Posts by BMH

1) Message boards : Number crunching : nVIDIA Cooling Fan Performance! (Message 1282177)
Posted 257 days ago by

BMH

Well, I'm pretty sure my airflow can't get any better, as I run all my SETI systems out in the open on a bench. The only thing I could possibly do is get a box fan blowing over them, but that would probably be overkill.. ;-)

Actually, a system set up like that can lack airflow, whereas a good case will push/pull air through the system and over the vital components.

I have a system set up out in the open on a bench, it has two graphics cards and it benefits from having a couple of case fans directing air at the top card and motherboard heatsinks. The room lacks good airflow though.

2) Message boards : Number crunching : nVIDIA Cooling Fan Performance! (Message 1281697)
Posted 258 days ago by

BMH

I wouldn't want to set any of my GPU fans to 100%, for sake of the life expectancy of the fans and the noise levels.

I've already had one GPU fan fail and another become noisy within 12 months, and that was running at auto speeds. I don't recall having a GPU fail because of overheating.

There may be little cooling benefit from 80-100%, perhaps some fans shift their maximum amount of air at 85% for example, anything above that is just more noise. Just a thought.

Aim for good system airflow to keep temps low if you can, rather than resort to maxing out your GPU fans to compensate for poor overall airflow.

One of my two Gigabyte GTX 670s in one rig for example has three fans, and they're running automatically at 50%, keeping the GPU temperature at 75 degrees which is fine I believe for these cards. Maxing out the fans will surely kill the fans quicker than I would kill the card by leaving the fans at auto? ;) (famous last words?!) :D

3) Message boards : Number crunching : Cuda Fermi Wus are they GTX670 destroyer ? (Message 1281689)
Posted 258 days ago by

BMH

This thread explains why I had these problems with a Nvidia 560 a few months back... it failed with the garbled display as mentioned by the OP and my first thought was "oh no, the graphics card has failed" but then when checking things out it worked in another computer... and the strange thing was that the 560ti that I swapped it with didn't have that problem... I guess the PSU is coping ok with the 560ti.

Rule of thumb: If you are crunching on a GPU, then invest in a decent PSU and pay attention to the 12V rails... some cheap PSUs that claim a high/reasonable wattage are actually quite low on the 12V rails.

4) Message boards : Number crunching : Optimize your GPU. Find the value the easy way. (Message 1275873)
Posted 271 days ago by

BMH

Running the tool alongside GPU-Z gives a nice visual indication of which is best. Although running three tasks on my 460 test system showed slightly more solid GPU usage according to GPU-Z, 2 tasks (as expected) was the optimum.

5) Message boards : Number crunching : Welcome to the 13th Anniversary Crunchers. (Message 1253850)
Posted 328 days ago by

BMH

Oh I missed mine last month *eats virtual party cake to celebrate belatedly*

6) Message boards : Number crunching : Double-check RAM settings (Message 1253847)
Posted 328 days ago by

BMH

On my Phenom rig I have DDR2 1066 RAM, but I have to set it as such, else the Auto option just runs it as 800MHz... the 1066 is deemed to be an overclock (OC) for my motherboard. Sometimes a motherboard's specifications will list compatible RAM speeds as 667,800,1066,1333(OC),1600(OC) for example where OC indicates it's an overclock... so I find where the RAM falls into the OC category, you have to specify that in the BIOS.

As for voltages, check that your motherboard supports the voltage stated on the RAM (else damage could occur), and running RAM stated to be 1.5V at 1.65V for example may over-volt the RAM and cause damage, and perhaps undervolting could have similar effects.

Recognised RAM brands often have Value ranges which I find work fine and I prefer these to non-branded RAM.

I hope that helps a little.

7) Message boards : Number crunching : Top GPU models (Message 1147568)
Posted 632 days ago by

BMH

A performance graph would be nice ;)

For example I'm using both GTX 460s and 560ti's, but there is quite a price jump, I wonder if the performance increase reflects this - I'm still trying to find out from my own tests.

Useful information though, I'm not sure how it compares to other performance comparisons which I tend to refer to when buying new stuff... also referring to power consumption and price.

8) Message boards : Number crunching : Maybe this Xigmatek case is good enough... (Message 1139498)
Posted 651 days ago by

BMH

The Xigmatek CCC-HSA0DS-U02 does look spacious:

9) Message boards : Number crunching : Need info on CPU's (Message 1139488)
Posted 651 days ago by

BMH

From my bit of browsing it seems only the quad core or fewer AMDs are within the 95W limit of your motherboard. You should also check which processors the BIOS supports.

To be honest you'll see better SETI number crunching gains from adding in a reasonable graphics card than aiming for more CPU cores. My quad core intel CPU had a RAC of 1,000 and then when I put in a GTX 260 graphics card it climbed to over 8,000. Maybe also consider what else you use the computer for.

10) Message boards : Number crunching : EVGA board (Message 1137975)
Posted 655 days ago by

BMH

I'm not so sure about the little fans on those cards. If all you want it for is to connect two screens then any new basic graphics card will do, and a passively cooled card would be ideal.

Passively cooled cards aren't usually ideal for number crunching though, so if you're keen for it to be used in this way think about budget, power requirements and how the card is cooled.

11) Message boards : Number crunching : Planning new system - advise (Message 1136649)
Posted 658 days ago by

BMH

I prefer cards with two fans and if there are heatpipes too, like with the MSI Twin Frozr, then that's a bonus.

12) Message boards : Number crunching : Will 4x pci slot effect cuda crunching (Message 1136647)
Posted 658 days ago by

BMH

Also, regular dust clearing from the heatsink of that bottom card in particular may be in order with it being sat in the bottom of your case. Once heasinks become clogged temperatures quickly rise.

13) Message boards : Number crunching : Please help building my new main cruncher (Message 1136646)
Posted 658 days ago by

BMH

I advise that you get PC3 1333 RAM (or PC3 1600 if you want some overclocking headroom)... and a higher wattage PSU (800W min.) - one with 4 x 6-pin PCI express connectors (the graphics cards require two each).

The HAF is a nice cace and should be up to the task I think. When you come to build, make sure the side panel has a fan fitted to blow air in towards your two graphics cards.

14) Message boards : Number crunching : GTX 560ti Users: Information Needed (Message 1135902)
Posted 659 days ago by

BMH

1.Corsair HX 850W ATX Modular SLI Compliant Power Supply 70amps on 1 x 12v rail
Q9550, Win 7 64 bit SP1, 4GB Cosair defender ram. ASUS P5Q-E mobo
One MSI Twin Frozr 560Ti
2. 0.38
3.Yes. Don't run Seti cuda all the time. Sometimes once or twice in 8 hours drops core to 405MHz. Have looked at error message Boinc say computing error.

Errors can happen when PC is running without other use.
Seem to start with .38 + 27X.xx drivers
Have MSI Afterburner installed with above profiles.

I am also using a MSI Twin Frozr 560Ti, with no downclocking issues (unless I overclock). The only difference (besides not using MSI Afterburner) really is I'm using nvidia 270.61 drivers, so you might want to try that instead?

15) Message boards : Number crunching : Comparing WUs to wingman (Message 1135474)
Posted 660 days ago by

BMH

I thought the 260s could only practiacally crunch 1 WU at a time. That's what I have mine doing and the 460s and 560tis do 2 WUs at a time (some people have them doing 3 but I'm not certain there is any benefit).

16) Message boards : Number crunching : Please help building my new main cruncher (Message 1135472)
Posted 660 days ago by

BMH

You do realize that the Sandy Bridge motherboards have a lot less PCIE lanes so that you can't use as many video cards as you could with say an i7 970.

Just a thought.

The motherboard for my next build has three PCI Express slots - it did did take some searching to find. The first two slots are 16x and the third, provided by a separate chip, is 8x. I've not tried crunching yet with three graphics cards.

However I have heard of some people experiencing problems with using four graphics cards, especially dual-chip cards like the 290s.

"Dual channel" and (I assume) "triple channel" is marketing-speak for two (three)physically and electrically identical modules. There's no need to buy "special" dual/triple channel modules as long as the ones you get are identical (i.e., same model/part number).

It is recommended that you buy the matching RAM as a kit. Sometimes RAM of different makes and speeds will work OK together (they'll all run at the frequencies of the slowest module), other times you may run into problems. I've had problems with seemingly identical RAM modules that were purchased individually.

17) Message boards : Number crunching : Time to get sorted out, Seti@home (Message 1135234)
Posted 661 days ago by

BMH

Have you considered that you're likely overreacting? We're currently in our 3 day outage window and before your post, things were working just fine. As of the time of this post, we've been without new tasks for around 16 hours, don't panic.

I had been pretty much without work on my main rigs before this outage. But I do agree, don't panic.

What most north Americans don't consider is how their decisions affect us this side of the pond.
Since I retired, to keep costs reasonable, and to relieve some of the stress on Seti, I now only crunch when I am up and about. Approx 16 to 18 hrs a day...

I really think it's down to luck. Two of my rigs are only on during the day too for the same number of hours as yours but haven't been without work since I set them up a month ago.

18) Message boards : Number crunching : Please help building my new main cruncher (Message 1135228)
Posted 661 days ago by

BMH

I too would recommend the skt.1155 "sandybridge" CPUs, either 2500K (4 cores/4 threads) or 2600K (4 cores/8 threads), and suitable motherboard.

PC3-1333 Dual Channel RAM is recommended.

I'm using an 800W 80plus rated PSU to power my two GTX 260 ti's, but I only have one hard drive and minimal other things so it might be cutting it fine - these cards do seem to be a bit particular when it comes to power/heat/stability, so more is probably better.

The MSI Twin Frozr II is a good card with good reviews, I have one. Good case airflow is key, especially with two cards installed. It is recommended that the CPUs stock cooler is replaced with maybe a 'tower' cooler with 92mm/120mm fan - it will not only keep the CPU cooler but keep things a bit quieter.

Maybe consider a SSD for your OS drive and applications, for quick bootup and loading times and improved responsiveness.

19) Message boards : Number crunching : GTX 560ti Users: Information Needed (Message 1134958)
Posted 662 days ago by

BMH

Because the stock frequencies of the 560ti aren't that much above those of the 460 (while the latter has fewer cores - I read 7% in computer magazine I read), manufacturers feel a greater need to play with the clock speeds to tempt consumers with OCd versions, and on top of thise maybe these cards are just a bit more sensitve when overclocked/what voltages are set at or the manufacturers aren't getting the settings quite right... and when you run a GPU, like a CPU, at full load, as when crunching for SETI, those frequencies and voltages have to be just right for things to remain stable.

Fluctuations elsewhere in the system, such as in the power from the PSU can easily prevent an overclock from being stable, and manufacturers of GPUs don't know what our PSUs are like - so personally I don't like pre-overclocked GPUs... but I like the ones with decent coolers and it seem you can't have the latter without the former.

We don't get pre-overclocked CPUs so it annoys me a little that the market is flooded with pre-overclocked GPUs, just to persuade consumers.

20) Message boards : Number crunching : Goodbye (Message 1134579)
Posted 663 days ago by

BMH

JPM, you can still crunch. The idea behind S@H was to use spare cycles. That means running in the background when your computer is on but idle. For example when you go grab lunch or a cup of coffee. If you use the program as originally envisioned then you can still crunch and only burn the electricity that your computer will burn anyway.

I don't think it works like that any more. As soon as your computer becomes idle and BOINC starts crunching, it's going to use 100% of the CPU by default... in all honesty, if you wanted to save electricity you'd be better off letting a computer go to sleep or better still shut it down.

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