New GPU client - Open Beta

I've got a 3850 waiting for it as well..... <mrburns>excellent</mrburns>. Let's see....some highlights from the FAQ:

-- benchmark is 1000 ppd on a HD3850. Yummy!
-- plays well (scales back) with 3D gaming or video playback. Sweet!
-- automatically uses 3D clocks on 3xxx cards
-- still Windows only :(
-- still requires a full core dedicated to feeding it
 
Woah! that should mean that a 3850 does even better correct?

Oh I am going to wet myself if my old P4 machine can produce anywhere near 2kPPD!!!



 
Sunin said:
Woah! that should mean that a 3850 does even better correct?

Oh I am going to wet myself if my old P4 machine can produce anywhere near 2kPPD!!!
Click to expand...

No, a 2900XT should outperform the 3850 by a good margin, of course it'll suck up twice as much power. I imagine we may finally see the benefits of the 512 bit ring bus.

Got a PD 930 with two idle cores ready for my 2 2900XTs, woot.
 
Sunin said:
Why do I think Aldamon's Credit Card balance just climbed about $200 bucks! :p 3850 or even a 3870 in your future?
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Atacom's got a retail 3850 AGP for $173.79 shipped but MWave's got a refurb for $177.02 shipped. Do I trust Atacom? Hmmm. Decisions decisions. I think I want the new one.



 
Yeah about 2 months ago I snagged a Sapphire 3850 for $200 like 214 shipped. :) I can't wait to put it in!

 
I'm waiting for your results before I buy. It's possible that the 3850 on a P4 will be outclassed considerably by the 2900 on a Q6600 core.

I wish I could find a used 3850 AGP. That would make the decision easier.

 
Yeah, but they're PCI-E and 256MB. That doesn't help my P4. The AGP cards are all 512MB.

Anyway, someone just posted some more numbers:
Re: GPU2 open beta

Postby Mechromancer on Thu Apr 10, 2008 10:16 am

I have my 2900XT set to 3D clocks with ATITool 0.27 Beta 4 and I'm folding away! So far FahMon is calculating 1330PPD with a 00:10:41 ETA.

Mechromancer
Click to expand...

 
I think most of us were looking at it to hang on to an old AGP system. Its getting harder and harder to justify... I mean for the above price I can get a 3850 PCIE and mobo and swap the memory and everything else and upgrade to a Quad for about a $200 diff and still keep hauling ass with a GPU system as well!



 
Looks like an AGP 3850 with a P4 will be lucky to push 1000 PPD. Better than sub-100 PPD, but not great for $180 - $200. The PCI-E versions will be a steal.



To answer many of the potential questions, I will give you the result of benchmarking I did while the client was in beta ... number are still correct, with a 5-10% slowdown with the released version :

toTOW wrote:Number from HD3870.

Q6600 @ 2.4 GHz (266 * 9), GPU @ 780 MHz : 1310 PPD
Q6600 @ 3.4 GHz (485 * 7), GPU @ 780 MHz : 1860 PPD
Q6600 @ 3.4 GHz (485 * 7), GPU @ 850 MHz : 1860 PPD

More numbers with the 2900XT ...

Dual Opteron 2212 @ 2.7 GHz : 1350 PPD (with GPU @ 739 and 847 MHz)
Q6600 @ 3.4 GHz (485 * 7), GPU @ 739 and 847 MHz : 1860 PPD
Q6600 @ 3.8 GHz (475 * 8), GPU @ 739 MHz : 1860 PPD
Q6600 @ 3.8 GHz (475 * 8), GPU @ 847 MHz : 2100 PPD
Q6600 @ 3.8 GHz (475 * 8), GPU @ 860 MHz : 2100 PPD



Yes, most people are going to bu CPU limited with the GPU2 client ...
Click to expand...


 
For folding, the RV670 and R600 boards clock for clock should be very close.

There are AGP 2600s, 2600s, and even 3800s... There has been limited AGP testing by the FAH forum mods. Once your vendor has drivers up that are 8.3 based, you should be able to fold. Sapphire and Visiontek both have drivers up that seem to work. However, AGP is a much slower communication path so the PPD will be lower. (I don't have numbers since I don't have any AGP machines, sorry!).

If you find issues, please post in the Folding@Home forums so we can track things in one place.
 
Yes, that's the main beef with old systems running with new cards. You need enough cpu power to feed the GPU so from a efficiency viewpoint, it's hard to justify unless it's for the main box or HTPC. For a pure folding box, the same amount can be spent toward a E2160 box for more PPD and less power consumption.

 
How much of a loss are you getting on the SMP client running the GPU client? Is it worth it?
 
mhouston said:
However, AGP is a much slower communication path so the PPD will be lower. (I don't have numbers since I don't have any AGP machines, sorry!).
Click to expand...

Will be slower or might be slower? They've been saying that for years in gaming because it makes sense on paper, but it hasn't been true in real-world performance. I guess folding could be a different animal though.



 
Xilikon said:
Yes, that's the main beef with old systems running with new cards. You need enough cpu power to feed the GPU so from a efficiency viewpoint, it's hard to justify unless it's for the main box or HTPC. For a pure folding box, the same amount can be spent toward a E2160 box for more PPD and less power consumption.

Click to expand...
*sigh* Was hoping to breathe some new life into my old pc's. Guess I just better save up and do it right from the ground up. :)

 
It's going to depend on the board you are running and the speed of your CPU to see if you will notice. We don't have enough data yet to say for sure it is slower, but my gut is that it's going to be, it's just a question of how much. The issue is that on high end boards, the client with the current WUs is CPU bound. Since I can't find someone with the same CPU and same GPU (ASIC) on and AGP and PCIe system, it's hard to line things up exactly.
 
You guys are definitely [H]ard... ;-) I can't wait to see the first contest that allows the GPU2 client.
 
Ok ok I'm leaving in 15 minutes to go home and tinker! :) I'm just too excited not to !


 
Sunin: if you have issues getting 8.3 drivers installed, PM me. If you have a Sapphire or VisionTek board, you should be able to grab their drivers for a 3850. If it's a 2600, you should be able to use the AMD supplied 8.3 hotfix drivers.
 
Sunin said:
Ok ok I'm leaving in 15 minutes to go home and tinker! :) I'm just too excited not to !


Click to expand...

Sunin: Yeah I'm going home. I don't feel so good.

Boss: Again? This is the 3rd time this month you've gone home.

Sunin: Yeah it's this bug that's been going around...I just can't seem to shake it.

:p:D
 
LOL, be the guinea pig...

Myself, I will be the guinea pig for a Q9450 that I ordered this morning :D

 
Hmm guess I could OC it.. but I want to wait to see what the next WU it pulls down does.
 
Take a look at CCC when the client is running and make sure the 3D clocks are getting set. What driver are you running and what is your CPU and chipset? Also, are you running other clients on the same machine? The one other 3850 AGP seems to be within 10% of the PCIe client, but he is running a overclocked dual core Athlon.

Hrmm, looking at your frame times, things are lower than expected. Maybe your board isn't clocking up or your CPU can't keep up.
 
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