Folding Forum

I probably would have have either gotten or at least trying to get a 4090 if there wasn't the whole melting power plug issue going on.

Anyone here have a 4090 and folding on it 24/7? If so, what brand and power setting are you using?

Thanks in advance!

I do have one (ASUS TUF, regular one - the OC does add costs but almost no frequency). I run it at 80% power, which doesn't really hurt performance. It's not cold enough yet that I have to run it 24/7 but I would. I am waiting for a new cable though so that I don't need the adapter, but until that arrives, I'm using the card anyway.

How much power does it use when folding ? It might be low enough to avoid the risk of burning connectors.

With default settings up to 375 watt, with power setting on 80% it tops at 360 watt. And that is with a project 18601 job, which preoperly stresses that many cuda cores. So basically there is no use limiting the power usage on my computer I might as well enjoy the slightly higher FPS when I'm gaming.

I'm comfortable with that 375 watt and leaving the house for a bit tbh, after the card having folded over 24 hours in total by now, plus quite a bit of gaming.

Thanks for the comments. Someday I may get a 4090 and fold with it… more likely something with a bit less power draw.. maybe a 4080?

I wandered into an electronics store yesterday to buy a specific brand of vacuum cleaner. Being a gamer, took a quick gander at the shiny stuff in the computer section. They had a lone 4090 on the shelf (MSI Trio, not the X version). After a few weeks of failing to be able to order one, I impulsively bought it, not pausing to consider the power connector issues.

Typically, it seems that folding can stress components more than other apps. However, (with the "gaming" BIOS switched in, which is ostensibly the higher power setting) it seems to peak at 380 W when folding, and usually power draw is lower. Not sure if that will change if a project with larger atom counts appears. A few games can push it over 400W continuous. After >12 hours of constant folding, the connector still looks new, doesn't feel hot, and is not emitting any smells. The only heat seems to be from the exhaust air flowing near it. I did use silicone grease on it. I'll try to remember to update if anything concerning happens.

After playing around, I'm probably going to set the limit to 70% when folding (in the interest of efficiency). I can't detect any performance hit yet there.

I would continue to monitor the JayzTwoCents, and GamersNexus YouTube channels for more information that is related to the RTX 40xx series cards (and the 12VHPWR connector/adapter cable issue). While they will not address distributive computing project related use of gaming hardware on their channels, they will help filter out some of the Reddit/social media misinformation as to the potential cause of the adapter cable failures; or warranty coverage concerns.

BTW: AMD will ***NOT** be using that 12VHPWR connector on their RX 70xx series cards. So, give them (or an RTX 30xx series card) consideration should you feel the need to upgrade your folding GPU's.

Paul

Seems there may have been two manufacturers of the NVidia-supplied adaptor. One of these is apparently linked to the failures, no way to tell which one has been supplied so far.

No AMD for me, sticking with Green for the Cuda.
Heard about the 2 different connectors and one of them having issues… just which one is it?
Not excited about the initial cost of the 4080, but it seems to be very power efficient which for long term folding, counts for a lot.

Very interesting video about the power plugs from Gamers Nexus - including actual failure rates, en more about likely failure points:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig2px7ofKhQ

Good Vid, I watched that yesterday. Seems like it may be mainly operator error.... With my 4080's I'll be sure that plug is in and secure.

4090 FE here, running at 75% Powertarget, no issues so far.

Sounds like at this time it’s a non issue if the power plug is fully seated. I’m running (2) 4080’s for a few days now on 70 %.

Got a Cablemod cable today, to replace the adapter and regular PCIe cables. Looks much better.

From what I read, the 4000 series results seem very similar to the 2000 series cards,
Apparently the card is folding at ~80% of it's max rated TDP.
So setting it to 70% means only capping about 10% of the power.

If they operate similar to a 2000 series, I would recommend to cap the power even further to 65%, and use an overclock of about 6% (a roughly 125 to 150Mhz clock bump), all while keeping the fan curve active at 50-60% (audible but not loud, enough to keep the GPU at 60C).

Add the GPU power consumption to the motherboard (or use a power consumption metering device), and compare the PPD results at eco settings with PPD at default GPU settings.

PPD difference between stock vs power capped GPU is different compared to stock vs power capped system.
Sometimes the extra power consumption of the rest of the system (measured at the wall) shows that it may be more efficient to cap the power a little vs a lot.