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Recommended GPGPU card

C

cactus

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 8, 2010
Messages
422
I am getting into doing some GPGPU programs (mostly CUDA) and am looking for a new video card. I have a 9800GT right now but it is to loud/hot and is an energy hog when idle.

I am looking at the GTX 460, 560Ti or maybe the 660Ti. Should I even look at the 660Ti? From what I have read the 680(660Ti being a cut down 680) is slower than the Fermi, but low power usage is nice. GTX460s are ~$100 new compared to ~$170 to 200 for a used 560Ti. If the performance difference worth the almost 2x cost?

The card will be put into a Linux box and I have never had luck with ATI Linux drivers. Also, the most gaming I will do on the computer in the near future is bejeweled...

TIA
 
I think the 460 is about as good a price to performance ratio you will get.
 
What's your budget? There are some good entry level Quadro cards available for around $150.
 
I have looked at used Quadros but I dont think I need the driver support(Wont be doing animation or CAD) and the price for what hardware you get makes it seem not worth it.

I would like to stay south of $200
 
460 or 560TI are the most cost effect cards to get for the gpgpu performance. though i'd lean more toward the 560TI due to higher clocks at around the same power usage as the 460. don't even bother with the 660TI. the 600 series is about on par with fermi when comparing the 680 to the 580, who knows how nurfed the mid range cards will be but i'm betting a 560TI will probably beat the 660TI when it comes to GPGPU.
 
If you're looking to buy for GPGPU, I absolutely recommend getting a GTX480, or even GTX470, or even GTX465. You can find them pretty cheap used or refurbished. Those are the cards that are based on the real Fermi GPU (GF100), with better GPGPU features.

I'm not mentioning GTX580 and GTX570 (based on revised GF110) because they're more expensive than GF100 cards...
 
theGryphon said:
If you're looking to buy for GPGPU, I absolutely recommend getting a GTX480, or even GTX470, or even GTX465. You can find them pretty cheap used or refurbished. Those are the cards that are based on the real Fermi GPU (GF100), with better GPGPU features.

I'm not mentioning GTX580 and GTX570 (based on revised GF110) because they're more expensive than GF100 cards...
Click to expand...

true but i'd still take a 570 over those cards even if it cost 100 bucks more. the 465/70/80's are power hogs for the actual performance they give.
 
No comment on performance, but here is a link for an MSI 460, game and 3DMark11 for $100 after $40 rebate. Maybe sell the game and 3DMark codes to bring your cost down further?
/Note... 192 bit memory, not 256
 
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Look into the 560 Ti 448 core as long as it's near cheaper than the 570 GTX. The 560 Ti is 97% the performance as the 570 GTX, but generally costs around $50 less.
 
Are you set on using CUDA? OpenCL is a standard now, and is portable across many hardware implementations. Furthermore, ATI's hardware is better suited toward integer arithmetic (NVIDIA is horribly slow at integer math), so you might consider this if your application is non-FP.

If I were you, I would focus my skills on using OpenCL, because the skill itself is more portable and future-proof. You also get the benefit of using ATI hardware if you are looking for competitive options.
 
If you can stand the heat a GTX 480 would be the best bang/buck for sure. Having the full chip (GF100/110) is a big boost for gpgpu stuff. You can find 480's for $200 new these days.

As mentioned above, if you are ok with OpenCL then buy the fastest Radeon 7700, 7800, or 7900 you can afford.
 
My main reason for not going with AMD is horrible, in my experience, linux drivers. I will put one of my 6950s into my Linux box and see how it goes.

Also, thanks for all the input.
 
ATI drivers have gotten better on linux but most of its being done by the community. AMD just releases their driver code and lets the linux community work on it instead.
 
cactus said:
I am getting into doing some GPGPU programs (mostly CUDA) and am looking for a new video card. I have a 9800GT right now but it is to loud/hot and is an energy hog when idle.
TIA
Click to expand...

I don't know about the Linux driver issues for the affects on PPD vs Win 7 64bit. All my information is based on Win 7.

I used to recommend the GTS 450 for ~$60 on Ebay for ~10K PPD and uses one 6-pin PCI-E. But now the GTX 460 has drop too close to this price range not to go with it.
The GTX 460 is ~$80 on Ebay $100 for New with rebate ~13K - 16K PPD and uses two 6-pin PCI-E.
The GTX 580 is under $300 on Ebay for ~22K - 29K PPD and uses an 8-pin and 6-pin PCI-E.

Other thoughts EVGA has recently change there warranty program to transfer with cards vs the orginial owners only. This effects cards shipped after July 1, 2011. http://www.evga.com/articles/00671/

Bit-Tech also had a great reference artictle on this as well. http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2011/04/26/best-graphics-card-for-folding/3
 
Got my HD6950 running on linux. A lot more work than nvidia cards though. Idle is 40W less than with the 9800GT and I got my first OpenCL program running, so Im happy. Thanks for all the input.
 
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