Want to fold; Have a few concerns

[PapaSmurf6768]

Hey Redline guys,
I'm just starting up using my new rig to fold, and have about 70K points right now (folding under the same name, PapaSmurf6768). It is addicting and fun I have to say, but was wondering if you guys could help address a few concerns of mine.

1. How much should I expect my power bill to go up if I fold maybe 12 hours a day? My specs of my rig are down below, does keeping your parts at 100% load really use a lot of power? Should I be concerned with this?

2. How much stress will this put on my parts? While I fold, my GPU goes up to about 74C and my CPU to right around 70C. Also, my power supply starts to whine a little bit once all the parts are at full load. Will folding drastically reduce the lifespan of my parts? Is OK in moderation (which I say to myself about a lot of things ).

If you guys could leave some feedback on what you think, it'd be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[SEBAR]

You don't have anything to worry about. I an folding on two systems 24/7 and have not seen a significant increase in my power bill. I was also concerned about the effects on my hardware and poted a thread on that called "Folding Effects On Hardware"
http://forum.overclock3d.net/showthread.php?t=42316
I have not seen any negative effects from folding. What are you specs. 70K PPD is a very nice number. Your temps also seem t be okay. My GTX 670 is around 80C while folding in a Franctile Define R3.

 

[PapaSmurf6768]

You don't have anything to worry about. I an folding on two systems 24/7 and have not seen a significant increase in my power bill. I was also concerned about the effects on my hardware and poted a thread on that called "Folding Effects On Hardware"
http://forum.overclock3d.net/showthread.php?t=42316
I have not seen any negative effects from folding. What are you specs. 70K PPD is a very nice number. Your temps also seem t be okay. My GTX 670 is around 80C while folding in a Franctile Define R3.

OK sounds good, thanks for the reply. I think you misread before though, I have 70K points total, with about 30K PPD. I'll keep folding away then! If anyone else still wants to have input, that'd be great too!

 

[aicjofs]

1.) Is a commonly asked question about folding. It's also one of the hardest to answer I think. It depends on so many factors. Are you "green" to begin with? i.e. house full of LED's and compact fluorescents? Is the water heater and furnace gas or electric? Live in a hot place with air conditioning on all the time. Is the computer on all the time, or mostly off when not in use. Where do you live? Energy cost vary sometimes drastically by location Etc, etc, etc. For someone it could be a 100% increase and for someone else a 5%. I'm using a i7 Ivy Bridge, i7 Sandy Bridge, Core2Quad, 3 i5 Sandy Bridges, a Phenom x6, a GTX460, GTX570, and GT240, I'd say my power bill was an extra $20 last month, normally $100.

2.) I have long been of the opinion that steady state, whether idle or at full load is best for most electronics. It's the heat and cooling cycles and the associated thermal expansion and contraction, and current rushes that stresses causing the premature demise, as long as the temperature is not excessive I think there is nothing wrong with 100%. I have done numerous distributed computing projects with high overclocks going back to Pentium2/K6-2 days and I'd say the thing that takes the biggest beating is the power supply. If I look in the boxes and boxes of old electronics I have, almost everything works fine, it's just hard drives and power supplies that are dead. That said, I have hardly ever lost a quality made power supply. I've have absolutely abused this little PC Power and Cooling 610 Silencer, well overloaded numerous times and hooking it up to the Oscope it looks like new. Using a RaidMax or some other cheaply made one and I would have long since burned the house down. One other thing seems to be the GPU when handily overclocked. None have ever died but they seem to overclock just bit less as time passes(still runs fine at stock), but you can see the degradation.

 

[SEBAR]

OK sounds good, thanks for the reply. I think you misread before though, I have 70K points total, with about 30K PPD. I'll keep folding away then! If anyone else still wants to have input, that'd be great too!

I did misunderstand you. Still 30K PPD is a good number.

Keep folding, and remember that you are helping a lot of people in the process.

 

[CPMFW]

no worries mate...
happy folding
btw i just went past you

 

[VengeanceUK]

no worries mate...
happy folding
btw i just went past you

lol it did take you 220 more work units though lol (253 vs 33)

also are you sure its your psu whining?

as when my rig hits full load (and the specs are very similar) its the 670's coils i can hear whining not the psu.

i guess this thread also could also answer my other question and therefore don't need to ask it in its own thread
purely because our base rig specs are so similar it makes much more sense for us to compare:

• i7 3770k vs i5 3570k differences in folding (comparative rigs)
• i7 @ 4.2Ghz + Palit GTX670 = 39k ppd
• i5 @ 4.5Ghz + ASUS GTX670 = 30k ppd

so although i have 4 extra "virtual cores" the net result is essentially 9k ppd extra, although the extra 0.3Ghz may have a slight help so call it 10k ppd difference.
which is not as much as i expected really, but as i always say, extra is extra lol

 

[Pickster]

• i7 3770k vs i5 3570k differences in folding (comparative rigs)
• i7 @ 4.2Ghz + Palit GTX670 = 39k ppd
• i5 @ 4.5Ghz + ASUS GTX670 = 30k ppd

so although i have 4 extra "virtual cores" the net result is essentially 9k ppd extra, although the extra 0.3Ghz may have a slight help so call it 10k ppd difference.
which is not as much as i expected really, but as i always say, extra is extra lol

The problem with your comparison is you are also taking into account the points from the graphics cards.

On average on the Sandy bridge and Ivy bridge you can expect aprox 50% extra performance on the i7 with hyperthreading. So take away the PPD from the 670 and see how much % increase you have with just the two CPUS.

Also remember that the SMP work units can vary quite alot from one to the next in PPD.

 

[PapaSmurf6768]

no worries mate...
happy folding
btw i just went past you

Yeah I guess you did But I haven't been folding for a while; started her up again last night and I'll pass you again soon

The problem with your comparison is you are also taking into account the points from the graphics cards.

On average on the Sandy bridge and Ivy bridge you can expect aprox 50% extra performance on the i7 with hyperthreading. So take away the PPD from the 670 and see how much % increase you have with just the two CPUS.

Also remember that the SMP work units can vary quite alot from one to the next in PPD.

Yup, you're right. As I type this my i5 is giving me 12854 PPD, and my 670 says it's giving me 19582 PPD. The i5 is running at 4.5 GHz still, and GPU-Z is telling me the 670 runs at 1137 MHz with no overclocking. Those are the things you should compare to, not the total PPD.

 

[VengeanceUK]

intersting just checked in and my i7 is up from its normal 21k (ish) to 33k but keeps fluctuating as can hear the fan speeds throttling up /down (wonder whats up with that as its permanently at 100% usage lol)
and the 670 says 21k (gpu-z states core is at 705mhz)

 

[CPMFW]

Yeah I guess you did But I haven't been folding for a while; started her up again last night and I'll pass you again soon

i´m pretty sure you will...
my old lady is a fair bit slower than yours