My Tiny Contribution to Genetics

[IanY]

Question is whether I should ditch the motherboard and switch to EVGA Classified. Four GTX 285s I think is about enough torture for a HX1000 PSU, if it can even handle that. The other question is whether its possible to use a similar card as the Tri SLI for Physx, or whether the Physx card must be a different model.

Another question is whether its wise to plumb four GTX 285s in the same loop as the cpu. The concept of one giant loop is very convenient and nice, but is that practical for the poor cpu? The other problem is, looking at this darn case, where am I going to put everything?

I think five or six video cards is too much heat and the power requirements are way too crazy. I guess I am changing my mind from the xtreme craziness platform.

What a dilemma!

[Jhors2]

The Physx card can be entirely different from whatever you have set up for TRI-SLI and its pretty wasteful to have another gtx 285 for just physx, thats overkill. Probably not a good idea to use 4 gtx 285s with a CPU unless you have a slightly lower restriction block and/or a decent amount of pumping power and a a couple of rads.

[IanY]

I have a slew of GTX285s anyway, and I'm going to use them anyway, for folding purposes.

I refuse to buy a 9800GT. To me, *that* is a waste of money, when I already have the GTX285s on hand.

My question is whether its possible to use a GTX285 for Physx, and I don't see why not. If I'm not allowed to use a GTX285 or a GTX295, then I'll live without Physx.

A silly 9800GT is $150 that can be put towards a new GTX295.

As far as water cooling capacity, that is an immense problem that I face. I just don't know what to do.

[Jhors2]

Yes you can definitely use the 285 for physx, you Tri-SLI the 285s with a bridge then you dont have to connect a bridge to the fourth one. It will be in the drivers to enable it!

[IanY]

Thank you very much.

[Jhors2]

Oh, I forgot to mention that it will be a tight fit for 4 285s, you will have to do water for sure as there is definitely not enough clearance for the 4 aircoolers on the 285s....if you look at this pic you will notice that only the 9800gt fits because its a single slot....I can't say for certain the clearance of 285s WITH waterblocks.

[IanY]

The waterblocks are all guaranteed single slots, at least those are the only ones that are under consideration. The mobo fits six of them without problem. Water cooling capacity is a separate issue.

[Pedalmonkey]

are you saying 6 285's on one board?? what are you trying to do, run an IMAX off your computer :P JK but u probably could with that kind of computing power.

[Marvin_The_Martian]

are you saying 6 285's on one board?? what are you trying to do, run an IMAX off your computer :P JK but u probably could with that kind of computing power.

4 295's beat 6 285's easy http://atlasfolding.com/

Or, -> http://foldingforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=7902

The 4 285's would do quite some damage there

[Jhors2]

4 295's beat 6 285's easy http://atlasfolding.com/

Or, -> http://foldingforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=7902

The 4 285's would do quite some damage there

Wow.....there is nothing else to be said. What power supply has 8 PCI-E connectors?

[ILikeCosmosS]

enermax revolution 85+

[IanY]

4 295's beat 6 285's easy http://atlasfolding.com/

Or, -> http://foldingforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=7902

The 4 285's would do quite some damage there

Full respects to AtlasFolder!!!

But I'm just gettibg warmed up! j/k

[Movieman]

Just looked thru your pics again..
Good quality parts put together well and for a great project.. Can't ask more than that.

[IanY]

Just looked thru your pics again..
Good quality parts put together well and for a great project.. Can't ask more than that.

Thank you, sir. However, I'm finding out its outrageously expensive to enhance the electronic peeny lol

[shazza]

Ian ... I am truly fascinated by what you are doing. I'm hoping to set up my current rig to crunch or fold ... still investigating which way to go. You're an inspiration!

[SiGfever]

Ian ... I am truly fascinated by what you are doing. I'm hoping to set up my current rig to crunch or fold ... still investigating which way to go. You're an inspiration!

You are doing a stellar job, keep the pics coming.

Appologies to IanY for OT.

Shazza,

You need to come visit us at XSWcg, we have a lot of fun and person for person kick some serious arse. Plus where else on this forum do you have a free pass to tease Movieman?

[Marvin_The_Martian]

Full respects to AtlasFolder!!!

But I'm just gettibg warmed up! j/k

Haven't seen anyone succesfully run more then 4 gx's or 295's, would be pretty xtreme

It's not the purchase which counts btw, or the setup, it's being able to keep them running as much as possible ( which atm makes me looking rather bad ).

Like I said btw, with four 285's you would have one of the top contenders for that list of most powerfull folders When you get them running be sure to post your results

[IanY]

Ian ... I am truly fascinated by what you are doing. I'm hoping to set up my current rig to crunch or fold ... still investigating which way to go. You're an inspiration!

You are way too kind.

Your building skills and immaculate attention to detail are a great inspiration to me.

[IanY]

Haven't seen anyone succesfully run more then 4 gx's or 295's, would be pretty xtreme

It's not the purchase which counts btw, or the setup, it's being able to keep them running as much as possible ( which atm makes me looking rather bad ).

Like I said btw, with four 285's you would have one of the top contenders for that list of most powerfull folders When you get them running be sure to post your results

Indeed Marvin. I have to get the video blocks in place first. I almost bought a second machine based off EVGA on Friday but then I wisely got cold feet and backed down lol

[4Qman]

Awesome attention to detail, uber rig supporting a worthy cause.

Great work my friend.

[AtlasShrugged]

Wow.....there is nothing else to be said. What power supply has 8 PCI-E connectors?

I haven't found one that has 4 6-pin and 4 8-pin PCIe connectors, but it's not really necessary. My first two racks used a Cooler Master 1,250W supply which had 8 4-pin and 2 8-pin connectors which could be made into 4 of each.

But for the more recent builds I'm wiring together two 750W 80+ SLI supplies which each have 2 6-pin and 2 8-pin PCI connectors. Works great.

Jason

[IanY]

Congratulations Jason.

Your machines are an inspiration and thank you very much for your contribution towards genetics. From me, you have great admiration.

[IanY]

Well, I have done some additional research. According to Jason/AtlasFolder, it seems that one guy has done five independent gpus on this mobo (probably 285s but I don't know), but got really strange effects with the sixth gpu.

I believe that the mobo itself may be the culprit. Power supply issues can easily be resolved by pairing up two 1200W/1500W PSUs. Asus probably didn't design this mobo with the idea of going hog wild on the gpus. A lot of power goes through the mobo with each additional gpu.

I could have gone to GTX295s, and probably would have more folding power, but I am very glad that I did not. This is not a dedicated folding machine. I'm going to use this for fun too, and the extra frame buffer is important to me (monitor res. reasons).

I don't see the P6T7 Supercomputer being substantially better, even though it has one additional PCI-E slot.

< Marvin the Martian: please quit the pipedream of six GTX295s on this poor mobo >

Therefore, this is going to be sort of a reversal in strategy and a bit of a cop out. But I think I'm stopping at four gpus, for now.

The EVGA Classified looks appealing but it just has four slots. Maybe its just easier to build another machine on that platform rather than cramming everything into one machine. The downside is some extra cost, but in the long run, it may be a smarter approach.

Now, the question is which four video blocks I would buy... Danger Den (the most expensive), the EK Acetal/Nickel (a lot of bling and cheaper), the Koolance (most bling and cheapest, and honestly an eyesore to me), the stick and fall off PITA ramsinks and MCW/DTek whatever, whatever else.... I'm staying away from Watercool (enough said).

[NaeKuh]

Meh..

i want 3 285 GTX's but i cant yet quite pallet the 900+ dollar price tag required for the gpu's only.

[IanY]

$900? You have equity ownership in Newegg or something?

$355 x 3 (for the cheap plain vanilla cards) + $150 x 1 (for a 9800GT) + $450 (for EVGA Classified) + $550 (Dominator GT) = $2,215

We haven't covered the case, HDDs, opticals or PSU yet. And that's with Intel stock aircooling. With all your fetish with sleeving and BP fittings and.. and...

Now, AtlasFolder with 19 GTX 295s... 19 x $500 = never mind