Conversations about your/my setup
4 Feb 2022 14:21:56 UTC
Topic 226922
(moderation:
mikey wrote:
Tom M wrote:I am beginning to think if I have one monster system to tinker with I may be a happier camper.
Personally, I prefer several systems as it gives me more options, ie crunching several different kinds of tasks at the same time or maxing things out and putting everything on one kind of task.
In your case with the 3080Ti's, you could get a smaller CPU-based pc just to run them and then a monster CPU in the 2nd case with a less than 3080Ti in it to play with.
Mikey,
That sounds like a great start for another thread. Let me see now...
Tom M
A Proud member of the O.F.A. (Old Farts Association). Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.® (Garrison Keillor) I want some more patience. RIGHT NOW!
I would like to entertain a
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I would like to entertain a conversation about "how many" systems and how big a systems for home-use and/or crunching BOINC projects?
I currently have 4 systems that could crunch boinc. 2 that are.
"Spare" gpus include 2 Rx 5700's and a Gtx 1080 plus a couple of entry-level type gpus.
I am looking at selling some of the hardware to help fund an upgrade to a "Monster" level server (24c/48t) that might be driving the 3 Rtx 3080's, and maybe the gtx 1080 and Gtx 1660 Super all in one box (err... mining frame).
I am pleased with the B450 MB I have and may go get another to make a home for the 3950x. And maybe the gtx 1080.
Tom M
A Proud member of the O.F.A. (Old Farts Association). Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.® (Garrison Keillor) I want some more patience. RIGHT NOW!
This will probably have
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This will probably have endless discussion about what each individual person thinks is best.
some people like many individual systems with a single or dual GPU.
some people like monolithic systems with as many GPUs as can be supported by power and other resources.
I prefer the later. It's more efficient and you have less power wasted powering multiple sets of motherboards/ram/cpus/hard drives/psus/etc. for me, power efficiency is important. but maybe not as important to someone with free or insanely cheap electric.
but the monolithic setups are more complex, need more thought and care put into the setup and execution, might involve more expensive components, and you need to make sure you have sufficient power and cooling available at one location vs. being able to use many cheaper systems distributed around the house.
an example of a change I made recently. I have one system running at a location with (essentially) free electric, but I'm limited in the cooling and power available and I can really only sustain a single system here. it was previously running 8x RTX 2070 cards @150W each, for 1200W of GPU power + 200W CPU power = 1400W total. Since I really can't draw more power safely, in order to maximize output, I converted the system to run 5x 3070Ti @230W each for 1150W of total GPU power. this boosts the output by about 12-15% while using less power and generating a little less heat. between what I sold the 2070's for and what I bought the 3070Tis for, i only had to spend a few hundred extra, so to me the upgrade was well worth it.
right now I have two "big" systems for Einstein. plus my personal use desktop system. I used to have 3 big systems, but broke one down and sold off the GPUs to help fund upgrading one big system to be "bigger". like above. it'll use less power overall, with the same or greater output. and I have another CPU-only dual processor system that is not being used for Einstein.
there are a lot of variables that each person can consider for their specific goals and constraints.
what do you want to achieve? what are your constraints?
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Well, I'll chip in
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I have three computers; 2 desktops and one aged laptop.
(1) AMD Ryzen 9 5950X CPU (16 core / 32 threads) with [2] EVGA RTX-2070 Super GPUs on an ASUS Crosshair VIII Wi-Fi motherboard crunching BOINC Einstein (GPUs) and Milkyway and TN-Grid (CPU) (currently)
(2) AMD Ryzen 9 3950X CPU (16 core / 32 threads) with [1] EVGA RTX-2060 GPU on an ASUS Prime x470 Pro motherboard crunching BOINC Einstein (GPU) and Milkyway and TN-Grid (CPU) (currently)
(3) An HP Laptop with Intel Pentium CPU N3540 (4 cores / no threads) and no discreet GPU crunching BOINC Universe (CPU) (currently on hold)
All three are running Linux Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, Kernel 5.13, and they are doing fine.
.....[EDIT].....
As for Ian's question, I would like to upgrade my desktops with:
Fractal Design Meshify 2 XL case and replace the CoolerMaster H500M case for the 5950X CPU, 1600W PSU (EVGA or Seasonic), [2] 420mm rads & fans, an EVGA 3080Ti, water cooling for CPU & GPUs .
H500M case in place of the aged Antec case for the 3950X, swap the EVGA 650W PSU for the EVGA 1000W PSU from the 5950X, add [2] EVGA 3060Ti GPUs (air cooled), and add the 360mm rad and water cooling to the 3950X CPU from the 5950X.
The HP laptop will remain as long as it works.
I am limited to what I can put into my apartment, so I'll have to live with this arrangement.
Proud member of the Old Farts Association
I have 2 desktops, one AMD
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I have 2 desktops, one AMD and one Intel, with a GPU board on each (GTX 1060 and 1650). Plus I have an old laptop running SuSE Linux Leap 15.0 and a newer AMD laptop running Windows 11. On the AMD desktop with 24 GB RAM I have installe a Linux Virtual Machine running SuSE Tumbleweed, frequently updated, with kernel 5.16.3 so I can keep track of the Linux world. I am an old UNIX user and in my professional life I have used a Bull/MIPS RISC machine, no microprocessor but a real CPU board. Once CERN asked me for an account on that minicomputer to run a benchmark. This when I was employed by BULL in Trieste Research Area.
Tullio
Right now I'm living in a 2
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Right now I'm living in a 2 bedroom 2 bath condo so I'm limited in what I can run, it came with "free" electricity but on page 25 someplace of the lease agreement I can't exceed $125 per month or I have to pay the difference, I've paid a few times but right now it seems to be okay. Currently I have an older Mac dual I7 2c/4c, for a total of 8 cores, desktop running. I also have an older AMD 6300 cpu desktop pc with Linux Mint and an Nvidia 1080 in it, I am also running an older I5 4c Dell laptop also with Linux Mint on it and I have an Asus AMD Ryzen 7 4800H laptop running Win11 with an Nvidia 1660Ti in it that I'm typing this on.
Once I get into my new home next month and get my 'man cave' or pc room built I will have around 15 pc's running of various vintages all with various levels of gpu's in them but only one of the gpu's is better than an Nvidia 1080Ti. I got myself an Nvidia 3060 for Christmas but it's still in the box.
As you can see I go for the multiple pc's idea so I can use the shotgun approach to crunching though occasionally I do set everything on a single project to get to a specific milestone or badge but that's not very often. And it's even more rare for me to have both the cpu's and the gpu's running the same project in the same box, the cache gets all screwed up when I do that.
I also have 3 Raspberry Pi's with quad cores in them that may run once I get into my 'man cave' as my wife likes to call it.
mikey
Ian&Steve C. wrote:This
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I think that is the crux of the discussion.
What I want to achieve is inconstant. And my constraints are financial (how much can I really afford more hardware? And more operating expenses (power bill). And if I have to install new circuitry for power.
I am looking at consolidating my BOINC systems into one system. That was the origin of this thread. But if I do that do I upgrade my daily driver? Leave it the same? Do I focus on an EPYC-based GPU system? Or sell my 3950x to help fund version 2 of the EPYC 24c/48t I have so I can combine systems into one. Or...
Chinese proverb/curse: "May you live in interesting times."
Tom M
A Proud member of the O.F.A. (Old Farts Association). Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.® (Garrison Keillor) I want some more patience. RIGHT NOW!
Tom M wrote: Ian&Steve C.
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And to me that's the problem with a single system, you need to sell your existing stuff to fund your newer and better stuff meaning nothing is crunching while you do that.
I have been stewing over it.
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I have been stewing over it. I think the best tasting recipe for right now is going to be maxing everything on the Taichi MB.
I have 64gb memory kit. A m2 that I can migrate windows to. A 1 Tera-byte HDD to run Boinc off of and a 3950x CPU to be threaded as much as possible.
And if the GPU add on support hardware works I can move it back into my giant server case.
Tom M
A Proud member of the O.F.A. (Old Farts Association). Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.® (Garrison Keillor) I want some more patience. RIGHT NOW!
How do you avoid straining a
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How do you avoid straining a single 1600 watt PSU with a 7 ribbon cable GPU setup?
You can't split the top side power supplies because of various voltage differences between two 1600 watt psu's.
Tom M
A Proud member of the O.F.A. (Old Farts Association). Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.® (Garrison Keillor) I want some more patience. RIGHT NOW!
Tom M wrote: How do you
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How much power can you stuff thru the single psu hook-ip on the mb? Because if there's little limit you could make a jumper harness to hook both gpu's together in a single plug and plug them in that way.