Folding Forum

Hi all, I'm new to all this FAH having only recently heard about it first from PCMR on Facebook and then days later I saw Linus's video on it on Youtube. I've been running the program on my PC for a few days now, been learning more into it more a bit here and a bit there.

I'm contemplating whether to get a 2nd GPU or not. My setup is:
i9 10900X (10c 20t) 4.7Ghz
(edit: ordered a 2nd 2080 Ti) ASUS nvidia 2080 Ti @ 1900Mhz
32GB memory, SSD and M.2's, Win 10 64-bit home.
(edit: ordered a 1600w psu) 1000w platinum PSU, total PC real power usage is approx 700w max load when running FAH when both CPU and GPU are working doing WU's?

I've noticed in the FAH program advanced window that each GPU gets its own work tasks (WU's?) individually between GPU and CPU, so that got me thinking shall I get a 2nd GPU for this, as I've never really had much use for multi GPU's even for gaming, as old SLI tech wasn't all that worth it till lately it seems.
So, a few days ago I've been thinking about getting another same GPU but its expensive - which I could comfortably afford but its a matter of wondering do I waste (invest!) money into getting that 2nd GPU now that I've found a use for FAH and possibly mining-probably pointless these days.
Previously I was planning to get a new GPU later this year in Q4, the 3080 Ti and sell my 2080 Ti to a local friend to replace his 1070.
Now for gaming, I've been checking out the new SLI type benchmarks of the new nvlink tech these days which the FPS rates are pretty decent now compared to the older SLI benchmarks of years ago.

So I'm left wondering; get a much cheaper 2nd GPU, or wait for the 3080 TI and maybe even go all-out and get 2 of them with nvlink, at least then this PC is like God mode for anything I run on it for the following few years before I get a whole new PC in future.

Curious what other people might suggest. Thanks in advance, if any!
By the way the most resource heavy game I play is Star Citizen, other than that I just watch Netflix, YouTube and things like that.

Two GPUs will work, and with 10 cores on the CPU you can afford one to feed each GPU leaving 8 (a good number, unlike 10 which g=has a factor 5 and can cause issues).
The only difficulty I can see is that you only have 300W headroom, which may limit the size of the second GPU.
AFAIK F@H doesn't use nvLink, it will stay as two separate slots.

davidcoton wrote:Two GPUs will work, and with 10 cores on the CPU you can afford one to feed each GPU leaving 8 (a good number, unlike 10 which g=has a factor 5 and can cause issues).
The only difficulty I can see is that you only have 300W headroom, which may limit the size of the second GPU.
AFAIK F@H doesn't use nvLink, it will stay as two separate slots.

Yeah, I mention nvlink just for the relation with gaming, I realise FAH utilises each GPU individually without combining them via means of nvlink.

300w headroom, I thought that too. But good brand PSU's are often recognised as having a sort of a little tolerance range with them so it would probably just about be fine. Ideally a 1200w PSU would be best.

Another option is to delete the CPU Folding slot when you get a second GPU, so you don't have the high CPU overhead as well. Relatively speaking, the GPU generates a LOT more work (i.e., points) than the CPU, so it is a much better use of your electricity. Your CPU TDP is 165 Watts, so your power consumption should decrease by 125-150 Watts without the CPU load. When you need to use the computer for a heavy CPU load, just pause one of the GPU slots...

jrweiss wrote:Another option is to delete the CPU Folding slot when you get a second GPU, so you don't have the high CPU overhead as well. Relatively speaking, the GPU generates a LOT more work (i.e., points) than the CPU, so it is a much better use of your electricity. Your CPU TDP is 165 Watts, so your power consumption should decrease by 125-150 Watts without the CPU load. When you need to use the computer for a heavy CPU load, just pause one of the GPU slots...

Interesting advice! I've noticed that as well, the PPD generated by my CPU compared to my GPU seems pointless, the difference is huge.

I'll probably get 2x 3080 Ti's later this year, keep 1 GPU permanently for FAH and keep the CPU and GPU whenever I play some game, and switch over more horse power to FAH as and when appropriately.
By then even if not for coronavirus scientific research, at least now I'm aware of this kind of tech exists so I can I help scientists out however possibly I can. This stuff is so great.
I've tried telling other people with PC's about this but I just get a vibe they're not all that impressed (not even slightly), I'm like - why T F not..........

I'm not a big fan of CPU-folding but in your case it's a different story.
Your CPU is faster than 99% of all other folding CPUs.
If you're really interested in helping then consider folding with your CPU. Even tough it doen't make much PPD it's a really big contribution.

With one GPU set 18 threads for the CPU.
With two GPUs set 16 threads for the CPU.
See this topic about CPU thread count:
viewtopic.php?f=38&t=33151

jrweiss wrote:Another option is to delete the CPU Folding slot when you get a second GPU, so you don't have the high CPU overhead as well. Relatively speaking, the GPU generates a LOT more work (i.e., points) than the CPU, so it is a much better use of your electricity. Your CPU TDP is 165 Watts, so your power consumption should decrease by 125-150 Watts without the CPU load.

I would disagree.
In my opinion it's not worth to fold with a slow CPU but this CPU is really fast and can contribute a lot even PPD are low compared to GPUs.
(Corona) CPU-WUs exist and therefore it is necessary to finish them. Preferably, finish them with a freaking fast CPU.

jrweiss wrote: When you need to use the computer for a heavy CPU load, just pause one of the GPU slots...

This is a bad advice. I would never ever pause a slot. Especially not a GPU slot. A 2080 Ti loses lots of point when it's paused.
And consider that: It's a 20 thread CPU. GPU folding needs only 1 CPU thread. So, what's the problem even under heavy CPU load?

I've just now caved. I've bought an additional 2080 Ti, now waiting for it to be delivered probably on Friday. *Deep breaths* that was a LOT of money just for this new hobby FAH.
Will use it dedicated to only FAH as no game right now really fully uses even a single 2080 Ti.

I have a spare PCIe 3-slot ready for it in my PC that was just looking super ready to be utilised.

My mortgage will have to be paid off 3 months later than I hoped. I was hoping to pay it off 5 years early in August 2021, that is unless I get some extra overtime from work before then.

There are quite many CPU projects currently in beta/advanced phase. Your CPU will do good if it gets to work on them once they are in the regular pool. I enlisted to beta myself to help speed up getting those projects available to all users without needing to do any special tricks with the client.

puuteknikko wrote:There are quite many CPU projects currently in beta/advanced phase. Your CPU will do good if it gets to work on them once they are in the regular pool. I enlisted to beta myself to help speed up getting those projects available to all users without needing to do any special tricks with the client.

As a newbie should I join that Beta stage as well? if so how do I go about it?

Suggest you get some experience first. Beta is about spotting things that are out of the ordinary.
See viewtopic.php?f=66&t=18031 and viewtopic.php?f=16&t=8

foldinghomealone2 wrote:

jrweiss wrote:Another option is to delete the CPU Folding slot when you get a second GPU, so you don't have the high CPU overhead as well. Relatively speaking, the GPU generates a LOT more work (i.e., points) than the CPU, so it is a much better use of your electricity. Your CPU TDP is 165 Watts, so your power consumption should decrease by 125-150 Watts without the CPU load.

I would disagree.
In my opinion it's not worth to fold with a slow CPU but this CPU is really fast and can contribute a lot even PPD are low compared to GPUs.
(Corona) CPU-WUs exist and therefore it is necessary to finish them. Preferably, finish them with a freaking fast CPU.

jrweiss wrote: When you need to use the computer for a heavy CPU load, just pause one of the GPU slots...

This is a bad advice. I would never ever pause a slot. Especially not a GPU slot. A 2080 Ti loses lots of point when it's paused.
And consider that: It's a 20 thread CPU. GPU folding needs only 1 CPU thread. So, what's the problem even under heavy CPU load?

Except that the OP is limited by the power his PSU can provide - he cannot run his CPU and both GPUs at full load for any significant amount of time.

Also, while you may be thinking about point count, some of us think about usability of the computer for other needed tasks. Sometimes Folding just doesn't play well with other work...

jrweiss wrote: Except that the OP is limited by the power his PSU can provide - he cannot run his CPU and both GPUs at full load for any significant amount of time.

Also, while you may be thinking about point count, some of us think about usability of the computer for other needed tasks. Sometimes Folding just doesn't play well with other work...

This exactly.
I'm interested to see how much power my PC will end up using after I've installed my 2nd GPU, in theory my 1Kw PSU won't be enough.

Who knows. Maybe after the 3080 Ti comes out and I've learned more about FAH I might build a dedicated FAH PC. I've always loved building my own PC's, and now I'm aware of this FAH project it gives me more reason to enjoy building more/better PC's at home.

SparkiTom wrote:

jrweiss wrote: Except that the OP is limited by the power his PSU can provide - he cannot run his CPU and both GPUs at full load for any significant amount of time.

Also, while you may be thinking about point count, some of us think about usability of the computer for other needed tasks. Sometimes Folding just doesn't play well with other work...

This exactly.
I'm interested to see how much power my PC will end up using after I've installed my 2nd GPU, in theory my 1Kw PSU won't be enough.

Who knows. Maybe after the 3080 Ti comes out and I've learned more about FAH I might build a dedicated FAH PC. I've always loved building my own PC's, and now I'm aware of this FAH project it gives me more reason to enjoy building more/better PC's at home.

I wish I could tell you it would work, but my 10900X system with 2080Ti is pulling 708Watts at the wall with 6 cores on CPU units. At approx 4.5Ghz not vmcounting the water loop pump and fans on a separate power supply. I ended up pulling the trigger on a 1600W titanium psu a while back myself.

SparkiTom wrote:

puuteknikko wrote:There are quite many CPU projects currently in beta/advanced phase. Your CPU will do good if it gets to work on them once they are in the regular pool. I enlisted to beta myself to help speed up getting those projects available to all users without needing to do any special tricks with the client.

As a newbie should I join that Beta stage as well? if so how do I go about it?

As davidcoton said, better gain some experience before going beta, but you can get the advanced type CPU work which is the phase between normal and beta folding. The WUs there should be ok but it's still a separate clearance process before the project is moved to FAH itself. It's also an important part of getting things ready for the big public. I've been getting both beta and adv work for my CPU to chew lately.

https://foldingathome.org/support/faq/i ... ion-guide/ has the "Advanced Methods" section which shows you how to set the slot correctly for advanced work.