Post your Folding@home rig!

Started by bommel, January 10, 2012, 03:17:51 AM

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Swoka Ikran

Nice. :) :)

Question for you: What does that second PC boot from? There's nothing plugged into the SATA, so unless that white box on top (which I don't know what it is) contains storage...
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Tanri

There is a good old 20GB IDE HDD, along with the CDROM drive (short case type).
I usually twist all flat cables into compact form, and you can see it a little behind GPU power cable.
IDE connector on mainboard is hidden behind right GPU fan, piece of it is visible as well.

The small white box only contains relay for generating 1sec power-on impulse and a small USB flash drive whose disconnection triggers shutdown sequence.
Nothing more sophisticated than a nest of wires. ;D
Tätxawyu akì'ong.

Swoka Ikran

#42
Quote from: Tanri on October 27, 2012, 05:34:49 PM
There is a good old 20GB IDE HDD, along with the CDROM drive (short case type).
I usually twist all flat cables into compact form, and you can see it a little behind GPU power cable.
IDE connector on mainboard is hidden behind right GPU fan, piece of it is visible as well.
Now that you pointed it out, I see it :) I was thinking there was no IDE controller. I saw only a floppy connector on the right side.

That monster GPU fan is just in the way.

Quote
The small white box only contains relay for generating 1sec power-on impulse and a small USB flash drive whose disconnection triggers shutdown sequence.
Nothing more sophisticated than a nest of wires. ;D
So you're not actually disconnecting the PC's power, remote signal from power company just pushes the power button for you and tells it to shutdown later.
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bommel


Tanri

QuoteSo you're not actually disconnecting the PC's power, remote signal from power company just pushes the power button for you and tells it to shutdown later.
Not exactly. :)
The remote control switch is turned on all the time when the grid can accept large electric loads (in that time the electricity is cheaper).
First relay, connected to the mainboard's ATX power switch creates 1sec impulse and starts the beast. In the same time, second relay attaches the USB flash to the computer.

At the shutdown time, remote control switch cuts the white box from power, releasing second relay thus disconnecting USB device from PC. This is detected by Autohotkey script (my favourite automation tool) and shutdown sequence begins. I made it this way because I need to cool down the GPU before actual power off - shutdown from full load creates excessive thermal stress.
A was thinking of other ways how to achieve this behavior, but detecting by presence of USB device was the easiest (and most versatile - every PC has USB port).
Tätxawyu akì'ong.

bommel

#45
Here some info about my new folding setup:

Intel Core i7 3770k @ stock + Turbo
ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe Mini-ITX Board
16 GB GSkill DDR3 1600 MHz
OCZ Vertex Plus SSD 60 GB (from my old Atom PC)
ASUS GTX 260 896 MB (216 shader version)
Be Quiet Straight Power E9 580W CM
Windows 7 Pro x64

Edit: Power consumption approx. 180 Watt at full load (folding with CPU and GPU) according to my wattmeter.

Actually it was running inside a Cooler Master Elite 120 Mini-ITX case but after adding the bigger PSU and the GTX 260 the CPU almost melted (85+ °C) and I had to remove everything from the case. I'm currently waiting for my new CPU cooler to arrive, it's damn hard to find one that fits this small board without interfering with any components. According to Intel the boxed HSF is rated up to 95W TDP but it's even having trouble keeping my undervolted(!) 77W TDP CPU cool (with no case around 70 °C while folding which is still a bit too high, GPU at 60 °C) - meh, piece of crap.

Tìtstewan

Quote from: bommel on January 14, 2013, 10:19:55 AM
Here some info about my new folding setup:

Intel Core i7 3770k @ stock + Turbo
ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe Mini-ITX Board
16 GB GSkill DDR3 1600 MHz
OCZ Vertex Plus SSD 60 GB (from my old Atom PC)
ASUS GTX 260 896 MB (216 shader version)
Be Quiet Straight Power E9 580W CM
Windows 7 Pro x64
Nice machines. :D

Quote from: bommel on January 14, 2013, 10:19:55 AM
Actually it was running inside a Cooler Master Elite 120 Mini-ITX case but after adding the bigger PSU and the GTX 260 the CPU almost melted (85+ °C) and I had to remove everything from the case. I'm currently waiting for my new CPU cooler to arrive, it's damn hard to find one that fits this small board without interfering with any components. According to Intel the boxed HSF is rated up to 95W TDP but it's even having trouble keeping my undervolted(!) 77W TDP CPU cool (with no case around 70 °C while folding which is still a bit too high, GPU at 60 °C) - meh, piece of crap.
I think it is well known that the Ivy Bridge generation would be much hotter than the Sandy Bridge. The Ivy Bridge die is much smaller than the die of Sandy, so it have a very small contact area for temperature transport and the 22nm structure production process are not so optimized yet. I don't wounder about the temperatures.
Was the system loaded or in idle?

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bommel

Quote from: Tìtstewan on January 14, 2013, 10:36:51 AM
Nice machines. :D
Thanks!

Quote from: Tìtstewan on January 14, 2013, 10:36:51 AM
I think it is well known that the Ivy Bridge generation would be much hotter than the Sandy Bridge. The Ivy Bridge die is much smaller than the die of Sandy, so it have a very small contact area for temperature transport and the 22nm structure production process are not so optimized yet. I don't wounder about the temperatures.
Yes, that's what I have heard too. I've seen some people replacing the thermal compound betweend IHS and the CPU die to gain up to 10 °C lower temps but this is a high risk operation and only of interest when doing extreme overclocking where you need to increase the voltage.

Quote from: Tìtstewan on January 14, 2013, 10:36:51 AM
Was the system loaded or in idle?
I have no idling systems ;-)
It was at full load (Prime95 stress test with Small FFT after 10-15 minutes or so). Folding@home doesn't stress your CPU like this, I usully have 5 to 10 °C lower temps when folding. Those boxed HSF are made for the average PC user, that means the CPU spends most time idling or on moderate load and not for people like me with 24/7 at full load. At least it is much quieter than the AMD boxed cooler, those little jet engines compete with my 1U rack servers' fans ;)

Tìtstewan

Quote from: bommel on January 14, 2013, 11:20:30 AM
Quote from: Tìtstewan on January 14, 2013, 10:36:51 AM
I think it is well known that the Ivy Bridge generation would be much hotter than the Sandy Bridge. The Ivy Bridge die is much smaller than the die of Sandy, so it have a very small contact area for temperature transport and the 22nm structure production process are not so optimized yet. I don't wounder about the temperatures.
Yes, that's what I have heard too. I've seen some people replacing the thermal compound betweend IHS and the CPU die to gain up to 10 °C lower temps but this is a high risk operation and only of interest when doing extreme overclocking where you need to increase the voltage.
Well, but I will lose the warranty if I do that. :(

Quote from: bommel on January 14, 2013, 11:20:30 AM
Quote from: Tìtstewan on January 14, 2013, 10:36:51 AM
Was the system loaded or in idle?
I have no idling systems ;-)
It was at full load (Prime95 stress test with Small FFT after 10-15 minutes or so). Folding@home doesn't stress your CPU like this, I usully have 5 to 10 °C lower temps when folding. Those boxed HSF are made for the average PC user, that means the CPU spends most time idling or on moderate load and not for people like me with 24/7 at full load. At least it is much quieter than the AMD boxed cooler, those little jet engines compete with my 1U rack servers' fans ;)
Hui, I won't have your energy bill. :o My CPU have ~60°C by running f@h but my room temps are 23°C and dust. I never touched a boxed cooler. :)
I use a Prolimatec Armageddon as CPU cooler.

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bommel

#49
Quote from: Tìtstewan on January 14, 2013, 11:44:36 AM
Well, but I will lose the warranty if I do that. :(
Of course, forgot to mention ^^

Quote from: Tìtstewan on January 14, 2013, 11:44:36 AM
I think it is well known that the Ivy Bridge generation would be much hotter than the Sandy Bridge. The Ivy Bridge die is much smaller than the die of Sandy, so it have a very small contact area for temperature transport and the 22nm structure production process are not so optimized yet. I don't wounder about the temperatures.
Yes, that's what I have heard too. I've seen some people replacing the thermal compound betweend IHS and the CPU die to gain up to 10 °C lower temps but this is a high risk operation and only of interest when doing extreme overclocking where you need to increase the voltage.

Quote from: Tìtstewan on January 14, 2013, 11:44:36 AMHui, I won't have your energy bill. :o My CPU have ~60°C by running f@h but my room temps are 23°C and dust. I never touched a boxed cooler. :)
I use a Prolimatec Armageddon as CPU cooler.
Yeah, my energy bill... It's my first year doing this heavy computing on a 24/7 basis therefore I have no clue about the costs yet...
I've ordered a Prolimatech Megahalems today after noticing that the Thermalright HR-02 Macho doesn't fit because the backplate collides with a push pin of the chipset cooler. This mainboard makes me so angry... Well, I should've been warned when deciding to go for Mini-ITX. I hope I can sell the HR-02 without too much loss, it's like new, it still has the protective sticker on it cause I stopped at mounting the backplate.

Tìtstewan

Quote from: bommel on January 14, 2013, 12:17:51 PM
Yeah, my energy bill... It's my first year doing this heavy computing on a 24/7 basis therefore I have no clue about the costs yet...
I've ordered a Prolimatech Megahalems today after noticing that the Thermalright HR-02 Macho doesn't fit because the backplate collides with a push pin of the chipset cooler. This mainboard makes me so angry... Well, I should've been warned when deciding to go for Mini-ITX. I hope I can sell the HR-02 without too much loss, it's like new, it still has the protective sticker on it cause I stopped at mounting the backplate.
Here a pic of the backplate of the Megahalem:
I don't know how is look you Mini-ITX board at back site...

Hmm like this?:

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Tanri

Nice little beast, ma Bommel!
Like zize' - not big (on Pandoran scale), but fast and deadly. That ITX looks like add-on to your graphic card. ;)
Tätxawyu akì'ong.

bommel

Quote from: Tìtstewan on January 14, 2013, 01:04:00 PM
Here a pic of the backplate of the Megahalem:
I don't know how is look you Mini-ITX board at back site...

Hmm like this?:
Prolimatech uses a newer backplate which is even a bit smaller and according to my information it should fit perfectly. And yes, that's my board from behind. The problematic chipset cooler push pin is next to the lower right mounting hole near the CPU socket. That's the downside of such a small form factor, they have to use every single square centimeter for some stuff :(

Quote from: Tanri on January 14, 2013, 01:05:33 PM
Nice little beast, ma Bommel!
Like zize' - not big (on Pandoran scale), but fast and deadly. That ITX looks like add-on to your graphic card. ;)
Thanks! Most ITX boards I've seen so far are not that good for high-end builds but ASUS did a really good job with the P8Z77-I (except for the aftermarket cooler issues). It has 8 + 2 phase digital VRM (that's what the extra board next to the CPU is for) and you can OC like you have a full size ATX mainboard. Need to watch the temps though, most ITX cases are not build for such purposes. The Bitfenix Prodigy is quite popular at the moment for such builds and I'm thinking about getting one for myself too (but I don't know if my PSU would fit) - or an mATX case like I said before.

Tìtstewan

Quote from: bommel on January 14, 2013, 01:36:42 PM
Quote from: Tìtstewan on January 14, 2013, 01:04:00 PM
Here a pic of the backplate of the Megahalem:
I don't know how is look you Mini-ITX board at back site...

Hmm like this?:
Prolimatech uses a newer backplate which is even a bit smaller and according to my information it should fit perfectly. And yes, that's my board from behind. The problematic chipset cooler push pin is next to the lower right mounting hole near the CPU socket. That's the downside of such a small form factor, they have to use every single square centimeter for some stuff :(
Well, a new revision of this cooler.
I'm interested to read that, because I want to buy a mini-ITX system too. :)

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bommel

I think this one would fit niceley to the board's color scheme but I didn't want to wait until the end of February for my new cooler ;) There is a picture of the new backplate design too.

Tìtstewan

Quote from: bommel on January 14, 2013, 02:42:13 PM
I think this one would fit niceley to the board's color scheme but I didn't want to wait until the end of February for my new cooler ;) There is a picture of the new backplate design too.
Nice, that would fit with the blue LED lights of my PC case. :D

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bommel

#56
Little update: the new cooler is installed and it fits perfectly. My CPU is OC'd to 4.2 GHz @ 1.048 V, temps are around 60 °C now (at full Prime95 load). That gave me a nice PPD improvement compared to the stock 3.7 GHz (with Intel Turbo Boost) :)
I don't want to set a higher clock rate at the moment because I'd like to keep the voltages rather low. I had to enable Load Line Calibration in order to do some undervolting as the system was unstable otherwise. Without UV & LLC the full load vcore was at 1.144 (could be 1.114 too, I'm not sure anymore) and when running Prime95 it got rather hot (80 °C). Ivy Bridge seems to get pretty hot with increasing voltage.

I'm not yet shure if I let it run at 4.2 GHz or if I go down to 4.0 but with a vCore of 0.960 V. More clock means more PPD but I'd like to keep the voltage (and heat) low.

bommel

Quote from: bommel on January 21, 2013, 12:05:48 AM
I'm not yet shure if I let it run at 4.2 GHz or if I go down to 4.0 but with a vCore of 0.960 V. More clock means more PPD but I'd like to keep the voltage (and heat) low.
Unfortunately 4 GHz at 0.960 V wasn't stable (but it is at stock settings), but it is now at 1.008 V. I probably could go a bit lower but it is not really necessary (temps at 57 °C while folding). Power consumption is about 185-195 W at full load (GPU + CPU).

Tsmuktengan

My linux machine is out of order since some time, explaining my poor scores. I've gotta find a way to make it run again.  :(


Tìtstewan

Quote from: bommel on January 22, 2013, 02:00:03 AM
Quote from: bommel on January 21, 2013, 12:05:48 AM
I'm not yet shure if I let it run at 4.2 GHz or if I go down to 4.0 but with a vCore of 0.960 V. More clock means more PPD but I'd like to keep the voltage (and heat) low.
Unfortunately 4 GHz at 0.960 V wasn't stable (but it is at stock settings), but it is now at 1.008 V. I probably could go a bit lower but it is not really necessary (temps at 57 °C while folding). Power consumption is about 185-195 W at full load (GPU + CPU).
Not bad. I wish I could have the same results.
Loaded I need 1,115 Volt @ 3,5 GHz, in idle work my Sandy with 0,684 Volt @ 1,6 GHz.
If I go under 0,640 Volt, my CPU will be instable but it result in load work 1,010 Volt @ 3,5 GHz. :(

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