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AGP GPU2 Upgrade

A

AgrFan

[H]ard DCOTM x2
Joined
Sep 29, 2007
Messages
684
I'm considering getting a AGP video card for one of my single-core boxen and running the GPU2 client.

Here's the specs on the system ...
Asus K8V-MX mobo (socket 754)
Sempron 64 2800 (palermo)
512 MB RAM
Antec 350W PSU

110 PPD

Which ATI video card would provide the most bang for the buck?
How many PPD would it get with the GPU2 client?
Would it be worth the effort?

I don't want to put alot of $$$ into this system since socket 754 is pretty much dead ...

 
For the price of a card you can be 1/2 way to a Q6600 system if you shop right.

And until we see what Nvidia cards will make ppd wise.... I'd save my $$ to that goal... IMO

 
I agree the Q6600 is definitely a better upgrade path, but ...

I'm thinking for the cost of either the 24xx or 26xx cards I could double the PPD on this box and have a game machine for my son too. He's been playing the Lego Star Wars series lately. I have to stop the notfred diskless cd on one of my dual core boxes for him to play it which is a PITA. I had to stop running the Windows SMP client when I started missing deadlines with the 30xx units.

Would a Sempron 64 2800 (palermo) be enough juice to feed either of these cards to the maximum? It has the SSE2 instruction set which is a requirement for the GPU2 client.

Thanks Kendrak ...

 
Theres a thread over on the support forums that may help you.
Here.
Hope that helps.

Luck ........... :D
 
From looking though that, your not going to get much..... I'd just get a cheep 2400 and let your son have fun ;)

 
AgrFan said:
Would a Sempron 64 2800 (palermo) be enough juice to feed either of these cards to the maximum? It has the SSE2 instruction set which is a requirement for the GPU2 client.
Click to expand...

The 2400 and 2600 cards are basically junk and have too many compromises in GPU power. If you're going to do this, do it right and pop in an AGP 3850 for $160. It will be a beast for that system and will blow through Lego games and anything else out there for quite some time at reasonable resolutions. This will also be good preparation for Lego Indiana Jones :D

PPD will be excellent as well with the new GPU work units. Not bad for a $160 investment, which I don't consider a huge amount of money. You might feel differently. If you split it up in your head, that's $80 for great gaming power and $80 for great folding power with no compromises. Everyone's happy.
 
I'm really considering a 3850 for my old boxen....I'm going to be turning it over to one of my kids soon, and seeing as how the X1950 can no longer fold, I'm thinking that a GPU upgrade might be a semi-affordable way to keep this boxen productive.... the console client is okay, but from the looks of things, the GPU2 client might be worth running for a while. And that card would allow my boys to play newer games than they can currently.....

 
digital_exhaust said:
I'm really considering a 3850 for my old boxen....I'm going to be turning it over to one of my kids soon, and seeing as how the X1950 can no longer fold, I'm thinking that a GPU upgrade might be a semi-affordable way to keep this boxen productive.... the console client is okay, but from the looks of things, the GPU2 client might be worth running for a while. And that card would allow my boys to play newer games than they can currently.....
Click to expand...
I might be going the same route if I can find a decent performing AGP card that's supported by the GPU2 client. Have you looked around for any yet? I won't be paying the same price I did for the other card. I figure anything well over $100 isn't worth it. BTW, I'm still receiving WUs for the X1950 but don't know how long that will last.


 
APOLLO said:
I might be going the same route if I can find a decent performing AGP card that's supported by the GPU2 client. Have you looked around for any yet? I won't be paying the same price I did for the other card. I figure anything well over $100 isn't worth it. BTW, I'm still receiving WUs for the X1950 but don't know how long that will last.


Click to expand...

The best price I have seen is around $160.....a little high, but maybe they'll come down before too long....

My problem with my X1950 is that I deleted the client after the challenge (to reconfigure it back to my name....) and then I went to download it.......but it's no longer available. Sunin tried to send it to me, but gmail blocks it because it's an .exe.....bummer.

Anyone know if Comcast blocks .exe attachments?

 
digital_exhaust said:
The best price I have seen is around $160.....a little high, but maybe they'll come down before too long....
Click to expand...
Hmm... That's still too much and a bit more than I paid for my X1950 last fall. I guess I'll wait on it and just switch to the console client when Stanford stops sending WUs for my card.

My problem with my X1950 is that I deleted the client after the challenge (to reconfigure it back to my name....) and then I went to download it.......but it's no longer available. Sunin tried to send it to me, but gmail blocks it because it's an .exe.....bummer.
Click to expand...
What about having someone just archive their entire folder and send that to you as a zip? All you have to do is unzip and edit the client.cfg file to your personal configuration. Once you start the fah executable, Stanford should assign you a new user ID.

I had to reinstall the OS on my system with the console client and didn't reinstall F@H. I just started the client and it continued where it left off despite a new OS was installed.
 
If you don't mind taking the time to send me yours, I'll leave it under your name.....It's not so much the points for me as it is the fact that my card isn't folding anymore......and I don't game so the damn thing is just sitting here making Vista look pretty.....a big waste of resources in my opinion.....

Let me know, I'll be happy to pm you my email.....

 
digital_exhaust said:
If you don't mind taking the time to send me yours, I'll leave it under your name.....It's not so much the points for me as it is the fact that my card isn't folding anymore......and I don't game so the damn thing is just sitting here making Vista look pretty.....a big waste of resources in my opinion.....

Let me know, I'll be happy to pm you my email.....
Click to expand...
OK, I'll wait for the current WU to complete and I'll attempt to send it you. No need to fold under my name.
 
No problem. Hopefully Stanford will let us fold a little while longer until we can move up to the GPU2 client with better hardware down the road. :)
 
I'm leaning toward a 2600PRO if I decide to do this upgrade at all. It make more sense to me to spend the $160 for the 3850 on a quad upgrade instead. I'm seeing reports of 500-600ppd with the 2600PRO which would be a nice increase from the 200ppd I'm getting now with the bonus Ambers.

Anyone know if the Sempron 64 2800 (palermo) will be able to max out the GPU?

Maybe I should wait until the nVidia stuff shakes out ...

 
AgrFan said:
I'm leaning toward a 2600PRO if I decide to do this upgrade at all. It make more sense to me to spend the $160 for the 3850 on a quad upgrade instead. I'm seeing reports of 500-600ppd with the 2600PRO which would be a nice increase from the 200ppd I'm getting now with the bonus Ambers.
Click to expand...
I think someone mentioned in another thread (or another forum) that they were getting ~2200PPD on a 2000-series card. I guess that must have been a PCI-E HD2900. Too bad that level of performance isn't available for AGP systems. What an upgrade that would be.... :eek:


 
APOLLO said:
I think someone mentioned in another thread (or another forum) that they were getting ~2200PPD on a 2000-series card. I guess that must have been a PCI-E HD2900. Too bad that level of performance isn't available for AGP systems. What an upgrade that would be.... :eek:


Click to expand...


My Asus K8V-MX is a decent board but it only has a 8x AGP slot, no PCI-E. I'm trying to decide if it's worth upgrading for the GPU2 client. I may replace the wife's machine with it. She has a Sempron 2500 on a Asus A7S8X-MX mobo (socket-a). Her machine folds pretty well with the CPU client and gets ~100 PPD. Unfortunately, it won't run the GPU2 client since it doesn't support SSE2 instructions.

I'm looking at this card right now ...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121222

 
AgrFan said:
My Asus K8V-MX is a decent board but it only has a 8x AGP slot, no PCI-E. I'm trying to decide if it's worth upgrading for the GPU2 client. I may replace the wife's machine with it. She has a Sempron 2500 on a Asus A7S8X-MX mobo (socket-a). Her machine folds pretty well with the CPU client and gets ~100 PPD. Unfortunately, it won't run the GPU2 client since it doesn't support SSE2 instructions.
Click to expand...
How much production does K8V-MX system make currently? The best way you can justify the purchase of a card to run the GPU2 client is to subtract the maximum PPD of your current config from the minimum estimated PPD of the system with the new card. Does the difference in PPD justify the~$90.00 you will pay for the upgrade? Personally, if it's only a few hundred PPD increase, I wouldn't purchase the card. I'd rather wait when I can afford a 3000-series AGP card that will see at least 1000PPD, even if the cost is double in the end.

We have to consider, and this has hardly been mentioned at all in any GPU2 thread, that Stanford can change point allotments for every WU it sends to our clients at any time. We might find one day that our 600PPD investment only produces 500 or 400PPD following the release of new WUs. Would it be worth it later?

Don't forget this client is new, it's beta, and the WUs being sent to those folding the GPU2 client presently will likely not be representative of future production scenarios. Stanford also desires to attract new users to this client and is making it lucrative points-wise for those taking the plunge.
 
APOLLO said:
How much production does K8V-MX system make currently? The best way you can justify the purchase of a card to run the GPU2 client is to subtract the maximum PPD of your current config from the minimum estimated PPD of the system with the new card. Does the difference in PPD justify the~$90.00 you will pay for the upgrade? Personally, if it's only a few hundred PPD increase, I wouldn't purchase the card. I'd rather wait when I can afford a 3000-series AGP card that will see at least 1000PPD, even if the cost is double in the end.

We have to consider, and this has hardly been mentioned at all in any GPU2 thread, that Stanford can change point allotments for every WU it sends to our clients at any time. We might find one day that our 600PPD investment only produces 500 or 400PPD following the release of new WUs. Would it be worth it later?

Don't forget this client is new, it's beta, and the WUs being sent to those folding the GPU2 client presently will likely not be representative of future production scenarios. Stanford also desires to attract new users to this client and is making it lucrative points-wise for those taking the plunge.
Click to expand...

This is very ture, every team is drifting lower in ppd because of the new "chewy" SMP WU.

My farm that used to produce 17k without a sweat is now pushing 15k more often than not. :mad:

 
digital_exhaust said:
The best price I have seen is around $160.....a little high, but maybe they'll come down before too long....

My problem with my X1950 is that I deleted the client after the challenge (to reconfigure it back to my name....) and then I went to download it.......but it's no longer available. Sunin tried to send it to me, but gmail blocks it because it's an .exe.....bummer.

Anyone know if Comcast blocks .exe attachments?

Click to expand...

Did you try having him change the .exe to .jpg or .gif or something like that? Then switch it back to .exe after you d/l it.


I wish they would come out with a client for the Voodoo cards...My Voodoo 5 5500 would rock! :eek::D
 
Kendrak said:
This is very ture, every team is drifting lower in ppd because of the new "chewy" SMP WU.

My farm that used to produce 17k without a sweat is now pushing 15k more often than not. :mad:

Click to expand...

There is 2 reasons for the recent drifting : Chewy units and incoming summer (often, people will reduce overclocking or stop folding until the temps is colder).

 
Crazy Larry said:
Did you try having him change the .exe to .jpg or .gif or something like that? Then switch it back to .exe after you d/l it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, we tried that and it didn't work. But no biggie, and I do appreciate the time he spent trying to get it to me......and as you can see, APOLLO was able to get it over to me last weekend so all is well.... for now, anyhow...I did have an EUE on the first wu it downloaded, but it's been fine since then...

 
I've decided not to do this upgrade. It makes more sense to upgrade to a quad core with PCI-E and wait for the nVidia rollout.

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

 
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