Best CPU value? Folding performance:price

BlueMax

Weaksauce
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Mar 23, 2012
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I know this is a pet subject and one I talk about often, but besides the easy desktop offerings of socket 1155 stuff, are there some less obvious bargains for folding boards+CPUs?

This won't just help me but anyone else wanting to do some good folding on a tight budget. ;)

ie: 2011 or 1366 6-core (12 thread) cpus, cheaper AMD 8-cores, Cheap Dual AMD C32, etc.


I'm sorely disappointed in the Q6600's performance and nVidia seems to no longer give good performance either. I know I'll aim for pure CPU numbers now... so your opinions are welcome! :D

Cheapest way to get the highest folding numbers...
 
Best ppd/$ is going to be a $2500 48 core AMD system but it looks like you want the best ppd at lower price points, you basically have to set you max budget to be able to chose something then. Because of the way points work, every time you decrease your budget you will be getting lower ppd/$ until you start mixing GPUs which is where ppd/w also starts to factor in and it gets confusing. I went with and 4p AMD system with cheap 8 core cpus because it was only $1500 but still basically the full high end experience.
 
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4p is where it is at now. There are a few rigs up for sale now I believe in DC fs/t.

2p 2011 costs more paying retail than 4p g34....and gets 1/2 the ppd.
 
Under $1000 is required! I'd also prefer this to be my one desktop computer, not a secondary server. (Ideally...)
 
Opteron 6166HEs overclocked on a SM board with the [H] BIOS without a doubt.
 
Been there ....... done that......:)
The thread was pretty short dude! :cool:
 
12 thread 970 or 980 will net you up to 80-90K running 6903 in vitualbox if given its head, but when you are using the box it will probably drop to around half that
 
For $1000, I will go with 2x 2600K OC systems, cheaper than 2p 6272 and get the equivalent ppd.
 
Vince - you mean build two completely seperate rigs? That might be a smart option I never quite considered.

A sensible system running Windows that folds when I'm not home, another system on *NIX folding 100%.... totally sensible!

OTOH, those numbers from a "970" (G34 processor?) are very impressive! If it's going to be doing nothing but folding anyway, I should really consider that option. It sounds like Windows is just not a truly viable folding platform.
 
970 is an intel i7 i970 6 cores and 12 threads, I have one at 3.9Ghz running only 10 threads currently pulling 61K and thats driving 4 GTX470's as well. So on its own it should easily hit near 80K
 
970 is an intel i7 i970 6 cores and 12 threads, I have one at 3.9Ghz running only 10 threads currently pulling 61K and thats driving 4 GTX470's as well. So on its own it should easily hit near 80K

Risky, as -bigadv will be 16 thread/core in the future.
 
I would look for a used SR-2 rig with hexes. You might make the $1000 price point if you shop smartly.
 
<cough>
There will be a dual 1366 rig onsale for under $1000 shortly....
<cough>
 
Heeeyyyyyy... I found a local guy dumping old Dell Precision 690 workstations for a lousy $200!

2x dual-core Xeon 51xx's... could upgrade to 2x quad-core Xeon 53xx's if I find a deal down the road...

Would this be a better route than a standard desktop i5 or i7?
 
Heeeyyyyyy... I found a local guy dumping old Dell Precision 690 workstations for a lousy $200!

2x dual-core Xeon 51xx's... could upgrade to 2x quad-core Xeon 53xx's if I find a deal down the road...

Would this be a better route than a standard desktop i5 or i7?

No it would not.
 
Heeeyyyyyy.....
2x dual-core Xeon 51xx's... could upgrade to 2x quad-core Xeon 53xx's if I find a deal down the road... Would this be a better route than a standard desktop i5 or i7?

Definitely not. Plus, I tried to upgrade my Dell 690 to quad cores and found out the Dell BIOS will not let you. Period. No POST. Nothing. Built in obsolescence.
The existing CPUs would only net a few hundred PPD, so I fill up the MB with GPUs and get about 20K PPD. The PSU is pretty strong if you get the 1kW model.

 
So 8 Xeon 53xx cores would be no better than a modern i7, eh? Thanks.

I was so tempted by that $200 price tag but it won't perform much better than a Q6600 with the 4 cores it has out of the box. A pair of quads is under $100 on ebay...

Of course, a brand-spanking-new AMD 8-core would be the same money... minus case, ram & power supply...

Dang. Thought I got a lucky shot there.
 
So 8 Xeon 53xx cores would be no better than a modern i7, eh? Thanks.

I was so tempted by that $200 price tag but it won't perform much better than a Q6600 with the 4 cores it has out of the box. A pair of quads is under $100 on ebay...

Of course, a brand-spanking-new AMD 8-core would be the same money... minus case, ram & power supply...

Dang. Thought I got a lucky shot there.

You will spend a shit ton on power for like no ppd. Buy an i7 otherwise g34. Sure, it's money but you will make some points. Don't piss around with old desktops unless you want to heat your use and spend money on power.
 
WOW am I glad I talked to you guys first! :D

Cookies all around for some fantastic help - you guys have been awesome! So now it's just down to a nice 1155 i7 or the big jump to a 2011 six-core i7...
 
Quad channel memory will also help in the 2011 system. FAH pushes a huge amount data across RAM.
 
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Seems to depend though, I didn't notice a big difference on my dual 5620 rig when I went from 1 stick to 6 but I don't run HFM or the like so maybe it has.
 
It isn't massive, but because of the shape of the curve, seconds off a TPF show up as a nice bump in ppd.
 
As an added example, my 2p; l5639 get roughly 75k ppd on 6xxx big adv units. Its under $1000, but I'd go differently as even a 2p g34 on a 4p board can probably be done if you can find a cheap SM Board and ebay'd the cpu's.
 
As an added example, my 2p; l5639 get roughly 75k ppd on 6xxx big adv units. Its under $1000, but I'd go differently as even a 2p g34 on a 4p board can probably be done if you can find a cheap SM Board and ebay'd the cpu's.

Your system won't do well with the bigadv-16 units as it will miss the deadline by a rather significant margin. Low end 2p G34's have the same problem unless you've got dodecas (and then they're not low end anymore).

As has been suggested to the OP in the past, starting with a 4P G34 board and adding CPUs as they can be afforded will be the best way to go. ~600-800 for the board and $100 per Opeteron 6128 (plus $40ish for memory, $20 for HSF per CPU), plus a PSU for say, $100.
 
Your system won't do well with the bigadv-16 units as it will miss the deadline by a rather significant margin. Low end 2p G34's have the same problem unless you've got dodecas (and then they're not low end anymore).

As has been suggested to the OP in the past, starting with a 4P G34 board and adding CPUs as they can be afforded will be the best way to go. ~600-800 for the board and $100 per Opeteron 6128 (plus $40ish for memory, $20 for HSF per CPU), plus a PSU for say, $100.

hmmmm... I doubt we could squeeze in under 1k but I have some ideas...
you should come into irc to talk...

irc.dp,cx #hardocp
 
I'm bumping this thread up from the depths because I'm still in the same boat as then - wanting to get the highest PPD I can, for the least amount of cash AND THE LOWEST POWER REQUIREMENT! (Critical... my landlord will freak if I up his power bill much more!)

Still using the same Q6600 and a passive Radeon 7750 (not folding w/ video)
I still have the same choice, one massive system running Win7 that'll fold 24/7 but slow down a little when I'm home web-surfing or playing a few small games, or maybe two i5 systems instead.
At least one being in the small & stylish Shuttle SH61R4 for only $199.
I imagine a pair of i5 systems would outperform / do more than even the 6-core 3930K... unless HT really helps out a LOT, or the 6-cores allow bigger, tastier jobs to be done... if two i5's, one could be on *nix folding 24/7 uninterrupted and the second system would be used for browsing/games when I'm home.

I'd love to hear your thoughts! I've wasted HOURS researching this to death and I'd like to get some sleep instead! I want to do this to beat cancer, in honour of my late father and to stop it before I'm next!
 
I will strongly recommend 4p 61xx es and 4p 62xx es. Their PPDs per dollar are really very good.
 
I have some g34 cpu's FS in the FS section...you can start a 4p build with them and run only 2, this is how I started...
 
Before we look at rigs - what power do you currently use and how much more can you get away with - there is no point suggesting a rig pulling 400w if he can only afford 200w.
 
Before we look at rigs - what power do you currently use and how much more can you get away with - there is no point suggesting a rig pulling 400w if he can only afford 200w.

Who's pulling only 400w? :p
 
I'm bumping this thread up from the depths because I'm still in the same boat as then - wanting to get the highest PPD I can, for the least amount of cash AND THE LOWEST POWER REQUIREMENT! (Critical... my landlord will freak if I up his power bill much more!)

Still using the same Q6600 and a passive Radeon 7750 (not folding w/ video)
I still have the same choice, one massive system running Win7 that'll fold 24/7 but slow down a little when I'm home web-surfing or playing a few small games, or maybe two i5 systems instead.
At least one being in the small & stylish Shuttle SH61R4 for only $199.
I imagine a pair of i5 systems would outperform / do more than even the 6-core 3930K... unless HT really helps out a LOT, or the 6-cores allow bigger, tastier jobs to be done... if two i5's, one could be on *nix folding 24/7 uninterrupted and the second system would be used for browsing/games when I'm home.

I'd love to hear your thoughts! I've wasted HOURS researching this to death and I'd like to get some sleep instead! I want to do this to beat cancer, in honour of my late father and to stop it before I'm next!

I would recommend the i5 system for the daily driver, and another system dedicated to folding. A 3930K would produce more points than two i5's just because of the bonus points curve. The reason I recommend two systems is because even light use will drop your points a fair amount because of the exponential nature of the bonus points curve. Take for example my 8P socket F machine with 48 cores @ 2.4Ghz. On SMP project 7165 I get a TPF of 40 seconds for an estimated 196328.1 PPD, just adding one second to that TPF to bring it up to 41 seconds the estimate is189189.34 PPD. That is 7138.76 PPD lost, which is more than a fairly high clocked Q6600 would put out.

This is the point were you need to decide your commitment to folding @ home. I would say that you should buy a cheap i5 rig to start out and try folding on it. If you make enough points to keep you happy, and you are able to do what you need to do, then stay with the i5 machine. If you want to upgrade later it will be easy to buy a second machine dedicated to folding that will get the most points possible for the $/W.

With anything less than a high clocked 2P or 4P, you will be limited to SMP units.

less than that for each of my rigs, my total folding power budget is only 700w:(

Ouch!, my 8P is north of 850W on its own!
 
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