# Folding Farm Rig Idea



## newtekie1 (Feb 27, 2009)

I think I might spend some tax refund money on a Folding Farm in a box.

Here is the parts I'm thinking of using:

4x 9800GX2(I hope to get a decent deal on these used, otherwise I might go for 2x GTX295's and add 2 more once they are cheap)
MSI K9A2 Platinum
Phenom 9600 2.3GHz Quad-Core
2x2GB DDR2-800
80GB SATA Hard Drive
600w OCZ StealthXStream+ThermalTake PowerExpress 650w(I already have this, and it is a dedicated PSU for the graphics cards)
ThermalTake Armor+

What do you think?  I'm wondering if I can drop the CPU down to something even cheaper.  I doubt I'll be running the SMP client on this, just the GPUs, so would a dual core be able to handle it?  Of course Vista x64 will be used so that the GPU client doesn't kill the CPU.

I did a quick build on newegg, and it comes to a little over $1600 for everything, but I'm hoping to find a lot of it used, and I'll definitely be shopping around, especially the video cards.  They were $260 on newegg, I'm hoping to find them for $200 or less.


----------



## AKlass (Feb 27, 2009)

umm you can't have more than 2 gtx 295 or 9800gx2


----------



## newtekie1 (Feb 27, 2009)

AKlass said:


> umm you can't have more than 2 gtx 295 or 9800gx2



Why not?


----------



## DarkEgo (Feb 27, 2009)

AKlass said:


> umm you can't have more than 2 gtx 295 or 9800gx2



Not if you are looking to run SLI, but he is not going to run SLI, he is going to fold on each card individually.


----------



## Beertintedgoggles (Feb 27, 2009)

Because they don't know about folding, he's not going for octo-sli here.... they won't even be SLI'd if he's using it as a dedicated folding setup.  If you had a PCIe expansion chassis (http://www.digidesign.com/index.cfm?&itemid=6183) you could add even more.

Edit:  Damn, beat me to it.


----------



## newtekie1 (Feb 27, 2009)

Beertintedgoggles said:


> Because they don't know about folding, he's not going for octo-sli here.... they won't even be SLI'd if he's using it as a dedicated folding setup.  If you had a PCIe expansion chassis (http://www.digidesign.com/index.cfm?&itemid=6183) you could add even more.
> 
> Edit:  Damn, beat me to it.



Yeah, that would be sweet, but I don't want to spend that kind of money, and I want it to be in all one unit.


----------



## Beertintedgoggles (Feb 27, 2009)

Just going overkill with the whole number of cards explaination, it'd be cheaper to setup two more complete machines with workstation boards (4 x 8x slots) than to get that chassis.  I'm sure someone somewhere has a need for it though.


----------



## mlee49 (Feb 27, 2009)

The cpu would be good to have a lower end dualie, maybe a e2100 or something.  That is good enough for just processing the folding power.


----------



## PVTCaboose1337 (Feb 27, 2009)

So I am guessing all the work is done by the GFX, and the CPU is really just support?  

So I could use an old 939 rig and be just fine?


----------



## Beertintedgoggles (Feb 27, 2009)

PVTCaboose1337 said:


> So I am guessing all the work is done by the GFX, and the CPU is really just support?
> 
> So I could use an old 939 rig and be just fine?



Both my folding rigs are 939's.  I run the SMP client on my opty 170 along with dual GPU clients on the 8800GT's.  The other system has dual 8800GS's and a 3500+ single core (that MB, CPU, and RAM was compliements of BUCK).  The PPD the vid cards put out are no different than those run on i7's (SMP client is a completely different story).


----------



## PVTCaboose1337 (Feb 27, 2009)

Beertintedgoggles said:


> Both my folding rigs are 939's.  I run the SMP client on my opty 170 along with dual GPU clients on the 8800GT's.  The other system has dual 8800GS's and a 3500+ single core (that MB, CPU, and RAM was compliements of BUCK).  The PPD the vid cards put out are no different than those run on i7's (SMP client is a completely different story).



OK, thats what I thought, I would just guess I would like to run the CPU client while the GPU clients are running, so I get my PPD.


----------



## El Fiendo (Feb 27, 2009)

mlee49 said:


> The cpu would be good to have a lower end dualie, maybe a e2100 or something.  That is good enough for just processing the folding power.



AM2/AM2+ mobo, but yea e2100s are essentially enough for a GPU based rig. Though I'd run an SMP and milk it for all the PPD it was worth.

Open Box version of your mobo Newtekie, 50 dollars off.


----------



## Beertintedgoggles (Feb 27, 2009)

PVTCaboose1337 said:


> OK, thats what I thought, I would just guess I would like to run the CPU client while the GPU clients are running, so I get my PPD.



That's exactly what I do, just make sure to set the priority of the GPU clients slightly higher than the CPU client.


----------



## PVTCaboose1337 (Feb 27, 2009)

Beertintedgoggles said:


> That's exactly what I do, just make sure to set the priority of the GPU clients slightly higher than the CPU client.



Ok, that sounds like a good idea.


----------



## mlee49 (Feb 27, 2009)

El Fiendo said:


> AM2/AM2+ mobo, but yea e2100s are essentially enough for a GPU based rig. Though I'd run an SMP and milk it for all the PPD it was worth.
> 
> Open Box version of your mobo Newtekie, 50 dollars off.



Dude I love that MSI board!  $100 isn't bad for a 4PCI-E slotted board.  Excellent folding mother board right there!


----------



## CyberDruid (Feb 27, 2009)

For a dedicated Folder that is the board to use IMO.


----------



## Castiel (Feb 27, 2009)

CyberDruid said:


> For a dedicated Folder that is the board to use IMO.



I totally agree. That is what I have chosen for my upcoming folding rigs.


----------



## mlee49 (Feb 27, 2009)

I've got an extra 80GB 2.5" Sata drive I'll donate if you go through with this!  Do it and take TPU to the top 50 in Folding!!!    


EDIT, I had a guy at work that was selling his GX2 for $150, not sure if it's sold.  It was a refurbed EVGA with no accessories, but for $150!


----------



## BUCK NASTY (Feb 27, 2009)

Castiel said:


> I totally agree. That is what I have chosen for my upcoming folding rigs.



I swear by that board. I see it having an incredibly long life expectancy in the folding community. Newegg has only 2 more open box @ $95.00. Amazon has it for $127.48 w/free shipping as well if you like NIB.

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-Platinum-PC2-8500-DDR2-1066-Motherboard/dp/B000YNXHXU


----------



## Castiel (Feb 27, 2009)

Not thread jacking, just have the same Idea as you Newtekie!

What would be a good PSU that would have 4 6pin PCI-E connectors and 3 8pin PCI-E connectors?


----------



## newtekie1 (Mar 6, 2009)

Unfoortunately, plans on hold.  Decided to buy a new TV instead with the money as I didn't get as much from my tax return as I had hoped.


----------

