mac pro with 3 gpu clients in windows

[twoodcc]

so instead of buying a new system, i found some video cards on sale and brought home 3, and stuck them in there.

i got a GTS 250 and 2 x 9800 GT (all NVIDIA). after following a guide i found online, i've got all three folding!

it's looking like the GTS 250 is by far the best of them, pulling about 6,200 ppd on the 353 pointer.

so far the 9800 is pulling 2,900 ppd on the 353 pointer.

so basically, all three are giving me just over 12,000 ppd right now. and i still have another slot for another 9800 gt! these were on sale for $70 at best buy today, and they still have one left! i sure am thinking about going back

 

[lordonuthin]

so instead of buying a new system, i found some video cards on sale and brought home 3, and stuck them in there.

i got a GTS 250 and 2 x 9800 GT (all NVIDIA). after following a guide i found online, i've got all three folding!

it's looking like the GTS 250 is by far the best of them, pulling about 6,200 ppd on the 353 pointer.

so far the 9800 is pulling 2,900 ppd on the 353 pointer.

so basically, all three are giving me just over 12,000 ppd right now. and i still have another slot for another 9800 gt! these were on sale for $70 at best buy today, and they still have one left! i sure am thinking about going back

Way to go! Was there a crowd there? That makes me tempted to go get some... as far as windows, did you already have it, I would like to try it with my gpu's but don't know where to get it.

 

[twoodcc]

Way to go! Was there a crowd there? That makes me tempted to go get some... as far as windows, did you already have it, I would like to try it with my gpu's but don't know where to get it.

thanks. the crowd wasn't too bad. i mean, it was crowded, but nothing crazy though.

yeah i already had windows. but i do wonder if i'd get better numbers with windows 7?

 

[SciFrog]

Can you run an SMP unit also?

 

[twoodcc]

Can you run an SMP unit also?

i could, but in windows it's very crappy.

 

[twoodcc]

well here are the temps:

GTS250 - 73 C
9800GT1 - 65 C
9800GT2 - 60 C

all running stock. considering that heat, should i go for another 9800GT ? i've got another slot open in my mac pro

 

[MacProCpo]

Congrats to ya!!

I'd say hell ya but be careful of the total power draw on the PCI bus. Based on research on here and Apple support, I've found that the PCI bus max is 300W. You're good on the 250 because it's power by the logic board. What kind of watts do the 9800 pull individually?

Again, congrats!!

 

[lordonuthin]

So, I got 2 gtx 275's and Win 7... I have 1 of them running on the amd 965 board which can hold 3 gpu's but the psu is not adequate for more than 1 gpu. I'll have to get a new psu so I can get 3 gpu's going. Also since I don't know much about windows how do I check the gpu or cpu temps? the gpu seems REALLY hot!!

 

[MacProCpo]

Take a look at atlasfolding.com. That guy has got a crazy setup. He's using MSI K9A2 Platinum mobos that support 4, double-slot, GTX 295. Gives me a bad idea for my next "geek-out" project (as my wife calls it) Now I just have to get back to the States, unpack, finish my Servers, then I'll be ready to build a new folding machine!

 

[twoodcc]

Congrats to ya!!

I'd say hell ya but be careful of the total power draw on the PCI bus. Based on research on here and Apple support, I've found that the PCI bus max is 300W. You're good on the 250 because it's power by the logic board. What kind of watts do the 9800 pull individually?

Again, congrats!!

thanks! i ended up picking up the 4th card. about to put it in now. i'm sure how much power they pull, but they are the energy efficient ones, so i think i'll be good

So, I got 2 gtx 275's and Win 7... I have 1 of them running on the amd 965 board which can hold 3 gpu's but the psu is not adequate for more than 1 gpu. I'll have to get a new psu so I can get 3 gpu's going. Also since I don't know much about windows how do I check the gpu or cpu temps? the gpu seems REALLY hot!!

dang, i bet those 275s would really put up some points. you can check the gpu temps with GPU-Z (first thing that pops up when you google gpuz). it will let you check all cards also.

Take a look at atlasfolding.com. That guy has got a crazy setup. He's using MSI K9A2 Platinum mobos that support 4, double-slot, GTX 295. Gives me a bad idea for my next "geek-out" project (as my wife calls it) Now I just have to get back to the States, unpack, finish my Servers, then I'll be ready to build a new folding machine!

i'll have to check that out! (my wife probably doesn't want me to either, lol)

 

[MacProCpo]

twoodcc, I 'm really curious to know how your setup works for you. By the way, do you have any problems booting into OSX? Are all the cards being id'd correctly in OSX? I'm currently running two 4870, 512mb cards but may look for a more productive vid card setup for folding and rendering in the MP. Or I may just build a separate GPU machine and run Windows or Linux. I sure wish they would port GPU2 to OSX.

 

[lordonuthin]

twoodcc, I 'm really curious to know how your setup works for you. By the way, do you have any problems booting into OSX? Are all the cards being id'd correctly in OSX? I'm currently running two 4870, 512mb cards but may look for a more productive vid card setup for folding and rendering in the MP. Or I may just build a separate GPU machine and run Windows or Linux. I sure wish they would port GPU2 to OSX.

Work is being done on GPU3 which is supposed to work in linux and OSx, we shall see... it would be so much better to run linux than windoz, I just spent $200 for win 7 home premium just so I could get gpu2 going. I now have 4 gpu's but can only run one right now because of inadequate pwr supplies and the os thing... I can't wait for gpu3!!!

Oh, and I have been watching atlas folding, he must have some MONEY to spend with that set-up and his electric bill must be bigger than mine!

Temps are down, I had to set up another fan, I may have to put up a DANGER sign on my front door! My "computer room" is a disaster zone for sure!

 

[MacProCpo]

Oh, and I have been watching atlas folding, he must have some MONEY to spend with that set-up and his electric bill must be bigger than mine!

No kidding!! The GTX 295's are $500 or so a piece; he's got 23 of them. I get the feeling, based on the location his videos are shot at, that he works in an IT or Engineering field. If his work is running a bunch of server racks, one or two more racks for folding isn't going to effect the electric bill to much.......come to think of it, if you've got the cash to build a setup like he has I don't think you worry to much about the bill

My hope was to use the same MSI K9A2 board, which can be found for under 100 bucks and 4 less expensive cards. Maybe some ATI 48xx series. Now that the ATI 5xxx series is out we should see a drop in price on the 48xx. I've got two 4850, 512 cards sitting in a box collecting dust. I figured I put them and a few others to good use.

 

[twoodcc]

twoodcc, I 'm really curious to know how your setup works for you. By the way, do you have any problems booting into OSX? Are all the cards being id'd correctly in OSX? I'm currently running two 4870, 512mb cards but may look for a more productive vid card setup for folding and rendering in the MP. Or I may just build a separate GPU machine and run Windows or Linux. I sure wish they would port GPU2 to OSX.

so far it's working alright. it's too early to really tell though. depending on the gpu wus, i'm averaging anywhere from 12,000 - 15,000 ppd overall on the machine so far. none of these cards will work in OS X, so i'm running windows right now. to run OS X i'd have to put my ati x1900 back in there. if GPU3 ever comes out, maybe i'd use my next mac pro for that (if i ever get another one)

Work is being done on GPU3 which is supposed to work in linux and OSx, we shall see... it would be so much better to run linux than windoz, I just spent $200 for win 7 home premium just so I could get gpu2 going. I now have 4 gpu's but can only run one right now because of inadequate pwr supplies and the os thing... I can't wait for gpu3!!!

Oh, and I have been watching atlas folding, he must have some MONEY to spend with that set-up and his electric bill must be bigger than mine!

Temps are down, I had to set up another fan, I may have to put up a DANGER sign on my front door! My "computer room" is a disaster zone for sure!

yeah i hope GPU3 comes out very soon as well! and you've got to get some power supplies! you can't let that 275 just sit there! that thing will get you what, 9,000 ppd just by itself!

No kidding!! The GTX 295's are $500 or so a piece; he's got 23 of them. I get the feeling, based on the location his videos are shot at, that he works in an IT or Engineering field. If his work is running a bunch of server racks, one or two more racks for folding isn't going to effect the electric bill to much.......come to think of it, if you've got the cash to build a setup like he has I don't think you worry to much about the bill

My hope was to use the same MSI K9A2 board, which can be found for under 100 bucks and 4 less expensive cards. Maybe some ATI 48xx series. Now that the ATI 5xxx series is out we should see a drop in price on the 48xx. I've got two 4850, 512 cards sitting in a box collecting dust. I figured I put them and a few others to good use.

not a bad idea. but i do think the nvidia cards do better with folding. but if you already have those cards laying there, might as well use them

 

[twoodcc]

i'm already thinking about building another system now. i was thinking about this motherboard.

what do you think? i'm not sure about the other parts yet though.

 

[lordonuthin]

i'm already thinking about building another system now. i was thinking about this motherboard.

what do you think? i'm not sure about the other parts yet though.

It is so hard to know what the best bang for the buck is with folding, the reviews don't use folding for their tests and I doubt any of their tests really compare well to folding.

That looks like an awesome board and with 4 slots to fill with gpu's it has room to grow. My only advice would be to get a big psu with the connectors for future gpu's.

 

[twoodcc]

It is so hard to know what the best bang for the buck is with folding, the reviews don't use folding for their tests and I doubt any of their tests really compare well to folding.

That looks like an awesome board and with 4 slots to fill with gpu's it has room to grow. My only advice would be to get a big psu with the connectors for future gpu's.

yeah i know. it's actually got 7 gpu slots! but yeah, i'd have to get the biggest psu i can find really

 

[MacProCpo]

I like that board but it's a bit more then what I want to pay for one mobo. I was think of getting a couple ofthese. For the price of the ASUS you can get four of these and have expandability for the future. Granted, you'd need the extra ps's, memory, and cards. I really like what the guy did over at atlas and I may emulate it, to a point (I don't have the cash for 23 GTX's!!!!!.....maybe if I cash in my kid's College fund......she won't need it for another 15 years ....j/k).

I would really like to find a dual xeon board that would support multi-gpu's, other then the Intel Skulltrail. I have a bunch of DP Xeon 51xx and 52xx series that I would like to put to use.

 

[twoodcc]

yeah after looking around and posting on other forums, i'm going with a much cheaper motherboad. i'll post details after i order

 

[twoodcc]

well i just ordered my christmas present! building an i7 machine! can't wait!

Motherboard
Power Supply
RAM
Processor

 

[MacProCpo]

Not bad at all! Congrats, uh and Happy Christmas (early). What case are you putting the setup in?

 

[twoodcc]

Not bad at all! Congrats, uh and Happy Christmas (early). What case are you putting the setup in?

thanks! i already have a lian-li case at my parent's house (just gotta get it when i go home for Christmas). i also already have a hard drive, and you know i just bought all these video cards. and i might just buy another one, we'll see

 

[twoodcc]

well guys, for right now i'm not going to run the bigadv units again. just gonna stick to gpus for right now, until i get this new system up and everything settled how i like it. i'm still getting around 20000-22000 ppd from my gpus anyways. i know it would be more if i did the bigadv units, but maybe i'll come back to them later

 

[mc68k]

i would be interested to see some pictures of your setup, sounds pretty creative!

hows that energy bill doing

 

[twoodcc]

i would be interested to see some pictures of your setup, sounds pretty creative!

hows that energy bill doing

i wouldn't mind posting some once i get it.

haha, the bill has only been going up lately. it was $160 last month. we'll see how it does with gpus instead of bigadv