Message boards :
Number crunching :
Costs per Credit?
Message board moderation
Author | Message |
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j mercer Send message Joined: 3 Jun 99 Posts: 2422 Credit: 12,323,733 RAC: 1 |
I have wondered what the electrical costs per Credit are these days. The super crunchers must have a low cost per Credit I would think. I have my original cruncher still running and it takes eleven days to crunch a v7 WU. It will not crunch anything else. I’ll measure some of my other crunchers. I know there is some differences in Credit for the different WUs but I’m hoping we can get a feel for costs in crunching. It will be surprising how big some folk’s electric bill is from crunching. I have had to cut back for my SETI Farm got too expensive. CPU/P55 - - watts/120 - - cost/$0.091335US Per kWh - - $0.22US Per Credit - - or $24.40US for the last 111.15 Credit v7 WU ... |
Tazz Send message Joined: 5 Oct 99 Posts: 137 Credit: 34,342,390 RAC: 0 |
I was wondering the other day how much I was spending in power for S@H. I decided against calculating it out because I knew that I would try to talk myself into cutting back. Electricity cost for me is $0.13790/kWh </Tazz> |
OzzFan Send message Joined: 9 Apr 02 Posts: 15691 Credit: 84,761,841 RAC: 28 |
All I can say is that when I received a $320 electric bill that we really couldn't afford, I had to cut back. |
OzzFan Send message Joined: 9 Apr 02 Posts: 15691 Credit: 84,761,841 RAC: 28 |
So using the numbers above and looking at my current credit, I've contributed at least (3,631,134/50) $726.23 to Seti in electricity since 1999. And that's not even adjusted for inflation! ;-) |
Jeff Buck Send message Joined: 11 Feb 00 Posts: 1441 Credit: 148,764,870 RAC: 0 |
An interesting exercise. I run a hodgepodge of 8 machines, 6 of which are currently dedicated to SETI and 2 which are also used for a number of other chores. Because I have an electric rate plan which is divided into Peak and Off Peak hours, with 4 different pricing tiers for each depending on how much I use under and over a "baseline", and which has different Summer and Winter rates, only my 2 multi-use machines (one desktop, one laptop) run 24/7. The other 6 are currently shut down between noon and 6 P.M. on weekdays (since my incremental cost to run those at Summer Peak rates 200+% over baseline would be a whopping USD $0.54/kwh). I figure I can only really calculate the cost per credit for those 6 dedicated crunchers, as I wouldn't really know how to factor out the other usage for the multi-use machines. Using my average Summer rate of about $0.27/kwh, here's my best estimate for my cost per 1,000 credits (KCredit) for each machine's production over the past week. 1. Dell Latitude C640: Pentium 4M, 2.00 GHz, 1 processor, no GPU: 1,240 credits @ $1.50/KCredit 2. IBM ThinkCentre M52: Pentium 4 Dual Core, 3.00 GHz, 2 processors, NVIDIA 8600 GT: 9,619 credits @ $0.74/KCredit 3. Dell Optiplex GX620: Pentium D, 3.40 GHz, 2 processors, Radeon HD 5450: 10,072 credits @ $0.60/KCredit 4. HP Compaq dc7700: Core 2 Duo E7500, 2.93 GHz, 2 processors, NVIDIA GTX 550 Ti: 57,732 credits @ $0.13/KCredit 5. HP xw9400: 2x AMD Quad Core Opteron 2389, 2.90 GHz, 8 processors, NVIDIA GTX 660 + NVIDIA GTX 650 + NVIDIA GT640: 185,670 credits @ $0.10/KCredit 6. Dell T7400: 2x Quad Core XEON E5430, 2.66 GHz, 8 processors, 2x NVIDIA GTX 660: 186,147 credits @ $0.09/KCredit Since these machines are only running about 82% of the available hours each week, I could certainly boost my credits by running them the additional 30 hours, but right now the cost is prohibitive. I'll probably revisit my options when Winter rates kick in come November. (Or maybe it would just be cheaper to move someplace where the electric rates are lower....NOT!) |
HAL9000 Send message Joined: 11 Sep 99 Posts: 6534 Credit: 196,805,888 RAC: 57 |
Back in '09 I was interested in finding the cost efficiency of my home machines. So I used the power usage & RAC to figure the amount of credit per $1 of electric. It was interesting to see the old Pentium M was nearly as efficient as the newer Core 2. Intel Core 2 Duo CPU E8400 @ 3.00GHz [x86 Family 6 Model 23 Stepping 6](2 processors) KWh/Day 3.7440, RAC 1376, $/Day $0.680577, Credit/$1 2021 Intel Pentium 4 CPU 3.00GHz [x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 9](2 processors) KWh/Day 4.0608, RAC 662, $/Day $0.837633, Credit/$1 790 Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.40GHz [x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 7](1 processors) KWh/Day 2.8800, RAC 323, $/Day $0.523521, Credit/$1 618 Intel Pentium M processor 1.50GHz [x86 Family 6 Model 13 Stepping 8](1 processors) KWh/Day 0.8640, RAC 301, $/Day $0.157056, Credit/$1 1917 Just using some guessing I think my i7-860 machines are closer to 11,000 credits per dollar. Also I just replaced my old Core 2 with an i5-4670K. As it is getting cooler I will need to get it going and get some numbers. SETI@home classic workunits: 93,865 CPU time: 863,447 hours Join the [url=http://tinyurl.com/8y46zvu]BP6/VP6 User Group[ |
Josef W. Segur Send message Joined: 30 Oct 99 Posts: 4504 Credit: 1,414,761 RAC: 0 |
... It seems something slipped in your calculations. A 120 watt device uses slightly less than 3 kwh per day (125 watts would be exactly 3). So for 11 days that would be 3 * 11 * $0.1 = $3.30 approximately. That's still much less efficient than newer hardware, of course. The real question is whether that 120 watt space heater is helping or hurting your overall energy costs. Joe |
Tazz Send message Joined: 5 Oct 99 Posts: 137 Credit: 34,342,390 RAC: 0 |
I just calculated my main machine to be at $1.75 a day crunching. 1.75*365=$638.75 per year. I'll stop there, to add up the 4 other machines *might* scare me. </Tazz> |
j mercer Send message Joined: 3 Jun 99 Posts: 2422 Credit: 12,323,733 RAC: 1 |
Thanking you Joe. Sorry for the confusion math is not my forte. I used a 'Kill-a-Watt' meter to measure the 22.08kwh used for the v7 WU. The power supply peaks at 120 watts but varies during the crunch. Run time was 961,610.78 seconds. Let's try this again. (^; CPU/P55 - - watts peak/120 - - cost/$0.091335US Per kWh - - $0.018US Per Credit - - or $2.0166US for the last 111.15 Credit v7 WU I can't afford to run it and some others 24/7 now. I try to do a couple of WUs with each new version/beta BOINC/NVidia. [Did I get it or did I blow the numbers yet again?] (^8 ... |
W-K 666 Send message Joined: 18 May 99 Posts: 19059 Credit: 40,757,560 RAC: 67 |
In the last 9 days, since a power failure, according to BoincStats, I have been granted 228,755 credits. And the Kill-a-Watt says I have used 52.04kWh in that period to power all the computer based equipment. Therefore not all this power has been used for Seti, but as a gross amount I get 237.3 credits/US cent. |
Cosmic_Ocean Send message Joined: 23 Dec 00 Posts: 3027 Credit: 13,516,867 RAC: 13 |
Based on the wattage meter on my UPS (before the batteries died for good a few months ago), my main cruncher consumes about 80 more watts when crunching on 3 of 6 cores than at idle. I crunch 3 APs at a time and they take about 12 hours a piece. Based on my spreadsheet, over the past ~3000 APs, my average credit per AP is 690. So we'll call it 2000 credits per 12 hours. Power rate is roughly $0.145/kwh. So, 80 watts for 12 hours is 0.96kwh. We'll round it up to 1kw per 12 hours, which gives roughly 2000 credits per kwh. Rounding the cost up to $0.15, that makes it 133 credits per US cent. I kind of get the feeling some of you may complain about my measurement methods, but here's how I see it: I would have my computer on and running 24/7 anyway without number crunching, and the thread is asking what the cost of crunching is, which is an additional ~80 watts over being idle and doing nothing. My machine is not a dedicated cruncher.. it does everything for me and also does crunching on the side in the background on a small scale. I have no idea what my single core machine costs to run, but again, I would have that one running 24/7 as well even without crunching. I know that one is going to be much lower for efficiency because it takes 2.5-3 hours to do an MB shorty, and 50 hours to do an AP. Linux laptop: record uptime: 1511d 20h 19m (ended due to the power brick giving-up) |
GALAXY-VOYAGER Send message Joined: 21 Oct 12 Posts: 85 Credit: 157,743 RAC: 0 |
By the sound of it, some of those concerned about the Cost, the fact that if their Computer/s is/are Running anyway, it won't make any difference to Your Bill. It's only if you have Your Computer/s Running Only To Crunch. Also, it seems that some are Only Concerned The Overall Price, instead of looking at the Actual Cost Per Hour (ie as in Daylight Hours). When this is taken into consideration, and looking at the Cost Per KwH, there's A LOT of Daylight Hours for those KwH's. Your Lightglobes that are left on and switching them On & Off probably Use More Electricity over the Same Time. My 2 Computers are almost Running 24/7 and The Additional Charges on The Electricity Bill would be Difficult to Notice. ps .. for those of you who Smoke ... How many Cigarettes per day do you Smoke? ... Just give up 2 or 3 per day and you'll probably be in front. GALAXY-VOYAGER |
S@NL Etienne Dokkum Send message Joined: 11 Jun 99 Posts: 212 Credit: 43,822,095 RAC: 0 |
I don't know how it's done in the US but here in Holland the electric bill is made up approximately in a fashion that ~60% is taxes and enviromental charges... I pay 218 Euro's a month of which more than 120 Euro's is the above mentioned... Therefore I won't even begin to cut back on crunching as the left over ~95 Euro's is divided and used by a family of 5. |
James Sotherden Send message Joined: 16 May 99 Posts: 10436 Credit: 110,373,059 RAC: 54 |
I don't know how it's done in the US but here in Holland the electric bill is made up approximately in a fashion that ~60% is taxes and enviromental charges... My power company in New York state is National Grid. I used $63.77 of electricity for the month of September. However when they figure up the taxes and the delivery charge that came to another $67.79 added on to my bill. So my three I7's dont seem to hog the electricity to bad. [/quote] Old James |
Batter Up Send message Joined: 5 May 99 Posts: 1946 Credit: 24,860,347 RAC: 0 |
By the sound of it, some of those concerned about the Cost, the fact that if their Computer/s is/are Running anyway, it won't make any difference to Your Bill. What are you running, something from the last century? It costs me $100 last month to crunch. I don't mind that but I do mind insiders getting all AstroPlus and the real insiders not even distributing the most promising units. After 14 years what have I accomplished? Nothing as I can't compare a unit to a unit. Then they beg for eighty four cents and not even a thanks for the Franklin. |
petri33 Send message Joined: 6 Jun 02 Posts: 1668 Credit: 623,086,772 RAC: 156 |
78000 credits per day. 0.78kW 24h 0,11 €/kWh i.e 2,06€/day. 0,0026 cnt/credit. All heat is needed for the house 8 months a year. To overcome Heisenbergs: "You can't always get what you want / but if you try sometimes you just might find / you get what you need." -- Rolling Stones |
petri33 Send message Joined: 6 Jun 02 Posts: 1668 Credit: 623,086,772 RAC: 156 |
78000 credits per day. 0.78kW 24h 0,11 €/kWh i.e 2,06€/day. 0,0026 cnt/credit. All heat is needed for the house 8 months a year. Lat 64°N. Triple pane windows, air conditioning with heat recovery, air to water heat pump, good insulation, ... To overcome Heisenbergs: "You can't always get what you want / but if you try sometimes you just might find / you get what you need." -- Rolling Stones |
Gene Send message Joined: 26 Apr 99 Posts: 150 Credit: 48,393,279 RAC: 118 |
Here's my 2 cents (110 credits) worth on this topic... I have 3.6 kw of solar panels on the roof, feeding an inverter and grid-tied with "net metering" (kwh bought and sold totals and billed, or credited, for the difference). For the most recent 12 months the solar power has supplied all of the household needs and I sold 793 kwh (net) to the utility. So, my small contribution to SETI computation costs me _nothing_ out of pocket. The accountants among you will, rightly, assert that income foregone is the same as an expense incurred; so I'll get on that train and see where it goes. 130 watts consumption on a 24/7 system yields about 600 credits per day (when I am not sharing resources with other BOINC projects). So that works out to 3.12 kwh per day. When I sell power to the utility I get paid at the wholesale rate, which is $0.0364 per kwh for me. Do the math... 11 cents per day or $40 per year or 0.018 cents/credit or 55 credits/cent. Pick your units. It is evident from other posts on this thread that faster processors, especially with GPU's, are more efficient credit producers. Someday, no doubt, I will go for a more capable CPU and a CUDA-capable GPU to do my day-to-day applications and then my RAC score will jump up. Meanwhile, I just keep plugging away -- for "free." |
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