I have two systems hear I could utilize the PCIe slot on with a half decent GPU because as far as I'm aware AMD cards are generally cheaper.

For a long time the AMD cards have been more expensive as they were the preferred choice of CryptoMiners. Since that fad has tapered off, both AMD & NVidia cards are more affordable. The prices still aren't great, but they're a whole lot better than they were.

I didn't know you could use AMD ATI cards as I thought it was primarily built for CUDA on Nvidia.

The best application for Nvidia GPUs on systems running Windows is SoG which makes use of OpenCL- AMDs computing language. But the fact is it can also be run on Nvidia cards & the SoG application was developed especially for Nvidia cards.

The fact is that at present Nvidia hardware gives the best outright performance, the most work for power used, and generally the most work produced per dollar spent (edit- although the RX 550 came from nowhere to lead the efficiency chart on the latest update).

Shaggie's graphs give the best indication of overall performance.

If running Linux, then the best option is to make use of Tbar's offerings based on Petri's work which do require CUDA on NVidia hardware, but it will produce 3-5 times more work than the available SoG application even with command line options.
Even if you don't use the special application, NVidia & SoG are the best performers on Linux as well.

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Grant
Darwin NT

ATI =AMD
Yes, but as they are "old" cards they tend to only run the less fancy applications and are fussy about the drivers used.

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

The best application for Nvidia GPUs on systems running Windows is SoG which makes use of OpenCL- AMDs computing language. But the fact is it can also be run on Nvidia cards & the SoG application was developed especially for Nvidia cards.

Not quite right.
The SOG app was built for AMD cards first.
Later on the app has been modified to run on Nvidia cards as well.
Also OpenCL is not a AMD computing language, its a universal computing language.

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With each crime and every kindness we birth our future.

@Spud1200
I see that your recent Seti hosts are all Linux systems so I assume that you will stay with that operating system. I also have been using Linux for a long time. When I first added a GPU card it was a GTX 650, which is an antique by present day standards. Later upgraded that to a GTX 750 Ti, which was not terribly expensive even when new and now trades on eBay or other used equipment sellers in the US$50 range (not sure about other currency equivalents). If you browse into the "Shaggie's graphs" that @Grant mentioned, you'll see that the 750Ti has a very decent performance per watt. I let Seti run 24/7 so the power consumption was of some importance for me. My choice of Nvidia vs. AMD graphics cards was made long ago, and based on anecdotal comments at the time of better Linux driver support by Nvidia - it may (or may not) be different now but once such a choice is made one tends to stick with the same brand through successive upgrades. (A year ago I built a new system around an AMD Ryzen 1700 CPU and chose to pair it up with a GTX 1060.) But... back to your expressed interest in a low- to mid-range graphics card to upgrade your existing system(s) - my own biased opinion is to include the GTX 750 Ti in your "short list" of candidates. Note that I have nothing against the AMD/ATI cards; I just have no experience with them.
** Be careful, however, to see that the card will fit in your motherboard! Most of these graphics cards are DOUBLE WIDTH and may physically conflict with other cards adjacent to your available PCIe slot. And some cards are long enough to (possibly) exceed the space available in the case. It was one consideration for me that the GTX 750 Ti is only 7 inches long and does not extend beyond the motherboard footprint.
** And there is the extra power consumption... Again citing the GTX 750 Ti merely as an example, its power requirement is only 60 watts and is provided entirely through the PCIe connector, i.e. no additional power cables needed from the existing power supply. This is NOT the case for all graphics cards and especially the higher performance ones.
I applaud your intentions to move upward from a purely CPU Seti host to include a GPU device for much improved processing. I warn you (tongue in cheek!!) that going down this path is almost addictive. -- SCOTTY! I NEED MORE POWER!! --

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I am running a single CPU core celeron with a gtx 750ti here: https://setiathome.berkeley.edu/show_host_detail.php?hostid=8591492

I have received a $4.95 CPU upgrade to a Duo2 that will take the it up to 3GHz and 2 cores. This should let me be comfortable I am feeding the gpu at full speed and actually get a CPU task running.

This is in Windows. I suspect if I were to install Linux/Cuda91 it would run more than a bit faster :)

Tom

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A proud member of the OFA (Old Farts Association).

The server is still figuring out what app you should use.
Your first task was Cuda60 - They are slow!
You have sah and SoG tasks now that it will try.
Both will be faster.

The server is still figuring out what app you should use.
Your first task was Cuda60 - They are slow!
You have sah and SoG tasks now that it will try.
Both will be faster.

Thanks for that. :D ..

So I don't need to do anything ..

. . You have chosen well! That is a very good card and will support CUDA80, but I don't think it will support CUDA91. But you might take the time to read TBar's thread on the "Low CPU use CUDA App".

. . When you feel comfortable it would be worth trying CUDA80. It will surprise you ...

Stephen

:)

it should run cuda91 ok. just make sure you run the SM multi version or whatever the current verbiage is. v0.97b1 or whatever. the newest versions might have all that just wrapped in by now. you could even use the cuda92 version if you wanted to upgrade your video drivers to something after 396, but it wont make much difference for your card.

and to give you an idea of how much faster it will be, your current tasks with the stock app is taking about 60 minutes per WU.

with the cuda91 app, you can be moving through each task in less than 8 minutes... more than 7x your current speed.

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Seti@Home classic workunits: 29,492 CPU time: 134,419 hours

Thanks for that. :D ..
So I don't need to do anything ..

UPDATE:

. . You have chosen well! That is a very good card and will support CUDA80, but I don't think it will support CUDA91 and it WILL support the 0.97 versions as well (CUDA90/91). But you might take the time to read TBar's thread on the "Low CPU use CUDA App".

. . When you feel comfortable it would be worth trying CUDA91. It will surprise you ...

. . As Ian&Steve pointed out, you can expect a huge boost in productivity if you go that way. Definitely under 8 mins, maybe even 7.5. Just have a look at TBar's machine with 3 750ti's (plus a dozen other cards ??) to see his results.

Stephen

:)

The "cuda91" file you'll be looking for is:
Linux_MultiGPU-v0.97b2_Special.7z
which is a "7-zip" compressed format file; to unpack with p7zip (see the "man").
in which you will find, among many other files and help documents, this executable application -
setiathome_x41p_V0.97b2_x86_64-pc-linux-gnu_cuda91

I don't remember exactly where to download that file but do a "Search forums" and you will find Message Board mention, and discussion, of the application in some thread(s) in the Number Crunching forum.

I concur with @Stephen that 750Ti run times will be under 8 minutes. The last benchmark tests I ran on that card gave times from 160 seconds to 460 seconds, obviously depending on the work unit content.

The cuda91 app is not a "stock" app, so you'll need a custom app_info.xml file. But see the help documents in the above mentioned 7z file to get you started. Meanwhile just enjoy the boost in RAC from what you've done so far.

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The server is still figuring out what app you should use.
Your first task was Cuda60 - They are slow!
You have sah and SoG tasks now that it will try.
Both will be faster.

Thanks for that. :D ..

So I don't need to do anything ..

. . You have chosen well! That is a very good card and will support CUDA80, but I don't think it will support CUDA91. But you might take the time to read TBar's thread on the "Low CPU use CUDA App".

. . When you feel comfortable it would be worth trying CUDA80. It will surprise you ...

Stephen

:)

Odd, I have a gtx 750Ti running on CUDA91 so I must be running it on smoke and mirrors :)

Tom

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A proud member of the OFA (Old Farts Association).

The cuda91 app is not a "stock" app, so you'll need a custom app_info.xml file. But see the help documents in the above mentioned 7z file to get you started. Meanwhile just enjoy the boost in RAC from what you've done so far.

If you can locate TBar's "All in One" setup, it includes a Linux Boinc Manager setup, the entire setup for the Seti subdirectory including an excellent app_info.xml file.
At that stage, if you were installing from scratch you might have to add the Seti project but everything else would be good to go.

I suspect you need to set "No New Tasks" until you run your seti folder dry, then install the "all in one".

Here is a message https://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=83274&postid=1961607#1961607 That includes the all in one URL.

Here is the install script the above message is referencing. https://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=83274&postid=1952639#1952639 I think you want to do all the "command line" steps and ignore the rest.
I think you will want to use p7zip to unarchive it "over the top" of your current "BOINC" folder.

HTH and doesn't confuse you because my setup script doesn't assume the previous install you have.

Tom

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A proud member of the OFA (Old Farts Association).