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Cheapest (best) GPU for folding at the moment?

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7970?

Some can be found for as cheap as like $80 :o

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7950

r9 290

gtx 690

Rigs I've Built

The Striker i5 4590 @ 3.7 ||  MSI GTX 980 Armor X2 || Corsair RMX 750 || Team Elite Plus 8 GB || Define S || MSI Z97S SLI Krait

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7970?

Some can be found for as cheap as like $80 :o

 

I only ever see 7950's for that price, never seen a 7970 for less than like 110$ 

 

Where did you see dis? O.o

Stuff:  i7 7700k @ (dat nibba succ) | ASRock Z170M OC Formula | G.Skill TridentZ 3600 c16 | EKWB 1080 @ 2100 mhz  |  Acer X34 Predator | R4 | EVGA 1000 P2 | 1080mm Radiator Custom Loop | HD800 + Audio-GD NFB-11 | 850 Evo 1TB | 840 Pro 256GB | 3TB WD Blue | 2TB Barracuda

Hwbot: http://hwbot.org/user/lays/ 

FireStrike 980 ti @ 1800 Mhz http://hwbot.org/submission/3183338 http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/11574089

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It's bidding, and 76 GPB + shipping is over $110 usd

Stuff:  i7 7700k @ (dat nibba succ) | ASRock Z170M OC Formula | G.Skill TridentZ 3600 c16 | EKWB 1080 @ 2100 mhz  |  Acer X34 Predator | R4 | EVGA 1000 P2 | 1080mm Radiator Custom Loop | HD800 + Audio-GD NFB-11 | 850 Evo 1TB | 840 Pro 256GB | 3TB WD Blue | 2TB Barracuda

Hwbot: http://hwbot.org/user/lays/ 

FireStrike 980 ti @ 1800 Mhz http://hwbot.org/submission/3183338 http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/11574089

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I only ever see 7950's for that price, never seen a 7970 for less than like 110$ 

 

Where did you see dis? O.o

Just go on eBay, search up a 7970 and go to lowest first, you can find a bunch for good prices.

4690K // 212 EVO // Z97-PRO // Vengeance 16GB // GTX 770 GTX 970 // MX100 128GB // Toshiba 1TB // Air 540 // HX650

Logitech G502 RGB // Corsair K65 RGB (MX Red)

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I wonder what kind of performance per dollar you get out of a used GTX 750/ti. Those could probably be found for fairly cheap these days.

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Pretty much the title... and as cheap as possible, I don't mind for high power consumption, heat, generation or the fact that it may be used :P

 

I'm gonna forego the common wisdom and recommend the GTX 750 ti.

 

It's Singe Precision Implicit performance (the most important determinant in folding performance, per the Stanford folding website) is at or above almost all of the midrange cards of yesteryear and can be commonly found under $100 this time of year, and less if you are willing to wait for a sale.

 

That being said, if you don't mind ebay and can find a better price, check out these cards - they are all pretty similar in performance and edge out the 750 ti by about 0 to 10% typical performane: GTX 760, HD 7950, R9 270X, GTX 660, with a typical GTX 660 being slightly slower than the 750 ti in Singe Precision Implicit.

 

Hope that helps.

 

- Pete

Folding For Linus since July 2015

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I wonder what kind of performance per dollar you get out of an owned GTX 750/ti. Those could probably be found for fairly cheap these days.

 

Used ti's are an even better value!

 

If you don't mind camping ebay they are going for around $50 to $75.  Just make sure you don't get a not working, broken, selling for parts, etc. card. :o

Folding For Linus since July 2015

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Used ti's are an even better value!

 

If you don't mind camping ebay they are going for around $50 to $75.  Just make sure you don't get a not working, broken, selling for parts, etc. card. :o

 

Not to mention the much lower power consumption over the previously mentioned cards.

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Used ti's are an even better value!

 

If you don't mind camping ebay they are going for around $50 to $75.  Just make sure you don't get a not working, broken, selling for parts, etc. card. :o

Not to mention the much lower power consumption over the previously mentioned cards.

Considering the fact that I could have gotten a HD6990 for the same price as a new 750Ti... 

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And the 75

 

Not to mention the much lower power consumption over the previously mentioned cards.

 

And the 750 ti is one of the few cards that doesn't need an auxillary power connection  :D

Folding For Linus since July 2015

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Considering the fact that I could have gotten a HD6990 for the same price as a new 750Ti... 

 

The 6990 about half the Single Precision Implicit performance of the 750 ti  :(

 

Oops - that's for the 6970, the 6990 is about the same as 2 underclocked 6970's, so it would have about the same performance as a 750 ti, but need a much bigger PSU (I have not seen any comparisons of power usage during folding, so I go by gaming power usage, and the 6990 uses about 5x as much power as the 750 ti).

Folding For Linus since July 2015

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Pretty much the title... and as cheap as possible, I don't mind for high power consumption, heat, generation or the fact that it may be used :P

 

Here's a little more background if you really want to hunt for the best value on the low end:

 

For inexpensive GPUs, in terms of value, rated as Single Implicit precision performance vs. cost, using the best recent retail pricing (that I've seen or came across in research), the best standout cards (starting with the lowest first) are these three main cards (with similar performing cards listed next to them, in case you find them at a significantly better price than the best in class card).

 

gallery_244733_3555_2592.jpg

 

If you want to determine whether a specific card is a better value, find it in that table and compare it's price to the BiC card on the left.

For example, if you find a GTX 670, it is 13% slower than a GTX 950, so it should cost 13% less than the best price GTX 950 in order to be a better value.

 

Note that all 3 of the BiC cards are also very efficient power-wise, so all things being equal, go with the BiC cards.

Folding For Linus since July 2015

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Here's a little more background if you really want to hunt for the best value on the low end:

 

For inexpensive GPUs, in terms of value, rated as Single Implicit precision performance vs. cost, using the best recent retail pricing (that I've seen or came across in research), the best standout cards (starting with the lowest first) are these three main cards (with similar performing cards listed next to them, in case you find them at a significantly better price than the best in class card).

 

gallery_244733_3555_2592.jpg

 

If you want to determine whether a specific card is a better value, find it in that table and compare it's price to the BiC card on the left.

For example, if you find a GTX 670, it is 13% slower than a GTX 950, so it should cost 13% less than the best price GTX 950 in order to be a better value.

 

Note that all 3 of the BiC cards are also very efficient power-wise, so all things being equal, go with the BiC cards.

Say if I were to get a GTX 770 or 760Ti or 680 (I will scour eBay for THE best deals) would I have any issues running it alongside my 290? Would the drivers fight each other or..?

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Say if I were to get a GTX 770(or a GTX 760Ti) (I will scour eBay for THE best deals) would I have any issues running it alongside my 290? Would the drivers fight each other or..?

 

Driver fight is possible.  They don't co-exist too well, but I've heard of some success stories (but have not seen or tried them).

 

Check out http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/53402-amd-or-nvidia-why-not-both/.

Folding For Linus since July 2015

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Driver fight is possible.  They don't co-exist too well, but I've heard of some success stories (but have not seen or tried them).

 

Check out http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/53402-amd-or-nvidia-why-not-both/.

So if I want this to work well I have to get another AMD card. Great :D I'll probably settle for a 270x or 7970 then.

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So if I want this to work well I have to get another AMD card. Great :D I'll probably settle for a 270x or 7970 then.

 

The newer client seems to be a lot better at detecting and co-operating AMD and NVidia together, but it's not a sure thing.  But even within the same type, I've heard of slot assignments being mis-labeled.  Not a big deal, but it can be confusing.

 

Don't forget to keep within your power window - that great deal on a 7990 doesn't look so good when you have to get a bigger PSU to handle it   :(

Folding For Linus since July 2015

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The newer client seems to be a lot better at detecting and co-operating AMD and NVidia together, but it's not a sure thing.  But even within the same type, I've heard of slot assignments being mis-labeled.  Not a big deal, but it can be confusing.

 

Don't forget to keep within your power window - that great deal on a 7990 doesn't look so good when you have to get a bigger PSU to handle it   :(

I have 850W, I'd be fine for trifire (I thinks) :D

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The 6990 about half the Single Precision Implicit performance of the 750 ti  :(

 

Oops - that's for the 6970, the 6990 is about the same as 2 underclocked 6970's, so it would have about the same performance as a 750 ti, but need a much bigger PSU (I have not seen any comparisons of power usage during folding, so I go by gaming power usage, and the 6990 uses about 5x as much power as the 750 ti).

Where are you getting all this info on single presicion performance? Could I have a link? I want to compare things...

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Where are you getting all this info on single presicion performance? Could I have a link? I want to compare things...

 

The information was collected from around the web - the best 1 stop sources (so far as I can find) are at:

 

fahbench scores - folding forum, but the main table hasn't been updated in a while:https://foldingforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=24225

(there are a number of more recent posts that haven't been added to the main table in the 1st post)

 

For specific FaHBench scores, AnandTech is a really good website for posting scores in their reviews

 

power usage - tomshardware: http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2015-vga-charts/23-Power-Consumption-Gaming,3686.html

(their table is a pretty comprehensive list, but doesn't measure folding power usage, but is a good relative power usage comparison)

 

and lastly ppd - google docs (has alot of other info too): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vcVoSVtamcoGj5sFfvKF_XlvuviWWveJIg_iZ8U2bf0/pub?output=html

 

- Pete

Folding For Linus since July 2015

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