9600GT vs. Radeon 4650 for Folding@Home?

[bluemax]

I know all about the gaming benchmarks (and how the 9600GT wins handily) but how about when it comes to Folding@Home? I've been out of the loop there... ATI seems to have more of these "stream processors", but what's the difference in folding?

Thanks!

 

[dguy6789]

The 9600 will be faster at folding.

 

[AstroManLuca]

As far as I know, nVidia is much better for folding.

 

[VirtualLarry]

If you can, get an "old" (96 SP) 9600GSO/8800GS, or an 8800GT/9800GT. They have much greater folding performance compared to a 9600GT.

 

[Denithor]

^^What he said. The 9600GT isn't very good for F@H but still better than a 4670 (ATi cards suck at the moment, apparently the coding hasn't been optimized to take advantage of all their stream processors correctly or something).

 

[geokilla]

A 4850X2 performs more or less the same as my 9600GT in folding. Ok, different WUs, so maye a 4850X2 performs more like a 9800GT in folding.

To answer your original question, the 9600GT would be better than the 4650 in folding. In terms of gaming, they both might be about equal. Not too sure on that though so don't take my word for it.

 

[bluemax]

In my low-profile rig, it's the 9600GT or bust. No 8800's... besides, with the 9600GT being essentially the same core as an 8800GT, wouldn't they fold the same too?

For me, folding will just a bonus on top of good gaming.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: bluemax
In my low-profile rig, it's the 9600GT or bust. No 8800's... besides, with the 9600GT being essentially the same core as an 8800GT, wouldn't they fold the same too?

For me, folding will just a bonus on top of good gaming.

Hardly. The 9600GT has almost half the shaders that an 8800GT has, so it should be about half as fast not taking into account any clock speed differences.

 

[bluemax]

Originally posted by: SunnyD
Hardly. The 9600GT has almost half the shaders that an 8800GT has, so it should be about half as fast not taking into account any clock speed differences.

And yet most of the reviews I've read all say the same thing... the 9600GT is a shrunk die of the 8800GT and performs almost exactly the same. Weird... I'll dig up links later.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: bluemax

Originally posted by: SunnyD
Hardly. The 9600GT has almost half the shaders that an 8800GT has, so it should be about half as fast not taking into account any clock speed differences.

And yet most of the reviews I've read all say the same thing... the 9600GT is a shrunk die of the 8800GT and performs almost exactly the same. Weird... I'll dig up links later.

8800GT

GPU Engine Specs:
Processor Cores : 112
Graphics Clock (MHz): 600 MHz
Processor Clock (MHz): 1500 MHz
Texture Fill Rate (billion/sec): 33.6

Memory Specs:
Memory Clock (MHz): 900 MHz
Standard Memory Config: 512 MB
Memory Interface Width: 256-bit
Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec): 57.6

9600GT

GPU Engine Specs:
Processor Cores : 64
Graphics Clock (MHz): 650 MHz
Processor Clock (MHz): 1625 MHz
Texture Fill Rate (billion/sec): 20.8

Memory Specs:
Memory Clock (MHz): 900 MHz
Standard Memory Config: 512 MB
Memory Interface Width: 256-bit
Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec): 57.6

Now the 9800GT on the other hand is EXACTLY the same as an 8800GT, other than maybe a die shrink.

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: bluemax

Originally posted by: SunnyD
Hardly. The 9600GT has almost half the shaders that an 8800GT has, so it should be about half as fast not taking into account any clock speed differences.

And yet most of the reviews I've read all say the same thing... the 9600GT is a shrunk die of the 8800GT and performs almost exactly the same. Weird... I'll dig up links later.

No need. 9600GT is a G94 (64 shader processor core).

8800GT is a G92 (112 shader processor core).

If you notice the clock speed differences that SunnyD posted, you can see why the 9600GT performs close to the 8800GT. But in more shader intensive games, the 8800GT will walk away from the 9600GT. So, it isn't a die shrink of the 8800GT.

I repeat: Despite what you read and where, the 9600GT is not a die shrink of the 8800GT.

Unless you typoed and meant to say 9800GT. Now you're talkin.

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: bluemax
And yet most of the reviews I've read all say the same thing... the 9600GT is a shrunk die of the 8800GT and performs almost exactly the same. Weird... I'll dig up links later.

9800GT is a die shrink of the 8800GT (PCI-E 2.0), not 9600GT. I think you may be confusing it with the 9600GSO, which is rebadged 8800GS.

However, 9600GT performs a lot better than the shader count would suggest. It is pretty much on-par with 8800GS/9600GSO, and slightly faster than 4670, at least in gaming.

 

[Andrew1990]

Originally posted by: tcsenter

Originally posted by: bluemax
I think you may be confusing it with the 9600GSO, which IIRC is a die shrink of 8800GS.

Actually, there is no die shrink for the 9600GSO, They are the same exact thing down to the PCB on most.

If you want to fold but not have the power hug of a 8800GT, look at the old 9600GSO/8800GS. 96 Shaders will do a lot more than the 9600GT's 64.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: bluemax

Originally posted by: SunnyD
Hardly. The 9600GT has almost half the shaders that an 8800GT has, so it should be about half as fast not taking into account any clock speed differences.

And yet most of the reviews I've read all say the same thing... the 9600GT is a shrunk die of the 8800GT and performs almost exactly the same. Weird... I'll dig up links later.

Sure you're not confusing the 9800GT and 8800GT, with the 9600GT and 8800GT? The 9600GT has about half of the shader power of the 8800GT/9800GT.

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: Andrew1990
Actually, there is no die shrink for the 9600GSO, They are the same exact thing down to the PCB on most.

Fixed.

 

[bluemax]

Originally posted by: tcsenter
However, 9600GT performs a lot better than the shader count would suggest. It is pretty much on-par with 8800GS/9600GSO, and slightly faster than 4670, at least in gaming.

I've owned both a 9600GT and 8800GS... the 9600GT beat it soundly and handed its privates back to it in a gift bag.

Fallout3 particularly... the 8800GS struggled, especially in dust/smoke - I eventually had to put detail settings to min. The 9600GT took MAX and kept on smilin'.