CougTek
Hairy Aussie
No problem, you would have had a tough time fitting it in a PCI slot anyway ; it's PCI-E.
Affordable graphics cards
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ddrueding
Fixture
I recently bought a PowerColor 5750 passive that has a pair of DVI and some other goodies.
ddrueding
Fixture
The only problem I had with it was adding it to a system with a huge custom passive northbridge cooler. If that hadn't been there, it would have been fine.
CougTek
Hairy Aussie
I have the same graphic card David has (Power Color pasive 5750). It's been in my main computersince late February and so far, I've had no problem with it at all. It sits on a GigaByte P55-UD3R motherboard and doesn't touch any other component.
Pradeep
Storage? I am Storage!
http://fudzilla.com/graphics/item/21210-radeon-hd-6970-to-cost-275-euro
Very agrressive pricing from AMD, good news for us
Very agrressive pricing from AMD, good news for us
Pradeep
Storage? I am Storage!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=HD+6970&x=0&y=0
Reviews should be out at midnight eastern.
Pradeep
Storage? I am Storage!
Yeah, if you want the fastest single GPU card the 580 is it. The AMD cards are value oriented in terms of bang for buck.
This is kind of neat. Unlock you new AMD Radeon 6950 into a full-working 6970. Nice way to save $70-$80 and have comparable performance. Looks like they've had lots of success with this so far. This is like an unintended homage to the 9500 days.
time
Storage? I am Storage!
There's been a surprising amount of water under the bridge since this thread was last updated. The big news was in much improved integrated GPU-CPU solutions, starting with Intel's Sandy Bridge and particularly the handful of chips with HD3000 (eg. i5-2500K and i7-2600K). Then AMD upped the ante with their FM1 socket and so-called 'APU'.
You'd think this would expose low-end standalone cards for the uncompetitive crap that they are, but I suspect the plethora of model numbers confuses customers (and dealers) into buying them anyway. I found 3 models that I think are worth paying for:
PowerColor HD5570 for $40 after rebate. 128-bit DDR3 and probably triple the performance of anything else at this price.
XFX 6770 for $90 after rebate, includes Dirt3. Much better than 6670, many of which don't use GDDR5.
HIS HD6850 for $135 after rebate, includes Dirt3.
The benchmarks I looked at favored AMD GPUs at these price points, but people might like to add their own suggestions.
You'd think this would expose low-end standalone cards for the uncompetitive crap that they are, but I suspect the plethora of model numbers confuses customers (and dealers) into buying them anyway. I found 3 models that I think are worth paying for:
PowerColor HD5570 for $40 after rebate. 128-bit DDR3 and probably triple the performance of anything else at this price.
XFX 6770 for $90 after rebate, includes Dirt3. Much better than 6670, many of which don't use GDDR5.
HIS HD6850 for $135 after rebate, includes Dirt3.
The benchmarks I looked at favored AMD GPUs at these price points, but people might like to add their own suggestions.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
The *770 cards have been my go-to recommendation for a good long while. Those models seem to be the sweet spot of price and performance on the ATI side of things. Of course, the usual pattern is that shortly after the cards fall below $100, a new model is introduced and the previous generation card is suddenly nowhere to be found.
mubs
Storage? I am Storage!
How does HD3000 bench compared to discrete graphic cards? Does anyone have links handy? Thanks.
CougTek
Hairy Aussie
Intel HD 3000 vs Radeon HD 5450, 5570, GeForce 240GT and Llano integrated Radeon HD 6550. Intel's integrated graphic also has poorer 3D visual quality than all the others.
Oh the SoftMod...those were the days!!
CougTek
Hairy Aussie
I ordered an Asus ENGT440 DC SL/DI/1GD3 for my main PC. I'm sleeping next to it and although I've replaced all the case fans and the CPU fan by quiet models (one Antec Quiet120, one Antec Quiet140 and a Scythe SY1225SL12H-P for the CPU), it still emits an annoying amount of noise. The tiny fan on its old GeForce 8500GT seems like a decent culprit. The GeForce 440GT will also improve slightly the 3D performances and it's a very good HTPC card for the few times I watch movies on that computer. At 80$, it isn't cheap, considering its relatively poor 3D capabilities, but it was the most I was willing to put on a graphic card for now and I haven't seen any better option for a passively cooled card below 100$.
I'll also replace the aging 80GB drive in that computer, as it could also be a significant source of noise. The only other thing that produce noise in that box would be the 850W OCZ Z850M power supply. I hope it's not it.
I'll also replace the aging 80GB drive in that computer, as it could also be a significant source of noise. The only other thing that produce noise in that box would be the 850W OCZ Z850M power supply. I hope it's not it.
ddrueding
Fixture
I currently have a passive Zotac GT430 in the shopping cart. Passively cooled and no additional power headers.
CougTek
Hairy Aussie
Why the Zotac and not the Asus 430GT or 440GT, both also passively cooled and cheaper? You need the DisplayPort connector?
ddrueding
Fixture
Because I hadn't noticed the Asus cards? Thanks for the links.
ddrueding
Fixture
Coug, if you are looking for a quiet GPU with some more power, take a look at this Zotac 580 with self-contained water cooling.
Tempting to put 7 of them in my Gigabyte GA-X58-UD9. That would make a hell of a folding rig, and put my 1200W PSU to the test.
Tempting to put 7 of them in my Gigabyte GA-X58-UD9. That would make a hell of a folding rig, and put my 1200W PSU to the test.
CougTek
Hairy Aussie
You could not put 7 of them on your precious motherboard because, if you look closely, you'll see that the heatsink is a bit wider than what's needed for a single slot cooler. So that's one card every two slots.
And my earnings are probably only a sixth of yours, so a 649$ for me, really? I just need a quiet graphic card so I can sleep in the same room as my main PC. That's all. Besides, if I do any kind of GPU folding, it with prevent me from getting big units. Overall, my production would either remain the same of maybe even decrease, while my PC would need more electricity. Not good.
It is nice to see dedication to the cause from a prominent member of our folding@home team, though.
And my earnings are probably only a sixth of yours, so a 649$ for me, really? I just need a quiet graphic card so I can sleep in the same room as my main PC. That's all. Besides, if I do any kind of GPU folding, it with prevent me from getting big units. Overall, my production would either remain the same of maybe even decrease, while my PC would need more electricity. Not good.
It is nice to see dedication to the cause from a prominent member of our folding@home team, though.
ddrueding
Fixture
GPU would prevent you from getting big units?
CougTek
Hairy Aussie
I have two computers, each one with a Core i7 2600 (one is a 2600K). The Core i7 2600 has eight cores (four core plus hyperthreading). In order to receive a big unit, you need to have eight cores or more. If I start GPU folding, I'll no longer have eight free cores, but seven (or six, depending if I start one or two GPU clients). So I won't receive big units anymore, but normal units. The GPU client will compensate somewhat, but I doubt it will be enough. Don't forget that there's a 20% point bonus linked to the big units.
There's a way to compute big units with less than 8 cores, but doing each unit will still take a longer time and will diminiss the time bonus. In my case, I don't think it would be worth it.
There's a way to compute big units with less than 8 cores, but doing each unit will still take a longer time and will diminiss the time bonus. In my case, I don't think it would be worth it.
ddrueding
Fixture
Ah, gotcha. So that is why my 6 (12 with hyperthreading) machines can handle big WUs and GPU.
So if my new spare parts machine were to have 3GPUs in it, I would need a 6(12) core CPU to also get big WUs? (12-3=9, 9>8)
So if my new spare parts machine were to have 3GPUs in it, I would need a 6(12) core CPU to also get big WUs? (12-3=9, 9>8)
CougTek
Hairy Aussie
Yes. It's starting to register
CougTek
Hairy Aussie
And it was. The computer is now very quiet, almost silent. I'll also replace the boot hard drive since the 80GB replacement has already been ordered.
mubs
Storage? I am Storage!
Thanks for the link, Coug. It doesn't mean a lot to me since I'm out of touch with all the graphics chips and don't play any games at all.
DrunkenBastard
Storage is cool
Review of the new AMD 7970 3GB card:
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...iews/49646-amd-radeon-hd-7970-3gb-review.html
Impressive in terms of performance per watt, I'm not excited by the fan noise. Will wait for 3rd party cooling solutions with monster big fans.
Of course this isn't an affordable model but with cheaper versions also inbound at least AMD haven't failed here like they did with Bulldozer.
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...iews/49646-amd-radeon-hd-7970-3gb-review.html
Impressive in terms of performance per watt, I'm not excited by the fan noise. Will wait for 3rd party cooling solutions with monster big fans.
Of course this isn't an affordable model but with cheaper versions also inbound at least AMD haven't failed here like they did with Bulldozer.