Help me pick a GPU

[Prof. Dr. Silver]

Good day All,

I realized today I have three empty PCI-E slots in my folding rigs that HAVE to be filled.

So I did some Googling to see what would be best for my rigs and what would suit my financial situation best. I am looking for something low wattage, single PSU connector, low in cost but high in PPD obviously! :)

I was checking on each of these cards PPD and power usage, but there is a lot of information that is conflicting with one another. Here are the options:

8800GT: Available on ebay, etc. Estimated $ 60. PPD:.....
9600GSO: Available new. Approx $ 45. PPD:.....
9600GT: Available new. Approx $ 82. PPD:.....
9800GT: Available new. Approx $ 105. PPD:.....

Now my question is: Who can fill in the blanks? How much PPD would I gain with each of these cards. From a price point, I'm thinking 2x 9800GT = 4x 9600GSO ( from what I've read: 2x 4500 = 4x 3200 ), on the other hand I don't see myself spending more than $ 150.... Any ideas?

Ps. the 4th GSO would replace my 8600GT that is still folding away... :)

[3.0charlie]

With your budget and PCIe slots available, I'd choose the 9600GSO. But do you have a good enough PSU to run 4 cards?

[Prof. Dr. Silver]

With my upgrade eye, I'm looking at one of those beautiful 4 PCI-E slot mobo's from MSI perhaps.... or ASUS, doesn't really matter... but that's for the future. My main PSU is a TX750W so that should be fine too... However for now I'm going to divide them in a few rigs. Three for the ASUS rig with the 3 PCI-E slots and one to replace the 8600GT...

You have any idea on the PPD?

[3.0charlie]

10k. But dual 260 192s can pump 12k...

[Prof. Dr. Silver]

2500 only for each GSO? Hmmmm... that is not a lot.... Wonder why there are so many different numbers to be found... let me find some links...

[3.0charlie]

Usually folders link the 353s as max. ppd. Find a link where the ppd for a 511 is shown...

[geokilla]

9600GSO 96 shaders all the way. They're like $40AR at NCIX. 9600GSOs with 96 shaders can get around 4000+ PPD. My 9600GT tops out at about 3000 PPD.

[Prof. Dr. Silver]

Originally Posted by geokilla

9600GSO 96 shaders all the way. They're like $40AR at NCIX. 9600GSOs with 96 shaders can get around 4000+ PPD. My 9600GT tops out at about 3000 PPD.

Where did you find these numbers Geo? I've been looking around.... but they are hard to find...

Anybody else own one of these cards and fold on them? What's your PPD?

[geokilla]

F@H - 4,500+ Points a Day w/ a $36 GeForce 9600 GSO - What $36 Buys You When It Comes to Folding - Legit Reviews

geokilla - User Summary - EXTREME Overclocking Folding @ Home Stats

I put out around 3000PPD if I'm lucky since I don't fold 24/7. My computer are off during the night.

There was a chart somewhere that compared all the NVIDIA GPUs and how much PPD they put out for folding. However I can't seem to find that chart right now...

[3.0charlie]

How about the 4850s? There's a special at NCIX for 2 for 200$.