nvidia GPU mix = EPIC fail? PSU 750W? Help this n00b out!

[Silvgearx]

so yea, i had though about mixing some nvidia for F@H , i found some real nice guides at OCN and will be following those.

My questions!

Would the bottom combo cause EXTREME CONFLICTS ?

BFG 9800GT, XFX 8800GT w/ artic accerl S2, BFG 9600GT

trying to start a budget folding box

System specs, E8400, P5Q-E, Redlines, Antec 300, 4 hard drives, 1 dvd drive, 5 120mm fans.

Only CPU will be overclocked!

So what PSU should be enough for the above components? would a Cosair or antec 750w? do the trick? RJbarker suggests going 1k psu for 3 x G92 512mb .

For PSU i would like to keep it under $100

All missing parts will arrive monday. Except i still need to order a 9600GT

So my main questions are would the top GPUs work together for F@H? I have seen someone on the forums that mixing some GPU does work but i just want to be certain

And should i just stick with dual G92? If i stick with dual G92 i should be fine with 650Watts right?(i have a 650W and 500W at home) .
Would i be better off getting dual 8800GT instead of a 9800gt and a 8800gt. I had read that people can flash there 8800gt -> 9800GT but i dont feel comfortable with flashings .

Still have massive amounts of question but lets get these importants ones first

-PSU questions FOUND Thanks guys

[LCB001]

The problem with mixing cards in F@H is the 'Shader Bug' where if you mix gpu's with different shader counts the faster card will usually run at the speed of the slowest card.

The 8800gt and 9800gt should run fine together as they have the same number of shaders, adding the 9600gt could cause problems.

F@H gpu performance is all about the shaders, OC them for best performance. The core and mem have minimal impact on your PPD.

A good quality 650w psu will run them without breaking a sweat...

[Silvgearx]

SO what your saying is that i should have no problem if i push the 9800gt 8800gt and 9600gt's shader to 1700 and there should be no problem for folding?

9800gt stock shaders 1566
8800gt stock shaders 1500
9600gt stock shaders 1700

When i install the drivers, which ones should i use? how many times do i have to install drivers? once?

I can't seem to overclock the 9800gt with the newest drivers on rivatuner. Maybe riva tuners needs an update

I am getting terrible PPDs for the 9800gt 3000-3900 range

[LCB001]

Originally Posted by 5ILVgeARX

SO what your saying is that i should have no problem if i push the 9800gt 8800gt and 9600gt's shader to 1700 and there should be no problem for folding?

9800gt stock shaders 1566
8800gt stock shaders 1500
9600gt stock shaders 1700

When i install the drivers, which ones should i use? how many times do i have to install drivers? once?

I can't seem to overclock the 9800gt with the newest drivers on rivatuner. Maybe riva tuners needs an update

It's not the speed the shaders are clocked at, it's the number of shader units/stream processors the card has that makes the difference. The 9800gt/8800gt's have 112, the 9600gt only has 64.

If it's mainly for Folding the 178.24 driver are considered some of the most stable, any WHQL drivers should do the trick though. As far as I remember you only install them once, hopefully someone who's done it recently will confirm this.

As for not being able to OC your 9800GT, I have no idea why that is...

[Silvgearx]

Originally Posted by LCB001

As for not being able to OC your 9800GT, I have no idea why that is...

I think its due to the nvidia driver been too new and rivatuner needs an update.

I see, its the SP

I see your using vista so i will stick with dual g92 + 178.24

Man on man, We need to Give LCB001 a title
His lives on the F@H section and gives great advices

[LCB001]

Originally Posted by 5ILVgeARX

I think its due to the nvidia driver been too new and rivatuner needs an update.

I see, its the SP

Will stick with dual g92 + 178.24

Good plan, if you get those shaders clocked nice and high you should be good for ~5000+ ppd per card...

BTW Welcome to the Folding Team, I hope you enjoy your stay...

[chrisk]

Heed LCB's advice as he has helped me mucho.

You only install the driver once. Will work for all your cards.

[geokilla]

You could also find a secondary rig for that 9600GT.

Try using EVGA Precision Tuner to overclock your GPUs. I use them and absolutely love it. So simple and easy to use.

Just to let you know, if you run any drivers that are 18X.XX, little to no CPU resources will be required for Folding@Home. This allows you to setup a SMP client, thus giving you more points. Plus, if you use the 178 drivers, you'd be limited to folding with 2 GPUs max because each GPU client would require a full core in order to fold at top speed.

[LCB001]

Originally Posted by geokilla

You could also find a secondary rig for that 9600GT.

Try using EVGA Precision Tuner to overclock your GPUs. I use them and absolutely love it. So simple and easy to use.

Just to let you know, if you run any drivers that are 18X.XX, little to no CPU resources will be required for Folding@Home. This allows you to setup a SMP client, thus giving you more points. Plus, if you use the 178 drivers, you'd be limited to folding with 2 GPUs max because each GPU client would require a full core in order to fold at top speed.

This was only if you used XP, under Vista I see between 2% and 4% CPU usage on my multi-GPU rig using the 178.24 drivers...

[Silvgearx]

that 178.24 driver is kicking some ass