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Boxen Build Advice

C

capreppy

[H]ard|DCer of the Month - April 2009
Joined
Jul 4, 2007
Messages
3,410
Ok. So I am about a week away from ordering parts. I am planning to build two boxen and they will be identical. Below are the parts list for a single boxen. I've added notes as needed and would appreciate feedback.

Norco RPC-470 This is a rackmount 4U case. I don't believe I will have any issues putting a TRUE120 inside it, but if anyone can confirm that would be great. I am going rackmount as my wife wants everything inside a server cabinet that I will be putting other rigs (for other purposes) that I'll be building at the same time. I'll be adding 2 x 120mm fans up front (input) and 2 x 80mm fans in the rear (exhaust)
MSI X48 Platinum Lowest price Intel MoBo with at least 3 PCIE slots. This is open box. The MoBo has mediocre reviews on the 'egg. Is this board ok? It's an Open Box Item and if it's ok, I will go ahead and purchase now before it disappears.
G. Skill DDR2-800 (2 x 2GB) I already have 2 sets of these so I won't need to purchase any, but is listed here for reference
Intel Q6600 I already have one so I'll only be purchasing one more. I'll be shooting for 3.6, but will settle for 3.2 depending on temps.
TRUE 120 w/ Scythe Ultra Kaze 120m fan
3 x EVGA GTX 285 SSC Edition
  • I'm looking at the GTX285 vs the 9800GX2 because the assumption is that the newer 55nm cards use less energy. The upfront cost will be higher, but in the long run the energy savings versus the 9800GX2 will more than make up for it. I would LOVE to hear opinions on this.
  • I'm looking at the SSC Edition because I don't want to have to deal with OC'ing and there is about a $40 price difference between vanilla and the SSC. I can justify the difference in my head so I don't have to screw around with OCs.
Thermaltake Toughpower W0133RU 1200W
or can I use Corsair CMPSU-1000HX 1000W instead? Obviously cheaper is better and I want to find the most appropriate PSU for the task at hand.

I'll be be running WinXP Home (per recommendations in other threads). Cost is about $1900 for the first box (already have the Q6600) and $2100 for the second box.

I have considered building with Core i7, but frankly the cost difference (approx $300 per box) isn't worth it for me. The cost of the MoBo's is stll way too high. CPUs isn't that bad (not too much more than a Q6600). I'll be updating my sig rig to Core i7 so I'll get my exposure to the new technology there.

Very rough estimates with F@H GPU2 is ~40K PpD per box for a total of ~80K PpD between the two. I will be running WCG with the remaining cycles out of the Q6600.

Again, any input / feedback / criticism would be appreciated. I will entertain any feedback and apply changes to the builds above as necessary.
 
I am about 95% sure a TRUE will not fit inside a 4U case.

A TRUE 120 would barly clear my Cooler Master Centurion 5 case with 8"
A 4U case only has 7" of clearance by spec usually a little less depeding on how the cases top attaches.

I would suggest using the Zalman 8700NT (Fan Included)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118034&Tpk=zalman 8700nt

I found it to be a excellent cooler for HTPC as well as my 3 x 4U cases.
It is a lot bigger then it looks in the photos, but has served me well on my quads.

If you are really wanting a TRUE type Heatsink ..
I would suggest the Thermalright AXP-140
http://www.coolerguys.com/840556088585.html

It is basically a TRUE made for HTPC and should provide excellent cooling.

Both of these unit will fit inside a 4U case.

I have had no issue with open box motherboards from Newegg.
Usually, it is the motherboard only with the I/O shild included about 15% of the time.
I have had to order the I/O shield off ebay if I wanted it.
I have purchased an open box motherboard for my Untangle Server & my Main system.
They are great deal as long as you don't need the extra parts.
They will come in a generic white box.
 
EvilAlchemist said:
I am about 95% sure a TRUE will not fit inside a 4U case.
Click to expand...
I'm 100% sure. I've built a lot of rack mount boxen over the years. It would have to be a 5U if you wanted to go with the TRUE. :(
 
Thanks Evil. I'll update my build list to include this HSF.
 
Tobit said:
I'm 100% sure. I've built a lot of rack mount boxen over the years. It would have to be a 5U if you wanted to go with the TRUE. :(
Click to expand...

For the price, the 4U case noted above is my preference. 5U cases aren't cheap (or are 3U). Per my post above, I'll just update the HSF I'm going to use
 
capreppy said:
5U cases aren't cheap (or are 3U).
Click to expand...
Exactly, I'd love to rack mount everything here but 3U's are just way too expensive for me and 5U's, if I could find a cheap one I liked, would just take up too much room in my rack.
 
Since the Thermalright AXP-140 is a newer product, it is hard to find a lot of reviews but it should come as close to the TRUE's performance as anything.
 
EvilAlchemist said:
Since the Thermalright AXP-140 is a newer product, it is hard to find a lot of reviews but it should come as close to the TRUE's performance as anything.
Click to expand...

Got your PM. I'll take a look at this. I would prefer the performance of the TRUE. It'll be an effort to keep heat down and the TRUE was going to be my first choice.
 
capreppy said:
MSI X48 Platinum Lowest price Intel MoBo with at least 3 PCIE slots. This is open box. The MoBo has mediocre reviews on the 'egg. Is this board ok? It's an Open Box Item and if it's ok, I will go ahead and purchase now before it disappears.
Intel Q6600 I already have one so I'll only be purchasing one more. I'll be shooting for 3.6, but will settle for 3.2 depending on temps.
Click to expand...
I suggest you either look into purchasing a motherboard with four PCI-E slots, or go with an AMD setup and a board like the MSI K9A2. The ability to add a fourth card will be significantly more useful in terms of PPD in the long run compared to having a better CPU.
capreppy said:
I'm looking at the GTX285 vs the 9800GX2 because the assumption is that the newer 55nm cards use less energy. The upfront cost will be higher, but in the long run the energy savings versus the 9800GX2 will more than make up for it. I would LOVE to hear opinions on this.
Click to expand...
A 9800GX2 will give you around 9-10k PPD whereas a GTX285 will probably give you somewhere around 7-8k. If you're trying to maximise PPD, GX2s would probably be a better choice, although I'm not sure about the power savings. Alternatively, you could consider going with GTX295s instead. If the cost is too great, you could always buy a few now and the rest at a later date. IMO, that would be the best option, since you'd be getting the most PPD (~14k per card), as well as the power savings from using the 55nm GPUs. A single GTX295 will give you approximately the same PPD as two GTX285s, maybe a bit less, but it would still be much more efficient, and give you more PPD for your dollar (since a single 295 is much cheaper than two 285s).
capreppy said:
I'm looking at the SSC Edition because I don't want to have to deal with OC'ing and there is about a $40 price difference between vanilla and the SSC. I can justify the difference in my head so I don't have to screw around with OCs.
Click to expand...
That's a personal choice. To be honest though, $40 is not justifiable for a pre-overclocked card if you're trying to maintain a budget. Dealing with overclocking is a relatively minor endeavour compared to the rest of the process of putting together and setting up one of these boxen, so if you're really trying to get the best bang for your buck, you'd best handle the OCing yourself. Of course, if cost isn't an issue, then you may as well just go with GTX295s instead ;).
capreppy said:
Thermaltake Toughpower W0133RU 1200W
or can I use Corsair CMPSU-1000HX 1000W instead? Obviously cheaper is better and I want to find the most appropriate PSU for the task at hand.
Click to expand...
Depends what you go with in the end. If you were to follow my suggestions, then the 1200W would be a better choice. I would recommend this PSU over the Thermaltake though, since it's basically the same thing (guts are made by the same manufacturer) and it'll end up being a lot cheaper after the rebate: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817374014&Tpk=inwin commander 1200w
capreppy said:
Very rough estimates with F@H GPU2 is ~40K PpD per box for a total of ~80K PpD between the two.
Click to expand...
No offense, but that's pretty unlikely. That would mean you'd be pulling ~13k PPD per card, which is not going to happen with GTX285s or 9800GX2s. You'd need GTX295s to get that kind of output.

So there's my opinion. Personally, although you've got a good start there, I think you have the potential to get a lot more efficiency out of those two boxen if you make a few tweaks to your configuration. If you follow all of my suggestions, you could end up with boxen that kick out ~55-60k PPD each :D.
 
capreppy said:
Got your PM. I'll take a look at this. I would prefer the performance of the TRUE. It'll be an effort to keep heat down and the TRUE was going to be my first choice.
Click to expand...

Here is a rewiew of the AXP-140
http://www.overclockersonline.net/?page=articles&num=2411

If you left the case tops off, you could run TRUE's but that will eat up more Rack Space.

Both are made by the same company so you might be able to e-mail Thermalright and ask what the performance levels of both models are.
 
Zero82z said:
I suggest you either look into purchasing a motherboard with four PCI-E slots, or go with an AMD setup and a board like the MSI K9A2. The ability to add a fourth card will be significantly more useful in terms of PPD in the long run compared to having a better CPU.

A 9800GX2 will give you around 9-10k PPD whereas a GTX285 will probably give you somewhere around 7-8k. If you're trying to maximise PPD, GX2s would probably be a better choice, although I'm not sure about the power savings. Alternatively, you could consider going with GTX295s instead. If the cost is too great, you could always buy a few now and the rest at a later date. IMO, that would be the best option, since you'd be getting the most PPD (~14k per card), as well as the power savings from using the 55nm GPUs. A single GTX295 will give you approximately the same PPD as two GTX285s, maybe a bit less, but it would still be much more efficient.

That's a personal choice. To be honest though, $40 is not justifiable for a pre-overclocked card if you're trying to maintain a budget. Dealing with overclocking is a relatively minor endeavour compared to the rest of the process of putting together and setting up one of these boxen, so if you're really trying to get the best bang for your buck, you'd best handle the OCing yourself.

Depends what you go with in the end. If you were to follow my suggestions, then the 1200W would be a better choice. I would recommend this PSU over the Thermaltake though, since it's basically the same thing (guts are made by the same manufacturer) and it'll end up being a lot cheaper after the rebate: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817374014&Tpk=inwin commander 1200w

So there's my opinion. Personally, although you've got a good start there, I think you have the potential to get a lot more efficiency out of those two boxen if you make a few tweaks to your configuration. If you follow all of my suggestions, you could end up with boxen that kick out ~55-60k PPD each :D.
Click to expand...

I appreciate your opinion :D

The case I am looking at only has 7 expansion slots so 3 GPUs will be my max.
I've looked at the AMD Boards, but honestly don't have a clue about them. What would you recommend for the CPU? I'd like to be able to run WCG and maximize my PpD there as well.

I like the price of the PSU, but I'm not likely to be able to seal the deal by the 31st which is when the rebate ends. Is the rebate likely to go past the 31st? If so, then I'll definitely take a look at it. The provantage price for the TT is almost the same as the In Win PSU.

Are you sure about the PpD for the GTX285? That seems kinda low to me. I was assuming I could get ~7000 PpD from each core for a total of 14K PpD. When I built my buddies rig, I ran F@H GPU2 on his GTX260 and was getting about 7K PpD from the one core.

As for OC'ing, can RivaTuner do multiple GPUs? I know that eVGA Precision can't do it (at least that is my understanding). What is the recommended tool for OC'ing this many GPUs
 
EvilAlchemist said:
Here is a rewiew of the AXP-140
http://www.overclockersonline.net/?page=articles&num=2411

If you left the case tops off, you could run TRUE's but that will eat up more Rack Space.

Both are made by the same company so you might be able to e-mail Thermalright and ask what the performance levels of both models are.
Click to expand...

I've got a really good deal on a 24U Server Cabinet. Actually going to go pick it up this weekend. I've got 2 x 4U (folders) + 1 x 4U (WHS). I'll have a couple of other boxes going in here, plus I want a little room for another dedicated boxen later. Leaving the tops off is definitely not an option.
 
capreppy said:
The case I am looking at only has 7 expansion slots so 3 GPUs will be my max.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's too bad :(.
capreppy said:
I've looked at the AMD Boards, but honestly don't have a clue about them. What would you recommend for the CPU? I'd like to be able to run WCG and maximize my PpD there as well.
Click to expand...
I have no idea about WCG performance as I stick to F@H exclusively. As far as AMD CPUs go, the new Phenom IIs are as good as it gets. They're around the same level performance-wise as a Q6600 clock-for-clock. Since you can't run four cards though, the benefit of going with an AMD setup may be negated. My only concern is about that MSI X48 board, since I'm really not a fan of MSI mobos. It could go either way really, so I would put that choice down to the cost and reliability of the components.
capreppy said:
I like the price of the PSU, but I'm not likely to be able to seal the deal by the 31st which is when the rebate ends. Is the rebate likely to go past the 31st? If so, then I'll definitely take a look at it. The provantage price for the TT is almost the same as the In Win PSU.
Click to expand...
I have no idea about that rebate. I suggest you revisit it after the deadline and see if a new rebate pops up. Also, it's always a good idea to shop around for better prices. In general, the InWin PSU is cheaper than the Thermaltake, so you could probably find a better deal on it. Like I said though, it doesn't really matter which one you go with since the guts are basically identical.
capreppy said:
Are you sure about the PpD for the GTX285? That seems kinda low to me. I was assuming I could get ~7000 PpD from each core for a total of 14K PpD. When I built my buddies rig, I ran F@H GPU2 on his GTX260 and was getting about 7K PpD from the one core.
Click to expand...
I think you're a little confused. The GTX285 is the die-shrunk version of the GTX280. The GTX295 is nVidia's new top-end dual-GPU card. The GTX285 will pull about the same as a GTX280, whereas the GTX295 will pull somewhere between two GTX280s and two GTX260s (probably closer to two 280s since each GPU has 240 shaders like the 280 as opposed to 216 like the 260). When I made my previous post, I was assuming that you were talking about the actual 285. However, if you meant the 295, then I think that would be the best option for you, as I discussed above.
capreppy said:
As for OC'ing, can RivaTuner do multiple GPUs? I know that eVGA Precision can't do it (at least that is my understanding). What is the recommended tool for OC'ing this many GPUs
Click to expand...
I think Rivatuner can handle it, although I don't really have any direct experience with that. You'd best ask someone else around here who has more experience with multi-GPU setups.
 
Zero82z said:
I think you're a little confused. The GTX285 is the die-shrunk version of the GTX280. The GTX295 is nVidia's new top-end dual-GPU card. The GTX285 will pull about the same as a GTX280, whereas the GTX295 will pull somewhere between two GTX280s and two GTX260s (probably closer to two 280s since each GPU has 240 shaders like the 280 as opposed to 216 like the 260). When I made my previous post, I was assuming that you were talking about the actual 285. However, if you meant the 295, then I think that would be the best option for you, as I discussed above.
Click to expand...

Ya know, I've been doing all this reading with the assumption that the GTX285 was 2 x die shrunk GTX260's. Obviously, the light bulb just turned on!!

Well, I guess I am going to need to look at the 9800GX2 or spend the money for the GTX295 which IS 2 x GPU Cores.
 
Does anyone know what kind of electricity usage I would be looking at between a 9800GX2 and a GTX295?

There is a $250 difference per card. For 6 cards, that is a difference of $1500. Over 18 months, that is a difference of $83.33. Can I save the $83.33 in electricity costs to make up the difference when using 6 of these cards?
 
The 9800GX2 pulls 190-200W, which is about the same as a GTX285. The GTX295 allegedly pulls 289W at load, which is huge. It seems like the best bang for the buck is still the 9800GX2, especially if you're buying 6 of them.
 
capreppy said:
Does anyone know what kind of electricity usage I would be looking at between a 9800GX2 and a GTX295?

There is a $250 difference per card. For 6 cards, that is a difference of $1500. Over 18 months, that is a difference of $83.33. Can I save the $83.33 in electricity costs to make up the difference when using 6 of these cards?
Click to expand...
What you should be looking at is not overall power consumption, but the amount of points you put out compared to the power you use.

According to this review, a system with a GTX295 pulls 460W from the wall at full load: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2009/01/08/nvidia-geforce-gtx-295-quad-sli-review/16
According to this review, a 9800GX2 pulls 340W from the wall at full load: http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTUyNCw4LCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

Unfortunately, one of those systems is an i7 rig, whereas the other is a Core 2 Quad machine. So we have to use a little guesswork here. Let's assume that the power consumption of the other components is 200W for the i7 system and 150W for the C2Q system (I don't know how accurate that is, but it's probably fairly close). That would give you 260W for the GTX295 and 190W for the GX2. A GTX295 will give you about 14k PPD whereas a GX2 will hit around 9k, so the PPD/W for those two cards would be roughly 54 for the 295 and 47 for the GX2.

So the 295 is overall more power-efficient for the amount of work it does, although its overall power consumption will be higher than that of the GX2.
 
A 1000W PSU should power your current parts list, but it depends on the amount of cushion you want. I found this article to be very helpful.

Instead of XP Home, you might want to think about XP Pro x64. I realized too late that's what I should have got. I single 9800GX2 uses about 625MB of RAM address space, and along with the motherboard and other stuff, three 9800GX2s would only leave you about 1.6GB of RAM for Windows. Each GPU F@H process can take about 100MB, and along with Windows overhead, you'll be left with less than a gig for any CPU work (WCG). With my four 9800GX2s, I basically have 0 RAM left. If you do go 64-bit, just make sure the mobo has the necessary drivers.

I've only used RivaTuner to set the fan speed on my cards, but it can definitely handle multiple cards. I haven't done any overclocking because I don't want the extra heat, and I'm doing about 35K PPD anyway.
 
RivaTuner allows overclocking multi-gpu and fan speeds.
Just choose which card by the monitor it's hooked to and hit apply.
Make fan/clock changes and then go to the next card.

I have it display the info on my G15's LCD. :)
 
Evil,

Since most Socket 775s are working with Socket 1366 (with a revised bolt thru kit), do you think I could use the Thermalright AXP-140 HTPC CPU Cooler Intel with this bolt thru kit?

I'm re-evaluating my thoughts on Core i7. Given what I see of others trying to get 3 x 9800GX2's running on nVidia 700 series boards and the real lack of good solid P35/P45/X38/X48 options out there with 3 PCIE, I am reconsidering X58. It's about a $300 difference (I've already found some open box X58 boards that are well reviewed).

BFG DOES have a Trade-Up program and if the funds are available and the price of the GTX295 has dropped, then I could Trade-Up. BFG gives 100 days from date of invoice for the trade-up.

Thoughts?
 
capreppy, I just posted an awesome Core i7 deal in the DC FS/FT forum, check it out. :cool:
 
Ok. So this is where I am at after thinking about this last night. I've taken into consideration what others have posted above.

MSI K9A2 Platinum
AMD Phenom II X4 940 Deneb 3.0GHz
3 x BFG Tech 9800GX2
IN WIN COMMANDER IRP-COM1200 1200W

I've decided to go the AMD route. Given what others are seeing with the nVidia 700 Series boards and 3 x 9800GX2s I don't want to go that route. Also, there are NO solid P35/P45/X38/X48 boards (that aren't DDR3 and too expensive for my tastes). So this really only leaves the AMD route. Based on my reading (after several cups of coffee so I understand better what I am reading), others have recommended this route for dedicated GPU boxen.

I'm pairing the Phenom 2 3.0GHz Quad Core so I can still do WCG which is part of my original intent. The 'egg has a combo deal with this MoBo and CPU and it works out to be pretty cheap (relatively speaking). I do, however, need suggestions for a HSF for AM2+ that will fit inside a 4U case.

I will be doing 3 of these boxen. After getting over the fact that I can not read nor do math well, I expect to get 27K PpD from each box (9K PpD per 9800GX2) for a total of 81K PpD.

I am hoping that the GTX295 comes down in price between now and the next 90 days. If it comes down enough, I will trade up the 9 x 9800GX2's for 9 x GTX295's.
 
capreppy said:
I am hoping that the GTX295 comes down in price between now and the next 90 days. If it comes down enough, I will trade up the 9 x 9800GX2's for 9 x GTX295's.
Click to expand...
The problem with the trade-up is that you have to pay BFG's price. If deals for the 295s come up, you won't be able to take advantage of them with a trade-up. My honest opinion is that you should stick with GTX295s. If you can't afford all of them, then just buy a few now and get the rest later when you have the cash.
 
That is a very good point. I actually did some more numbers.

3 Boxen w/3 x 9800GX2's will produce 81K PpD (conservative) and will cost about $5100 complete.
2 Boxen w/3 x GTX295's will produce 84K PpD (conservative) and will cost about $4900 complete.

I've got a week before the funds are available. But for now, from a cost perspective (initial outlay), the GTX295's seem to be a better route. I have to believe there will be some savings in electricity in using the 55nm GTX295's versus the 9800GX2's. If this is true (and I would truly appreciate someone confirming or denying this), then this has to be the route that I go. Long Term savings on electricity is key for DCers. The initial cost is nothing compared the electrical costs long term.

If I get the consulting rate that I am shooting for on the contract I am negotiating, then I will go with 3 Boxen w/GTX295's. Then I'll be just about at my goal and that doesn't include the 2 x GTX295's that will be going into my sig rig.
 
with 2 boxen and my updated sig rig (Core i7 w/ 2 x GTX295 (or still conteplating 3 x GTX285)), I'm figuring about roughly 112K PpD (conservative number assuming a fair number of 511 WUs which I have been getting a lot off).

My PpD for F@H comes from my almost ancient eVGA 8800GTX (18 months seems to be almost ancient to me) and my lappies 9700m GT. I've always wanted to be able to contribute more to the cause because of the losses my wife and I have experienced due to cancer. She is behind me 100% and understands the cost of our involvement. We both own our own businesses and work from home. I've got a separate meter to my home office so it makes writing off the electricity a lot easier. I'll be upgrading the circuits in my home office starting next week to handle the load of all the machines going into it (I have a frend that is an electrician so the work will be really cheap, but he's licensed so I have no worries).

Plus the CPUs will be running WCG 100%. I want to try and catch some of the guys at the top
 
Can anyone point me to the post for building the VGA dummy plugs? I know I'm going to need a few, but can't find the post to figure out what parts I need.
 
Thank you sir. I'm going to pop over to Radio Shack and pick up what I need. I've got down time till I start my next consulting gig and am using it to do the research and initial foot work
 
Capreppy, I assume you are going to run Vista on these machines - thus the need for dummy plugs... WinXP does not need them... For extending desktop, or overclocking... (just making sure you're aware of this)

See you on my threat list soon!

:cool:



 
Yes, I will be running WinXP Pro x64. Per others, Vista won't really work with 6 GPU cores. And as suggested by others, with this many GPU cores, memory becomes an issue due to memory addressing for the 6 cores as well as all of the crap that is running :)

Thank you for the info. I guess I better read Xili's guide to see what else I have missed.
 
So in this thread some have mentioned expecting 6-7k ppd from each core of a GTX295 or 285. This is similar to what people were getting with a GTX280 back when all we got was the little 480 point WUs. How does the ppd hold up with a 200+ shader card when you get one of the "crunchy" work units that kills all the old low-end cards with low shader count?

I am also in the early stages of planning a multi-GPU beast.
 
capreppy said:
I have to believe there will be some savings in electricity in using the 55nm GTX295's versus the 9800GX2's. If this is true (and I would truly appreciate someone confirming or denying this), then this has to be the route that I go.
Click to expand...

A single GTX295 actually requires more electricity than a single 9800GX2. Yes, it's die-shrunk to 55nm, but the number of transistors has almost doubled. I've seen various numbers for power draw for both cards, but the GTX295 is always more. The frequently quoted numbers seem to be 190-200W for the 9800GX2 vs. 289W for the GTX295, but based on actual measurements (see Tom's Hardware reviews for example) the real-world difference is not nearly as big.

However, because you'll be able to get about the same PPD with fewer GTX295s, and you'll also have fewer total systems meaning one less set of CPU/mobo/HDD/fans drawing power, the GTX295 systems should be more power efficient overall.
 
SazanEyes said:
A single GTX295 actually requires more electricity than a single 9800GX2. Yes, it's die-shrunk to 55nm, but the number of transistors has almost doubled. I've seen various numbers for power draw for both cards, but the GTX295 is always more. The frequently quoted numbers seem to be 190-200W for the 9800GX2 vs. 289W for the GTX295, but based on actual measurements (see Tom's Hardware reviews for example) the real-world difference is not nearly as big.

However, because you'll be able to get about the same PPD with fewer GTX295s, and you'll also have fewer total systems meaning one less set of CPU/mobo/HDD/fans drawing power, the GTX295 systems should be more power efficient overall.
Click to expand...

That was my thinking. I'm only running 2 boxen vs 3. Overall, I have to be using less power. The PpD output between the two systems is almost identical
 
capreppy said:
I have to believe there will be some savings in electricity in using the 55nm GTX295's versus the 9800GX2's. If this is true (and I would truly appreciate someone confirming or denying this), then this has to be the route that I go. Long Term savings on electricity is key for DCers. The initial cost is nothing compared the electrical costs long term.
Click to expand...
The GTX295s will use more power than 9800GX2s. However, they produce more PPD per watt than the GX2s. Overall power consumption will be higher, but so will your points output.

Edit: Just realised someone else already addressed that.
 
capreppy, why don't you just go with dual 4x GTX295 rigs? I think someone suggested the MSI K9A2 for a 4x Pci-E mobo. Any reason you don't go that route? I'll be around the same price (~$5k with psu's, hdds and whatnot) and you'll get 28k ppd more.
 
crazjayz said:
capreppy, why don't you just go with dual 4x GTX295 rigs? I think someone suggested the MSI K9A2 for a 4x Pci-E mobo. Any reason you don't go that route? I'll be around the same price (~$5k with psu's, hdds and whatnot) and you'll get 28k ppd more.
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I suggested that earlier, but the cases he'll be using don't have room for a fourth dual-slot card.
 
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