Question New old rig

Desslok

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Jun 14, 2001
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Turning an old workstation into a full time @Folder. Right now it has an AM3 AMD 8-core 32GB RAM along with a 2070 and 1070Ti. Is there any point in having the 8-core folding or should I put in a 2 or 4-core I have laying around and sell the 8 to help fund a new 20xx?
 

Endgame124

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Feb 11, 2008
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Turning an old workstation into a full time @Folder. Right now it has an AM3 AMD 8-core 32GB RAM along with a 2070 and 1070Ti. Is there any point in having the 8-core folding or should I put in a 2 or 4-core I have laying around and sell the 8 to help fund a new 20xx?
I would probably put 6 of the 8 cores running boinc - either Rosetta or Open Pandemics, but it really depends on the points those old FX chips generate and the increase in power draw going from 4 to 8 cores. I'm not terribly familiar with those old chips, but I know they weren't terribly efficient.
 
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Desslok

Diamond Member
Jun 14, 2001
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I would probably put 6 of the 8 cores running boinc - either Rosetta or Open Pandemics, but it really depends on the points those old FX chips generate and the increase in power draw going from 4 to 8 cores. I'm not terribly familiar with those old chips, but I know they weren't terribly efficient.
No, they are not in the least. I guess they had to live up to the "Bulldozer" name. LOL
 
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Endgame124

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Feb 11, 2008
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No, they are not in the least. I guess they had to live up to the "Bulldozer" name. LOL
If they are anything like the old A10-5800 APU I was running, you’ll get about the the same score in boinc with 3 threads using 100W as a 5 watt raspberry pi.

If the 8 core is comparable power draw to the 4 core, though, might as well use the 8 core. If it’s a big gap, IMO go with the 4 core with 2 video cards for folding and buy a raspberry pi for boinc - possibly similar total points, but less power draw.
 
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TennesseeTony

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Aug 2, 2003
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CPU folding would be a bit of a waste of energy, as the GPU's are immensely more effective (for points, at any rate). Each GPU will heavily require one CPU core to feed it data. The 2 core chip may hinder the GPU throughput, due to background services occasionally using some cycles.

The four core should be plenty for a GPU box, but I would make a final decision based on the clock of the CPUs. CPU clock-speed can significantly affect the GPU output.
 
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