Yet another newbie starter hardware thread...

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XXXXX
Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Feb 03, 2018 2:51 pm

Re: Yet another newbie starter hardware thread...

Post by XXXXX »

One last thought about where the PPD disparity/bottleneck is coming from.

My motherboard (P4N SLI) only runs PCI-E version 1. Modern boards run PCI-E version 3. Like @Foldy said, PCI-E v3 x4 is bottlnecking high power GPUs on windows but not on linux. So, I did some reading into PCI-Express.

The motherboard I am using is PCI-E v1.

PCI-E v1 is only 2gbps per lane. That's 4 Gigabytes per second in a x16 slot.

PCI-E v2 is doubled at 4gbps per lane, or 8 Gigabytes per second in a x16 slot.

PCI-E v3 is 7.877gbps per lane, or 15.574 gigabytes per second in a x16 slot.

So a PCI-E v1 x16 slot is equal to: PCI-E v2 x8 slot, or PCI-E v3 x4 slot.

So I'm pretty sure we can rule out a PCI-E bottleneck.

What do you guys think?


EDIT: I realize I've gone down the rabbit hole with this LOL. Frankly, I am completely fascinated that a CPU released 13 years ago can pair up with a modern GPU and do so much good work.
jrweiss
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Re: Yet another newbie starter hardware thread...

Post by jrweiss »

I wouldn't assume a bottleneck after a day or 3 of Folding. There is a lot of variation among WUs and Cores, so you may just have a lower-yielding crop of WUs at this time.

The Pentium-D should be capable of supporting the throughput as well; it just takes a lot more electricity to do it! ;)
Ryzen 7 5700G, 22.40.46 VGA driver; MSI GTX 1050ti, 551.23 studio driver
Ryzen 7 3700X; MSI GTX 1050ti, 551.23 studio driver [Suspended]
foldy
Posts: 2061
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Hardware configuration: Folding@Home Client 7.6.13 (1 GPU slots)
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Intel Core i5 2500k@4Ghz
Nvidia gtx 1080ti driver 441

Re: Yet another newbie starter hardware thread...

Post by foldy »

The PentiumD 820 has 2 cores so FAH default install will assign a GPU slot and a CPU slot. Be sure to remove the CPU slot.
foldinghomealone2
Posts: 148
Joined: Sun Jul 30, 2017 8:40 pm

Re: Yet another newbie starter hardware thread...

Post by foldinghomealone2 »

Rigs with more than one high-end GPU emit a lot of heat and noise. Two high-end GPUs in a normal sized case could overheat the GPUs and therefore lowering output.
In case you plan to use more than one high-end GPU in the future I would consider an open case and risers to connect the GPUs.
If you plan to put high-end GPUs in a closed case then I would consider GPUs with DHE although their performance is lower than regular cooled GPUs.
foldy
Posts: 2061
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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: Yet another newbie starter hardware thread...

Post by foldy »

You can cool two fast GPUs in one closed case. But the mainboard should have 2 pcie slots with much space between. GPUs without DHE exhaust the heat to the side so a perfect case has 2 fans mounted in parallel on the side of the GPUs blowing out. That is more silent than GPUs with DHE.
XXXXX
Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Feb 03, 2018 2:51 pm

Re: Yet another newbie starter hardware thread...

Post by XXXXX »

Hello again!

Hardware finally all arrived.

PyON 1 ppd
1722748.534969

That's one GTX1080ti and one GTX 1060... for now :)

Thank you all for the help! :)
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