Graphics cards and Folding@Home

[The Borg]

Hi all,

Was in two minds as to where to post this. Here or 'Video cards and Graphics' but since I am more a DC'er than a Gamer, I thought here would be best.

I have been looking at upgrading my graphics card. I have my eye on the Radeon X1950PRO. Seems like a very good card and does Folding@Home and at a good price.

There are two I have seen.

1. Asus EAX1950PRO/HTDP/256M Radeon X1950PRO 16xPCIE 256-bit 256MB DDR3 w/HDTV + 2DVI
Asus EAX1950PRO/HTDP/256M , HDCP Compliant , pci-e x16 , X1950pro , 256mb 256bit DDR3 , 36 pixel shader engine , 8 x vertex pipeline , core/memory : 581/1400mhz , dual dvi ( with 2 dvi to d-sub converter ) , HDTV-out - retail pack with bundled games

2. PowerColor A57C-TVE3 Xtreme Radeon X1950PRO 16xPCIE 256-bit 512MB DDR3 w/HDTV + 2DVI

Graphics Engine RADEON X1950PRO
Video Memory 512 MB GDDR3
Engine Clock 600 MHz
Memory Clock 700 MHz x 2
Memory Interface 256-bit
DirectX Support 9
Bus Standard PCI Express X16

Seems like number 2 would be better. Higher clock and more ram. Any comments???

The other thing is similar priced Radeon HD2600XT and GeForce 8600GT cards. As a non-hard core games, more interested in DC, any recommendations? These cards all cost about R2000 (ZAR) and I don't really want to spend much more. I currently have an ATI X300. I know these cards are all a big upgrade.

From what I have read, DX10 is not such a big thing. Not many games, and I don't run Vista. I would love to play Crysis when it comes out, but I am sure the above X1950Pro will still work.

Any comments will help.

 

[Assimilator1]

I've got a card with the specs as your No 1 option ,works great

As far as gaming goes the X1950 Pro is faster than the 2600XT & 8600GT (in most games) anyway.The 8600GT has a good GPU but it is severly crippled by its poor memory bandwidth ,stupid Nvidia! ,the 1950 Pro has no such problems ,hence it being faster (in most games) than even the 8600 GTS especially when high res &/or AA is used .
DX10 is only worth running on 8800 cards last I checked.

As far as GPU F@H goes I've only run it for a few days or so ,so far I seem to be getting 330pts/WU.Too early to say what my daily average is though, if someone knows how I could find out by looking at F@H then LMK.

I'm not sure ,but I think their maybe a performance advantage to the 512MB 1950 Pro over the 256MB ,but I'll let more knowledgeable people answer that

Btw have you seen this recent thread by me discussing GPU Folding?

 

[GLeeM]

In the form of a bump I will tell what I know while you wait for more informed posts, which I know will come.

512 MB memory works better for F@H. Finishes WU faster and something about some cards with only 256 MB causing a slight lag in user response.

The F@H GPU client also uses a CPU core to poll/feed the GPU.
Assimilator1 is testing to see how much difference and what is the best way for him to run DPAD with F@H GPU client. Should hear from him soon on this.

EDIT: LOL, I'm psychic. Would have looked better if I had posted one minute sooner

 

[Assimilator1]

lol ,snap on the post times & good prediction

Oh btw ,ref pausing on 256MB cards ,IIRC that is only non 1950 Pro cards (different GPU,e.g. x1900s) where people were experiencing 1-10s delay in GUI response!:Q
I dont have that problem with my card(being a 1950 Pro),I very occasionally notice a fraction of a second delay when switching between windows ,that's it.

 

[The Borg]

Thanks guys. I was just amazed when I did a few comparisons (specifically Toms Hardware) that the X1950 Pro was just so good - even better than more costly cards. Could hardly believe it. I would love a 8800 GTS or GTX, but just cannot justify the cost.

I think I will wait a little while longer until the new nVidia cards come out and see what the prices do. Then buy one.

BTW, F@H does not link to BOINC?

 

[Assimilator1]

Yea the hi end section of the midrange is screwed up atm! ,nothing worth having inbetween ~£100-£160 ,unless you can find a decent priced 7950 GT ,that is a bit faster than the 1950 Pro ,though it is also a bit more expensive.You can't fold on them either

What new cards are Nvidia releasing?
Btw you didn't answer my earlier question

 

[The Borg]

Sorry Assimilator, which question was that. If it was your link, then yes, I looked at it.

I also saw some other stuff regarding nVidia's new hardware. Looks like it will only be coming out early nexy year. So I will be getting a X1950 Pro soon.

That reminds me, TurtleBlue (as part of your link) said he bought the PowerColor card I have as number 2 above. Just wanted to know what it was like. Have not heard of that suppler before. If it is OK, I will be plaing my order on that. 512Meg and slightly more overcloded than my number 1, but I have no idea what the reference speeds are.

 

[The Borg]

Here is the link I spoke about above

Link

 

[Assimilator1]

Thanks Borgie ,& np about the question & yes it was that 1.
Afraid I don't know much about Powercolor.

 

[The Borg]

Just ordered my number 2 above. Will see how it works.

 

[Assimilator1]

Cool ,will be interesting to see how it compares to my 256MB card.

 

[Assimilator1]

Got the card yet?

Btw my X1950 Pro speeds are 580MHz GPU ,1400 MHz RAM ,AFAIK that's std.

 

[waffleironhead]

he should have no problem with that card. Its the same as im using tho i only have 256 version. I have decided to split my cpu time between folding gpu and dpad. both are seeming to use about 50% of my ht system.

Btw this card oc's nice. Im stable at 641/1512 using ati tray tools. while gpu temp is stable at 50C. tho ymmv.

If I run gpu version alone im hitting 7min33secs for 1% chunk working on job 2742. If i decide to run dpad at the same time I take a small hit and the units are more like 7min48sec not sure why.

Anyway, Hope you like the card and happy folding.

 

[The Borg]

No, not yet. Supplier out of stock. That is the problem living in good old SA. Not the firm supply you guys have up north.

Yes it is an overclocked card. Nice to hear it can do more.

Maybe by the time I do actually get it ordered, the other prices may have come down and I can get something else.

 

[The Borg]

OK, X1950PRO is ordered and on it's way - finally.

So what soeftware to I download for the card (ATI) and to do Folding@Home? I see there are graphical and command prompt stuff. Is there any specific client I need to run it on the GPU?

Please help. Want to put this hardware to work!!!

 

[JeffCos]

My vid card died yesterday and now I have a reason to buy one that I can fold on, but i'm putting together a whole new system in less than a year so i'm not splurging on an x1900. With my system, would the HIS x1650pro 512mb be worth folding on? It's a pretty old system so i'm not sure, maybe one of you guys can help me out.

p4 2.66
intel gebvl board
1gb crucial ddr333

Like I said, it's almost 5 years old and ready to be replaced.

 

[GLeeM]

Originally posted by: JeffCos
My vid card died yesterday and now I have a reason to buy one that I can fold on, but i'm putting together a whole new system in less than a year so i'm not splurging on an x1900. With my system, would the HIS x1650pro 512mb be worth folding on? It's a pretty old system so i'm not sure, maybe one of you guys can help me out.

p4 2.66
intel gebvl board
1gb crucial ddr333

Like I said, it's almost 5 years old and ready to be replaced.

They say that the GPU client only needs like a slow P3 to feed it. And that a good way to extend the life of an old F@H rig and boost it's PPD is to add a 1950 to it.

 

[Assimilator1]

F@H GPU only works on X19xx cards atm ,so the 1650 won't fold.
1950 Pros are relatively cheap now at about ~£80 (I see the X1650 Pros are about £50 so quite a bit cheaper ,& slower of course,your choice)

Otherwise you could just fold on the P4 ,you might need to check out deadline issues though ,afraid I don't know much about the CPU client as I've not run it or looked much into it.

Originally posted by: The Borg
OK, X1950PRO is ordered and on it's way - finally.

So what software do I download for the card (ATI) and to do Folding@Home? I see there are graphical and command prompt stuff. Is there any specific client I need to run it on the GPU? [corrected typos]

Please help. Want to put this hardware to work!!!

For GPU clients grab the GUI one if you want to glance at the pretty graphics occasionally (don't leave it open or it'll hog power away from crunching)
If you never want to see the graphics grab the command line one.

 

[The Borg]

Thanks for the help - and correcting the typos>

Do I download the "Windows: High performance clients (GPU, SMP)" or the other one?

 

[bryanW1995]

I'm trying out the gpu client. What is our team #?

edit: got it, team #198.

 

[JeffCos]

Originally posted by: Assimilator1
F@H GPU only works on X19xx cards atm ,so the 1650 won't fold.

Copied from the info page of the 5.91 beta 6 version of the F@H GPU client:

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS


GPU and OS support


Which cards are supported?


We now support serveral classes of GPU boards, including X1600, X1800, and X1900 class GPU's from ATI. At the launch, we supported X1900 cards only. X1800 cards do not provide the performance seen in X1900's and so we strongly recommend X1900 class cards (although we now officially support X1800). X1900 and X1800 cards are actually quite different -- they have different processors (R520, R530 vs. the R580 [in the X1900 series]). The R580 makes a huge difference in performance -- its 48 pixel shaders are key, as we use pixel shaders for our computations. Also note that the card should have more than 256MB (i.e. at least 512MB) of RAM, otherwise the GPU client will put a huge load on the client machine (although we do note that the 256MB X1950Pro using PCIe does work reasonably well)."

 

[Assimilator1]

Doh! ,fair enough ,seems I was out of date ,I'm guessing that changed recently?

Though judging by their comments on the X1800 which is more powerful than the 1650 Pro it might be too slow to complete WUs in time anyway, but I guess you could give it a try.Or you might be able to find out in the F@H GPU forum.

Inccidently the 1650 XT is a much more powerful card than the Pro ,though naturally it costs more ,~£20 more here in the UK ............which is only £10 less than the 1950 Pro so that card isn't worth it! ,unless you can find it cheaper.
For more info on 1650s & other cards checkout this review

Is the X1650XT supported by F@H?

The Borg
Yes you want the GPU client

 

[JeffCos]

Eh, i'm getting a PS3 as soon as the 40gb version comes out, so maybe i'll live with that and my two p4s until I put something new and completly ridiculous together

 

[Assimilator1]

lol ,like a Dual Quad?

 

[JeffCos]

Originally posted by: Assimilator1
lol ,like a Dual Quad?

See F@H top crunchers thread for response