Best value card

[vaio]

Hi :)

Don't understand graphics cards.

Could you guys recommend the best value series to look at for running this?
Would also like to get into Folding again.

Can't afford anything above the 260 range.

Also, does the amount of memory matter?

[vaio]

512MB XFX 9800 GT, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), 1400MHz GDDR3, GPU 550MHz, 112 Cores, 2xDL DVI-I/ HDTV

or:

512MB Asus GTS 250, 2200MHz GDDR3, GPU 738 MHz, Shader 1836 MHz, 128 Cores.

Would either of these be very productive/make a useful contribution?

[INFRNL]

I would say a 260 but some members have had problems with 260's and the grid.

GTS 250 would probably be the best bet.

I have a 9800gt but its on F@H. only produces 45-5500 ppd on avg

I have run both gts 250 and gtx 260 on F@H as well, but I do not know how they fair on the grid.

I run all GTX 275's on the grid producing approx 20-22k ppd avg on a single card. I do not recall what these guys are getting on the 260's.

It basically boils down to how much ea card runs for you in England. I know on F@H between each step of the cards is approx 1000-1500ppd. I think it is the same for the grid but on a higher ppd level. I would say each step would be a couple k ppd between steps. so depends on your costs.

[PoppaGeek]

The 260s that seem to be the problem cards are the older 65nm cards. I have 2 of the 55nm cards and they are fine. Mikeb12 has 250s and seems to do well.

[dan7777]

+ on the 260-216 edition

[cjc_75]

I grabbed one of those Gigabyte 260 Super Overclocks on a sale for 200~ ( canadian)..its been only a few days, and I'm making a wild guess, but it seems like its crunching nearly as fast as my 285.

[Chumbucket843]

this is from gpugrid on how fast each card is. the number in parentheses for 1.3 cards is the actual flops the card gets. they are 41% faster with the same flops compared to older cards. go with the 200 series, more specifically gtx 260 216.:up:

GeForce 9600 GT 512MB, est. 34GFLOPS to 37GFLOPS
Geforce 9600 GSO, 768MB (DDR2) est. 46GFLOPS
Geforce 9600 GSO, 384MB (DDR3) est. 48GFLOPS
GeForce 8800 GT 512MB, est. 60GFLOPS
GeForce 9800 GT 512MB, est. 60GFLOPS
GeForce 9800 GT 1024MB, est. 60GFLOPS
GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB, est. 77GFLOPS
GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB, est. 77GFLOPS
GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB, est. 84GFLOPS
GeForce GTS 250 1024MB, est. 84GFLOPS
GeForce 9800 GX2 512MB, est. 138 GFLOPS

COMPUTE CAPABILITY 1.3:

GeForce GTX 260(192sp) est. 85GFLOPS (120)
Tesla C1060 est. 93GFLOPS (131)
GeForce GTX 260 est. 96GFLOPS to 111GFLOPS (135 to 156)
GeForce GTX 275 est. 123GFLOPS (173)
GeForce GTX 285 est. 127GFLOPS (179)
GeForce GTX 280 est. 130GFLOPS (183)
GeForce GTX 295 est. 212GFLOPS (299)
thanks to skgiven on gpugrid forums for the data above.

[Chumbucket843]

i made some graphs for you guys.:up:

[DAK1640]

+2 for GTX260

[INFRNL]

The flops don't mean squat to me, I need actual #'s. Those above do not look accurate. My gtx 275's on 1.3 are 138-139; the above shows 173 I produce depending on day and how things end. anywhere from 17k-24kppd on my 275@1620 shaders If I recall a gtx 260 is around 14kppd avg where I would say 275 is 20/21k ppd

on f@h each step in the 200 series is 1-1.5k onn avg difference. I know for a fact that the GTS 250 is damn near the same level as a gtx 260/192 and a GTX 275 is dramatically way better than a GTX 260/192. I haven't owned a GTX 260/216; so I do not know actual factual benefits of a 192 vs 216.

Most decent gtx 260's are not much less than a gtx 275 unless you get a recertified 260 for $130 I honestly think the 275's are the best bang for the buck, but the OP said nothing past a 260; so I would say 260, but the GTS250's do well on F@H compared to a 260

@CJC: those oc'd gigabyte cards are supposed to be on par with a stock GTX275, I do not have actual facts to prove, but performance is supposed to be the stated

[PoppaGeek]

The flops don't mean squat to me, I need actual #'s.

You'll care about FLOPS (http://www.viagra.com/) as ya get older......


I think the best deal is the 260 216 55nm recertified for like $130-135. When the new stuff is released prices should drop though.

[Otis11]

I got my GTX 260 core 216 for $130 and i've never had a problem with it.

And INFRNL - numbers for ya. I bumped up my clocks on my 260 a little while back and was pushin 18k a day until the power went out... and it went back to stock speeds (headless and haven't gotten a monitor to get the speeds back up - plus i'm not currently getting any bonus b/c i've left it completely unattended...)

17-18k was on stock voltage without even trying to max it out... so I would not rule out 20k on a good OC... I'll try to push it over Christmas, but don't have a spare moniter in my dorm room to do it now...


Now that I'm thinking about it, anyone tried the new EVGA 275? Has a 250 core with a 275 core... Maybe crunch on both and get a nice boost?

[PoppaGeek]

The RAC for my pair of 260s is 33k.

:toast:

[INFRNL]

on a sli pair of my 275's the rac is currently 37.5K but I do not know how accurate that is with all the problems I have had while messing around. I think its a little low, because I have made so many changes to my systems that rac gets screwed up as its based on total production. :shrug:

Also PG, That was a good link you sent :ROTF:

you guys are going to make me buy a 260 and compare aren't you :shakes: :rofl:

where is DAk, I think he runs both 260's and 275's; what the ppd comparison? also I think dak runs stockon his cards, not sure if that would calculate the same as comparing oc'd

[Otis11]

I think stock the 260 is around 16-17k and the 275 is around 18-20k, but my point in the last thread was i know if you get a good OC on you 260 it should compare. (although i bet you could OC the 275 higher too... but He said the highest he can go is a 260.)

And sorry if i came across a little rude in yesterday's post. I spent all day writting a program that just didn't want to run, but again, sorry!

[INFRNL]

I think stock the 260 is around 16-17k and the 275 is around 18-20k, but my point in the last thread was i know if you get a good OC on you 260 it should compare. (although i bet you could OC the 275 higher too... but He said the highest he can go is a 260.)

And sorry if i came across a little rude in yesterday's post. I spent all day writting a program that just didn't want to run, but again, sorry!

No worries, I didn't think anything of it. I also know he didn't want to go any higher too. You just got me wondering and I now would like to know for sure. I think I am going to try and find a cheap 260-216 to test. If this is true, you guys have me wasting my money :rofl: :shakes: :shrug: :p:

[lkiller123]

Does FLOPS really make a difference on PPD?

If it does, why not wait for those future GT300 chips? I heard that they will be much faster.

[Mescalamba]

One noob question.. ATi can´t be used? Or why I see just nVidia GPUs?

[PoppaGeek]

One noob question.. ATi can´t be used? Or why I see just nVidia GPUs?

Not yet. They are waiting for ATI to get the Stream software up to speed then they will. They have stated they would support ATI as soon as the software tools ATI supplies is updated. I got the impression they thought that might be soon.

[Otis11]

Well, over christmas I'm going to try and find the limit of my rig. Actually push both the 260 and the 920 to the max on their current set up. If you can't bear to wait that long then I guess it's off to e-bay! :p:

And I hope ATI competes well with the points... they have some pretty strong cards, but I know for F@H they just don't seem to compare. It'd be nice to have options...

[INFRNL]

Does FLOPS really make a difference on PPD?

If it does, why not wait for those future GT300 chips? I heard that they will be much faster.

cause some of us are impatient and I think 300series is going to be too expensive

[PoppaGeek]

cause some of us are impatient and I think 300series is going to be too expensive

I suspect the only thing the 300s will do for me is drop the cost of 260s/275s/285s. :shrug:

[Otis11]

But aren't they droping most of the 200 series when the 300 comes out? :shrug:

[vaio]

Update.

Ordered the

512MB Asus GTS 250, 2200MHz GDDR3, GPU 738 MHz, Shader 1836 MHz, 128 Cores.

for £76 delivered.

By the standards of U.K pricing that seems a decent deal.

Going by recent responses it appears I should go 260 if I decide on a second card.

Appreciating the feedback :)

[Chumbucket843]

One noob question.. ATi can´t be used? Or why I see just nVidia GPUs?

dont mean to burst your bubble but you wont be able to run gpugrid with that card. opencl is only supported on 4000 series and up.

[Mescalamba]

Old sig.. now I have HD 4650 (temporary) and HD 4770 on the way.. (that will be temporary too, until I see some resonable prices and amounts of HD 5850 for sale at e-shops).

F@H works on HD 3870, but only that I think..

[moiraesfate]

I have a 260 core 216 45 nm and I'd definitely recommend it.

Don't bother getting anything that says its 512 mb. The good ones are all at least a gig. Anything else is becoming swiftly obsolete despite the fact that some people continue to insist that they MUST have 8800's.

[Computurd]

Hey tbh there isnt much a g92 (8800) cant do. It can still get you around on most games out there. I have some 9800 in SLI (they are same basically as 8800) and they do well. However, i also have 260 216core's in tri and that rocks arse, but dont underestimate the 8800!

[vaio]

Update......

Asus GTS 250 installed and crunching :)

[shadowwind]

Update......

Asus GTS 250 installed and crunching :)

thanks and welcome to the team.:D

[vaio]

*COUGH* Me not in your team *COUGH* :D

Runs for cover :D

[Otis11]

Well, get that pie team up and running - We're going to need some competition soon!

(We're going to need a challenge in ~120 days... better get a move on! :rofl:)

Edit: you've only got 3 members on GPUGrid and 7 on WCG... You're already days old! recruit man recruit! :p:

BTW - good luck with it!

[vaio]

I don't have a hardware forum to recruit from :p:.........but I do have a half decent track record for team building :)

Can never be as big as your lot but pound for pound we'll be with ya :D

[vaio]

What would be better for crunching output?

A 260 or whatever or a pair of gts 250's?

[INFRNL]

Damn, I thought i was somewhere else. I do not know what a gts 250 produces on the grid. I wouldn't mind knowing though as I can get one for fairly cheap. I missed out on a couple deals for 260's too.

If its anything like F@H 2 250's should produce a little more than 1 gtx 275. I was going to run all 250's because you get a little more for the money; however you would need a lot of rigs for mass production. This is why I went the 275 route. overall more production for a set # of cards.

I think in theory. 2 250's is a little more than a 275, and 2 260's should be a little more than a 285. However I heard from a member that a 285 does not really produce more than a 275. Sounds a bit off to me.

I would say get the best cards you can afford and set a limit. ie, I am only willing to spend $220 per gpu at most and this is only if I am in dire need. I think on avg I have only paid approx $175 for ea of my gtx 275's, I would have to calculate. I do not mind spending $230 and gettting no-wait rebates. Bottom line, set a max $ and get the best cards you can in that range for folding. This is my opinion and is working well for me.

[vaio]

Apparently I created my GPUGRID account 70 hours ago and so far my total is just under 27k.

So roughly 9k per day.

[shadowwind]

you can mixs your cards if you add a gtx 260 that would bring you up to about 23 k a day. then slowly add cards as you save up for new pc builds that's how most of us do it i got 5 computers but only 3 on the gpugrid. im trying to break away from a family folding@home team. :shakes:it aint easy.