GPU not folding. NVIDIA 9300M GS.

[bruce]

1) An AMD CPU (processor) is always a reasonable choice. That is unrelated to whether you choose an AMD or a NVidia GPU (graphics card).

6) Look at the picture of the graphics card and choose one which occupies two slots, not just one. The backplane will have room for video connections plus extra room for a hot air exhaust. The GPU will be a major source of heat and you'll need to get that directly out the back of the computer. An extra intake fan is a good idea but not as important as the GPU exhaust.

[Nathan_P]

Based on that list I would go for either a Corsair or Seasonic PSU, superflower do make some good ones as well - a quick google would let you know which are the best.

As for case well anything from coolermaster, bitfenix or corsair, just pick something to fit your budget and then read the reviews. I have a corsair Carbide 200r that holds a pair of 115w xeons - no cooling problems whatsoever but I am conscious that Malaysia does have a lot more heat & humidity than Europe but that case does have lots of space for fans.

Can't really help on the gpu front as I don't gpu fold any more but I would guess that best bang for buck would be a R7 -260, or you could go for a 2nd hand 6x series card from nvidia

[PantherX]

Since you plan to keep the PC in your office, please make sure that you have written permission from your boss to run that PC in the office (http://folding.stanford.edu/home/License/).

For a dedicated PC, if you want to install Windows, then you can select either Nvidia or AMD GPUs. If you want to install Ubuntu, then currently, you are limited to Nvidia only. F@H doesn't use significant amount of RAM so anywhere from 1 GB to 4 GB would be fine. Same applies for hard disk drive (if you want, you can use a USB drive too especially if it is Ubuntu) so you can use any model. Since your aim is to fold primarily on the GPU, any CPU can be used, even a single Core one. CPU speed isn't really important and its only impact might be during the initial start-up of the WU and the checkpoints in-between. A decent motherboard with PCI-E 2.0 would be sufficient. Lower speeds would function but you may encounter a PPD loss depending on the GPU model, i.e. the more powerful the GPU is, the more significant the impact of PCI-E lane is (viewtopic.php?p=254816#p254816).

Given your budget for the GPU, you have the following options:
Nvidia -> GTX 750 (note that GTX 750 Ti is a different model altogether and isn't fully supported by F@H yet due to a bug in Nvidia's Driver)
AMD -> R7-260X
Unfortunately, I don't have PPD estimates for those GPUs so you would have to either wait for someone with similar hardware to post or search for it. Regarding the specific brand, you can search for the review but to help illustrate the issue about heat dissipation, the best option is the "Blower" style GPU cooler while the rest two may dump heat inside the system (http://cdn.overclock.net/9/96/525x525px ... 216587.png) and (http://www.overclock3d.net/gfx/articles ... 26293l.JPG).

[treasurechest]

Based on that list I would go for either a Corsair or Seasonic PSU, superflower do make some good ones as well - a quick google would let you know which are the best.

As for case well anything from coolermaster, bitfenix or corsair, just pick something to fit your budget and then read the reviews. I have a corsair Carbide 200r that holds a pair of 115w xeons - no cooling problems whatsoever but I am conscious that Malaysia does have a lot more heat & humidity than Europe but that case does have lots of space for fans.

Can't really help on the gpu front as I don't gpu fold any more but I would guess that best bang for buck would be a R7 -260, or you could go for a 2nd hand 6x series card from nvidia

1) Yes, you are right Malaysia is hot, humid, tropical country. Only way to feel cool is during cloudy days, being in aircond room and night time (though there are times night is hotter than day!). We are expecting, but hopefully not happen, temperature to reach up to 36degrees celcius in this coming months. A weird weather is upon us.

2)R7-260 does seem attractive.

Since you plan to keep the PC in your office, please make sure that you have written permission from your boss to run that PC in the office (http://folding.stanford.edu/home/License/).


For a dedicated PC, if you want to install Windows, then you can select either Nvidia or AMD GPUs. If you want to install Ubuntu, then currently, you are limited to Nvidia only. F@H doesn't use significant amount of RAM so anywhere from 1 GB to 4 GB would be fine. Same applies for hard disk drive (if you want, you can use a USB drive too especially if it is Ubuntu) so you can use any model. Since your aim is to fold primarily on the GPU, any CPU can be used, even a single Core one. CPU speed isn't really important and its only impact might be during the initial start-up of the WU and the checkpoints in-between. A decent motherboard with PCI-E 2.0 would be sufficient. Lower speeds would function but you may encounter a PPD loss depending on the GPU model, i.e. the more powerful the GPU is, the more significant the impact of PCI-E lane is (viewtopic.php?p=254816#p254816).

Given your budget for the GPU, you have the following options:
Nvidia -> GTX 750 (note that GTX 750 Ti is a different model altogether and isn't fully supported by F@H yet due to a bug in Nvidia's Driver)
AMD -> R7-260X
Unfortunately, I don't have PPD estimates for those GPUs so you would have to either wait for someone with similar hardware to post or search for it. Regarding the specific brand, you can search for the review but to help illustrate the issue about heat dissipation, the best option is the "Blower" style GPU cooler while the rest two may dump heat inside the system (http://cdn.overclock.net/9/96/525x525px ... 216587.png) and (http://www.overclock3d.net/gfx/articles ... 26293l.JPG).

1) Will there be folding performance difference in running Ubuntu on USB? Sounds attractive as cut cost than buying harddisk for the new desktop. Is it easy to set up ubuntu?

2) CPU not need be fast, huh? In that case I will focus on GPU only and its respective lane speed PCI-E for motherboard.

3) For PPD, I found this useful list, GPU Folding Projects - Performance (sorted by PPD) => https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub ... JYVE&gid=0

4) Will opt for "Blower" style GPU cooler & extra casing fans.

Thank you.

[PantherX]

From what I have read, there is virtually no issue when folding from an Ubuntu USB Stick. The performance loss might occur when saving the WU to disk before it is uploaded. The level of easiness firstly depends on your technical background and then on the GPU Vendor. For Nvidia, it is pretty easy but AMD may not be that easy since it is considered experimental.

[treasurechest]

From what I have read, there is virtually no issue when folding from an Ubuntu USB Stick. The performance loss might occur when saving the WU to disk before it is uploaded. The level of easiness firstly depends on your technical background and then on the GPU Vendor. For Nvidia, it is pretty easy but AMD may not be that easy since it is considered experimental.

- I will research further on setting up Ubuntu USB stick, no worries.
- Much thanks to you for the suggestion as this will cut cost; not need buy harddisk and less power consumption (though maybe not noticeable).
- Is there part of this forum board that allows me to post my PPD result later?
- Is there an app for facebook/twitter that auto post my folding stats? I passively encourage my friends to fold too when they become curious and ask me further.

[davidcoton]

Try one or both of these folding stats sites.
http://kakaostats.com
http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com

Also, the HFM.NET utility can generate a web page on your own web site, but currently it's not working with FAH 7.4.4.

David

EDIT:Typo!

[treasurechest]

Noted with thanks, sir! ^_^

[treasurechest]

Hey all, what about 32bit and 64bit? Does it make any difference in PPD for ubuntu?

[PantherX]

Currently, 64-bit Ubuntu would ensure that you would get a large selection of Projects to fold. With 32-bit the availability of the Projects is limited to FahCore_a4 only (IIRC). Thus, it is recommended to use 64-bit Ubuntu.

[7im]

No difference in PPD unless the 32 bit version ran dry of WUs, then obviously it would be lower.