GPU for Folding/Boinc

[TylerD321]

So I just built a little server PC and I wasn't planning on putting a GPU in it but may as well yolo for the FAH month. I am going to want to go pretty cheap I believe. Used is in the picture, though I have never bought a used GPU so that will be scary. What is a good option or a few good options to keep an eye out for that aren't going to kill my wallet in either the price to purchase the GPU or the electricity consumed?

 

In summary what is cheap and power efficient while not being useless haha. I am located in the US.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/LCKfPF

[filpo]

6 minutes ago, TylerD321 said:

So I just built a little server PC and I wasn't planning on putting a GPU in it but may as well yolo for the FAH month. I am going to want to go pretty cheap I believe. Used is in the picture, though I have never bought a used GPU so that will be scary. What is a good option or a few good options to keep an eye out for that aren't going to kill my wallet in either the price to purchase the GPU or the electricity consumed?

 

In summary what is cheap and power efficient while not being useless haha. I am located in the US.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/LCKfPF

If you're looking for the lowest power consumption value gpu then I'd get a 1650 4 gig for about 150 bucks us and that'd be the best gpu for you get without using more than 75w (i.e. no external pcie power connectors) MSI Ventus XS OCV1 GeForce GTX 1650 G6 4 GB Video Card (G165D6VXSC1) - PCPartPicker

But you could also get a 1050 ti and it'd probably perform the same. But I'd rather get that used EVGA GeForce GTX 1050 TI 4gb Super-clocked | eBay

 

But if you don't mind using a 6 pin power connector then you could get some better options such as the RTX 4060 which will definitely perform better than the 1650, though I don't know how important that will be in Folding PNY VERTO GeForce RTX 4060 8 GB Video Card (VCG40608DFXPB1) - PCPartPicker

 

But do you have a specific budget?

[IkeaGnome]

Are you wanting to prioritize PPD or power efficiency? Budget? 

For reference, a 1650 will do ~ 500k PPD at 275k points per watt hour.

GeForce GTX 1650 Folding@Home PPD Averages, Power Consumption & Research Projects (lar.systems)

A 4060 is about 3.2m PPD with roughly the same PPWH.

GeForce RTX 4060 Folding@Home PPD Averages, Power Consumption & Research Projects (lar.systems)

A 4070Ti is about 11.5m PPD, but 1.7m PPWH and is kind of sitting at the "efficiency king" seat currently.

GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Folding@Home PPD Averages, Power Consumption & Research Projects (lar.systems)

 

Used 3070s are 4m PPD/750k PPWH and are sub $300 on Ebay. 

GeForce RTX 3070 Folding@Home PPD Averages, Power Consumption & Research Projects (lar.systems)

 

Anything much older than a 30 series drops off quickly in PPD and PPWH. Budget and how many cards you'd like to run would help a lot, but instead of going with multiple cards it might make more sense to try to get a single newer card.

[TylerD321]

27 minutes ago, IkeaGnome said:

Are you wanting to prioritize PPD or power efficiency? Budget? 

For reference, a 1650 will do ~ 500k PPD at 275k points per watt hour.

GeForce GTX 1650 Folding@Home PPD Averages, Power Consumption & Research Projects (lar.systems)

A 4060 is about 3.2m PPD with roughly the same PPWH.

GeForce RTX 4060 Folding@Home PPD Averages, Power Consumption & Research Projects (lar.systems)

A 4070Ti is about 11.5m PPD, but 1.7m PPWH and is kind of sitting at the "efficiency king" seat currently.

GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Folding@Home PPD Averages, Power Consumption & Research Projects (lar.systems)

 

Used 3070s are 4m PPD/750k PPWH and are sub $300 on Ebay. 

GeForce RTX 3070 Folding@Home PPD Averages, Power Consumption & Research Projects (lar.systems)

 

Anything much older than a 30 series drops off quickly in PPD and PPWH. Budget and how many cards you'd like to run would help a lot, but instead of going with multiple cards it might make more sense to try to get a single newer card.

The question I have now is does the 4060 ti have any way of justifying the extra 100 dollars of cost in terms of FAH? As in is it significantly more PPWH? More points per dollar spent?

[IkeaGnome]

23 minutes ago, TylerD321 said:

The question I have now is does the 4060 ti have any way of justifying the extra 100 dollars of cost in terms of FAH? As in is it significantly more PPWH? More points per dollar spent?

Extra $100 over what? 4060? Zotac has a $280 4060, and a $370 4060 ti. I'll use those prices for math.

 

3070s are going for ~$150-$200 on eBay for 4m ppd. If we just average that to $175, you get $0.0022857 PPD/$

For $280, you get 3.2m ppd or $0.0011428 per PPD/$. 

For $370 you get 4.6m ppd or $0.0012432 per PPD/$.

 

Where the 3070 vs 4060/ti gets a bit weird is efficiency and is why you kind of have to figure out how much the efficiency matters to you. More efficient means cheaper electricity bills, and less heat output into your room. I made a mistake in my last post and said the 4060 is about the same PPWH as a 1650. I looked at the page wrong. I saw points per work unit for the 4060, not points per watt hour.

 

A 3070 will get you ~760,000 PPWH, at a known 220W.

4060 tops out at 115W.

4060 ti tops out at 160W 

A 3070 at (my electricity prices) 12.5C per KWh would cost about $0.66 per day or $241 per year if you ran it 24/7.

A 4060 would sit at $0.34 per day and $126 per year.

The 4060 ti would sit at $0.48 per day and $175 per year. 

 

In theory of these three, the 3070 is better if your electricity is cheaper or you don't care about your electricity bill going up a bit. 

If you want the best overall of the three, the 4060 will make up the price difference between it and a 3070 after a year of going 24/7. For a slightly lower PPD.

The 4060 Ti is the happy middle of the three. Less power consumption that a 3070, but more PPD than a 3070. Would take 3 years to pay the difference between it and the 3070 if we use the prices above though.

 

There is no "set answer" for use this card for this budget. F@H is a bit more like mining. You have to balance cost of component with the cost to run it, and what you get in return. It's all about finding a happy medium that fits what you want to accomplish. 

[TylerD321]

8 minutes ago, IkeaGnome said:

Extra $100 over what? 4060? Zotac has a $280 4060, and a $370 4060 ti. I'll use those prices for math.

 

3070s are going for ~$150-$200 on eBay for 4m ppd. If we just average that to $175, you get $0.0022857 PPD/$

For $280, you get 3.2m ppd or $0.0011428 per PPD/$. 

For $370 you get 4.6m ppd or $0.0012432 per PPD/$.

 

Where the 3070 vs 4060/ti gets a bit weird is efficiency and is why you kind of have to figure out how much the efficiency matters to you. More efficient means cheaper electricity bills, and less heat output into your room. I made a mistake in my last post and said the 4060 is about the same PPWH as a 1650. I looked at the page wrong. I saw points per work unit for the 4060, not points per watt hour.

 

A 3070 will get you ~760,000 PPWH, at a known 220W.

4060 tops out at 115W.

4060 ti tops out at 160W 

A 3070 at (my electricity prices) 12.5C per KWh would cost about $0.66 per day or $241 per year if you ran it 24/7.

A 4060 would sit at $0.34 per day and $126 per year.

The 4060 ti would sit at $0.48 per day and $175 per year. 

 

In theory of these three, the 3070 is better if your electricity is cheaper or you don't care about your electricity bill going up a bit. 

If you want the best overall of the three, the 4060 will make up the price difference between it and a 3070 after a year of going 24/7. For a slightly lower PPD.

The 4060 Ti is the happy middle of the three. Less power consumption that a 3070, but more PPD than a 3070. Would take 3 years to pay the difference between it and the 3070 if we use the prices above though.

 

There is no "set answer" for use this card for this budget. F@H is a bit more like mining. You have to balance cost of component with the cost to run it, and what you get in return. It's all about finding a happy medium that fits what you want to accomplish. 

I think I am going to go for the 4060 with this information. Less power == Less money over time and less heat feeding into my room. This matters more to me than saving 100 dollars or a few more points.

 

Do you think the prime day on Oct 10-11 will have deals for 4060 or should I go ahead and buy it now?

[IkeaGnome]

1 minute ago, TylerD321 said:

I think I am going to go for the 4060 with this information. Less power == Less money over time and less heat feeding into my room. This matters more to me than saving 100 dollars or a few more points.

Welcome to the team!♥

I've always gone for PPD over PPWH. My house is heated with propane and electricity/heating with F@H is cheaper. I can't run in the summer or it gets too hot, but I don't use hardly any propane anymore. Efficiency is just now getting to be a problem now that the house gets too hot for my wife. 

[TylerD321]

2 minutes ago, IkeaGnome said:

Welcome to the team!♥

I've always gone for PPD over PPWH. My house is heated with propane and electricity/heating with F@H is cheaper. I can't run in the summer or it gets too hot, but I don't use hardly any propane anymore. Efficiency is just now getting to be a problem now that the house gets too hot for my wife. 

Turns out my electric is only 0.09669 usd per kwh, it might make more sense to get a 3070 at that point. I already have a 3070 and 3050 I plan on running for the month as well. I am just scared of buying used GPU

[IkeaGnome]

5 minutes ago, TylerD321 said:

Turns out my electric is only 0.09669 usd per kwh, it might make more sense to get a 3070 at that point. I already have a 3070 and 3050 I plan on running for the month as well. I am just scared of buying used GPU

If my 3070 wasn't in Norway in my wife's computer for when she's there I'd get with you on that. I don't know when it's going to come back state side though. She's got my 3070 ti, but in order to replace that, I'd need to pick up her "permanent" graphics card which I just don't want to front the cash for that while her and I are setting the house up how she wants it.

 

Unless I just don't surprise her with a 4090 like I was going to and go a tier lower like she actually wants...

[TylerD321]

3 minutes ago, IkeaGnome said:

If my 3070 wasn't in Norway in my wife's computer for when she's there I'd get with you on that. I don't know when it's going to come back state side though. She's got my 3070 ti, but in order to replace that, I'd need to pick up her "permanent" graphics card which I just don't want to front the cash for that while her and I are setting the house up how she wants it.

 

Unless I just don't surprise her with a 4090 like I was going to and go a tier lower like she actually wants...

Well if you make a decision soon and it’s not to expensive to get it in the states let me know ahah

[IkeaGnome]

1 minute ago, TylerD321 said:

Well if you make a decision soon and it’s not to expensive to get it in the states let me know ahah

Let me talk it over with her and see if there's any "projects" she doesn't mind getting moved around until after the holidays. I'll DM you when we come up with something? If I do sell it, I'd be cool listing it on the marketplace here and on eBay. Marketplace here doesn't do a whole lot except have the deal out in the open where others can see it, and eBay would get you buyer's protection in case something weird happens with shipping or anything like that.

[IkeaGnome]

Double posting, but putting this here for easy numbers for you and I to both see.

[TylerD321]

40 minutes ago, IkeaGnome said:

Let me talk it over with her and see if there's any "projects" she doesn't mind getting moved around until after the holidays. I'll DM you when we come up with something? If I do sell it, I'd be cool listing it on the marketplace here and on eBay. Marketplace here doesn't do a whole lot except have the deal out in the open where others can see it, and eBay would get you buyer's protection in case something weird happens with shipping or anything like that.

Yeah definitely let me know. Go ahead and DM me approximately what you think the price would be including shipping so I can make sure that I am not just wasting your time as well.

[TylerD321]

@Schnoz here is that post as promised