What should I do with this system?

[Parja]

With the coming Q6600 price drop, I'm putting together a new main box. For now, I'll be using the 7900GTO from the system in my sig in the new box, but otherwise, the old box is going to be relegated to a full time Folding box. I'm looking for the best bang for the buck way to boost its Folding ability. What would you guys suggest?

I see a few options:
1. Pop one of the PCI video cards I have sitting around in it and just fold the FX-55 as-is.

B. Get an X19XX video card, drop the CPU back to stock (or maybe even underclock/undervolt for less power consumption...or maybe just sell it and buy a cheap, lower power replacement), and run the GPU client.

III. Sell the FX-55, replace it with a dual core, and Fold with the SMP client.

Δ. Get an X19XX video card, sell the FX-55 and replace with a cheapish dual core, use one core for the GPU client and Fold on the other core.


Also, if I do go with a X19XX setup, what's the relative Folding performance of the different GPUs? I checked the stickies and searched but couldn't find any information.

 

[Tormond]

It honestly depends on your available funds. For best points output sell the 55 and grab a (very soon to be VERY cheap) C2D but that will also require a new MB and RAM so that has to be taken into consideration.

For best points output with your current system drop a x19xx in it and GPU fold (or sell the 55 and grab a cheap 939 X2 and GPU fold on it and use the other core for the standard client

For the "I dont have any money at all" crowd you can set up folding on the 55 as it sits and unless you have a video card laying around you can run it without one at all after you get it configured to run the standard console.

Just my .02

Trey

 

[Tigerbiten]

The other thing to think about is power usage.

GPU folding ups the power usage by around 100 watts.
So you're looking at 600-800 points for 250 watts used.

When I upgraded from my X2's to C2D's I went with the Abit IP-95 mobo's.
Reused my DDR400 memory, PSU, hard drive etc in them.
Not having to buy memory ment I got faster CPU's, E6600's not E4400's for the same cost.
With a 10% overclock, they each give me 1300-1400 points per Day for only 120 watts used.
They run ~2% slower then my E6600 useing DDRII memory but I think good bang for buck if you have good DDR memory spare.

Luck .........

 

[Parja]

The other thing to think about is power usage.

GPU folding ups the power usage by around 100 watts.
So you're looking at 600-800 points for 250 watts used.

When I upgraded from my X2's to C2D's I went with the Abit IP-95 mobo's.
Reused my DDR400 memory, PSU, hard drive etc in them.
Not having to buy memory ment I got faster CPU's, E6600's not E4400's for the same cost.
With a 10% overclock, they each give me 1300-1400 points per Day for only 120 watts used.
They run ~2% slower then my E6600 useing DDRII memory but I think good bang for buck if you have good DDR memory spare.

Luck .........

Great info! Thanks! Considering a X1950-based card is going to run me at least $100, I can probably sell off the FX-55 system and put together a bare bones C2D for around the same investment after the price drops. And having it only use half the energy to put out twice the points is a great bonus!

How much memory does the SMP client use? If it really doesn't need 2GB, it might make sense to sell off the memory I've got and get a smaller set of DDR2 (2x512MB or something) for the new Folding box.

 

[aldamon]

How much memory does the SMP client use? If it really doesn't need 2GB, it might make sense to sell off the memory I've got and get a smaller set of DDR2 (2x512MB or something) for the new Folding box.

You wouldn't make much money off this downgrade. Just keep what you have.

 

[Parja]

You wouldn't make much money off this downgrade. Just keep what you have.

But are there any decent overclocking LGA775 boards out there that take DDR?

And actually, I beg to differ. There's a set of the same memory up on eBay right now that's over $90 with 3 days remaining on the auction. I could get a 2x512MB set of DDR2 800 for around $50.

 

[aldamon]

And actually, I beg to differ. There's a set of the same memory up on eBay right now that's over $90 with 3 days remaining on the auction. I could get a 2x512MB set of DDR2 800 for around $50.

If that's true I think you should spend the $40 on a better motherboard that can overclock more than 10%. Good luck.

 

[Parja]

Soooo...would 2x512MB of memory be sufficient for the SMP client on a C2D?

 

[Xilikon]

Soooo...would 2x512MB of memory be sufficient for the SMP client on a C2D?

Yes, for a dedicated machine, it's sufficient. If you want to use the machine for other purpose at the same time as folding, aim for 2 Gb.