think I'm going to end up having to do one of those 'save my pennies' deals ... and this time next year, get a 980 TI...I know that will fold like a monster. Obviously not the way the Pascal ones will at ~10x the computing power, but I suspect the cost of one of those is going to be somewhere between 700 and a computer's cost .. so 2k. The article showed a computer they were considering releasing with 4 of those new video cards Titan X in it for 15k .... allowing for a generous 7k for everything else, that still suggests somewhere close to 2k a piece for the titan models.

I'd be highly amused to see the performance of one of those cards on folding, but as far as owning one..ehhh..not any time soon.

[NalaAddict]

It appears to be identifying my 380 as a 200 series card. . . . . .

that said, the time at least for this current work unit dropped by 50 percent. There is however, a more dramatic point loss during paused time than there was.

[7im]

As wilding indicated above, the 380 is a rebranded up clocked gpu from a previous generation chip. Not much new to offer over the 200 series and also why fah still identifies as such. But then it was also priced as such.