K, I'm back from the coast where I did a MAJOR cleanout of my old workshop. I turfed a huge box of old hardware out (but kept a few nostalgic pieces - voodoo1, etc.) Found an old AM3 mobo and had a PhIIX4 945 laying around so grabbed that too. Brought it back and have 2 spare 2GB sticks of DDR3 and it seems to boot but what to do with it? We seem to be fine on CSG so should I put WCG on it? Video is a shitty GT420 but I can grab a cheap GTX1050 for the Server and move the GTX750 over to this for maybe some GPUGrid action. I got a friend going to give me an unused Win7 license but I'm not against a Linux distro if I can find the time to learn the basics. Have Ubuntu 10 & 12 on disc somewhere but not sure what the latest stable version is. This will be a [H]orde box only, no gaming or anything. Get your votes in now ..
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repurpose old hardware
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Gilthanis
[H]ard|DCer of the Year - 2014
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How many GPU's can the Mobo support?
MSI 890FXA-GD70. It has 5 full PCI-E 2.0 slots but middle 3 are bunched together and very middle only runs x4 electrically. 2 are x16 but if all 4 outer ones are populated they all run X8 so 4 dual slot cards seems to be the max. It's already way too hot in my office so this naked unit will have to go wireless from the spare room. Not sure how difficult it'll be to get wireless up and running in Linux so leaning towards a windows OS. CPU is unlocked and I had a spare Zalman CNPS10X cooler so I can crank it up a little.
Gilthanis
[H]ard|DCer of the Year - 2014
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I would make it a dedicated GPU box then. Even older GPU's will outperform CPU cores in general. I would toss whatever leftover cards you have into it. If they have different capabilities, you may need to tweak the cc_config file but it all depends on which project and which cards you have. Right now we can use help at both PrimeGrid and Collatz. If you have any AMD cards with good double Precision, Milkyway could use some serious help too.
Even old shitty CAL only capable devices will work at Moo!. And we still need to push that project too.
Even old shitty CAL only capable devices will work at Moo!. And we still need to push that project too.
Thx for the info G and I do have a few more cards ~ HD7770 etc. back on the coast and I can retrieve them next time but it would seem this mobo is unstable under load. Initial tests were fine but it'll run for a bit then CPU fan ramps up, it reboots and gets stuck in the reboot phase. Known good CPU from a recent pull/upgrade for a friend and RAM was just extra taken from my HTPC. Oh well it was worth a shot. I'll enquire if they have any old AM3 boards down at my local shop next time I'm in.
Gilthanis
[H]ard|DCer of the Year - 2014
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PSU issue? And that HD7770 would be nice for Milkyway or even GFN work units at PrimeGrid.
Don't think it's PSU but this spare Enermax 720W is quite old so if I get time maybe I'll haul a PSU out of another system and double check. I'll grab the HD7770 on my next trip to the coast, probably in next few weeks before the snow flies