Posts by BMH
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1)
Message boards :
Cafe SETI :
The continuing of life's adventures of the kittyman.
(Message 1900039)
Posted 9 Nov 2017 by  BMH
Post: Interesting indeed... but, are they able to determine if a CPU has been overclocked or not, should a failed one be returned for replacement? CPUs seem pretty resilient these days and in my experience it's the motherboard that suffers due to prolonged overclocks. Incidentally, I've just bought a few new GPUs of the 1060 variety from Zotac; they have an extended warranty up to 5 years which swayed my decision, but I believe overclocking voids this warranty. This is a slight shame since a gentle overclock is unlikely to do much harm whereas poor airflow at standard speeds could certainly shorten the life. With GPUs I'm guessing that clock/memory speeds et al could be logged on the board and thus read by the manufacturer to get an idea how the component was set/performing prior to it failing. |
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Message boards :
Number crunching :
Show and tell your machine. Here's mine.
(Message 1616358)
Posted 19 Dec 2014 by BMH
Post: My top cruncher, as it currently stands (precariously): 
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3)
Message boards :
Number crunching :
Show and tell your machine. Here's mine.
(Message 1507033)
Posted 21 Apr 2014 by BMH
Post: Zalster, those pictures remind me of those puzzle pictures where you have to count how many of something you see... I thought I was seeing three graphics cards... but then I scrolled past again and then spotted another! Batter Up, there is a problem with your rule... what if the cover is always off?! For me a good time to remove dust is when the power is off, but I don't always wait. |
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4)
Message boards :
Number crunching :
Show and tell your machine. Here's mine.
(Message 1504690)
Posted 16 Apr 2014 by BMH
Post: I knock the "s" out "https" so people can see what you have much easier. ;-) Thanks! I wondered why it wasn't showing, which is why I put the link in :D Flickr changing things since I last shared a picture I suspect. |
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5)
Message boards :
Number crunching :
Show and tell your machine. Here's mine.
(Message 1504679)
Posted 16 Apr 2014 by BMH
Post: My top rig... a couple of PSUs and a few GPUs, all neatly cobbled together :D  https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2871/13892757234_ccd09f121b_b.jpg |
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Message boards :
Number crunching :
What did you start with?
(Message 1480637)
Posted 22 Feb 2014 by BMH
Post: My first computer to run SETI@home was an AMD K6-2 368MHz with 128MB RAM, running first Windows 98, then later ME, and then I think I squeezed XP on it. |
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7)
Message boards :
Number crunching :
Show and tell your machine. Here's mine.
(Message 1470766)
Posted 30 Jan 2014 by BMH
Post: This is not my system, but the link was sent to me from the IT Admin at my company, and I had to share it. It looks like a tidy setup, but yeah, I'm not sure what its purpose is: the GPUs are only running off PCI Express 4x's also. |
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8)
Message boards :
Number crunching :
AMD Socket / Processor for new PC
(Message 1434397)
Posted 27 Oct 2013 by BMH
Post: I'm planning to keep my current graphics card, a GTS 450 Hi Tony, "$GB RAM"? Was that supposed to be 4GB? Either way, 32-bit Windows 7 (like Vista 32-bit) is not so good since it can't access as much as 4GB of RAM or more (this includes GPU RAM) and Windows 7 (and certainly Vista) struggle with less than 4GB, so I would recommend you have 8GB of RAM... so you need the 64-bit version of Windows 7 (Home Premium is fine unless you need any of the additional features in Pro). |
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9)
Message boards :
News :
SETI@home Version 7 has been released
(Message 1374887)
Posted 1 Jun 2013 by BMH
Post: Car??? Nope (electric), nor regular gravity (apparently). It has less than 25 miles on the clock though. Actually, the 'buyer to collect' stipulation isn't so bad... if you live near Hollywood ;) |
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10)
Message boards :
Number crunching :
nVIDIA Cooling Fan Performance!
(Message 1282177)
Posted 10 Sep 2012 by BMH
Post: 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. |
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11)
Message boards :
Number crunching :
nVIDIA Cooling Fan Performance!
(Message 1281697)
Posted 8 Sep 2012 by BMH
Post: 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 |
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12)
Message boards :
Number crunching :
Cuda Fermi Wus are they GTX670 destroyer ?
(Message 1281689)
Posted 8 Sep 2012 by BMH
Post: 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. |
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13)
Message boards :
Number crunching :
Optimize your GPU. Find the value the easy way.
(Message 1275873)
Posted 26 Aug 2012 by BMH
Post: 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. |
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14)
Message boards :
Number crunching :
Welcome to the 13 year club
(Message 1253850)
Posted 30 Jun 2012 by BMH
Post: Oh I missed mine last month *eats virtual party cake to celebrate belatedly* |
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15)
Message boards :
Number crunching :
Double-check RAM settings
(Message 1253847)
Posted 30 Jun 2012 by BMH
Post: 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. |
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16)
Message boards :
Number crunching :
Top GPU models
(Message 1147568)
Posted 31 Aug 2011 by BMH
Post: 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. |
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17)
Message boards :
Number crunching :
Maybe this Xigmatek case is good enough...
(Message 1139498)
Posted 12 Aug 2011 by BMH
Post: The Xigmatek CCC-HSA0DS-U02 does look spacious: 
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18)
Message boards :
Number crunching :
Need info on CPU's
(Message 1139488)
Posted 12 Aug 2011 by BMH
Post: 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. |
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19)
Message boards :
Number crunching :
EVGA board
(Message 1137975)
Posted 9 Aug 2011 by BMH
Post: 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. |
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20)
Message boards :
Number crunching :
Planning new system - advise
(Message 1136649)
Posted 6 Aug 2011 by BMH
Post: I prefer cards with two fans and if there are heatpipes too, like with the MSI Twin Frozr, then that's a bonus. |
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SETI@home and Astropulse are funded by grants from the National Science Foundation, NASA, and donations from SETI@home volunteers. AstroPulse is funded in part by the NSF through grant AST-0307956.