Power Consumption.

[patonb]

So, I'm getting ready for my i7 switch, and will be doing a writeup on it for here, but I thought i'd give yous folders a small tidbit on power consumption while folding.

I'm using my APC UPS as my meter, and its only +-5Vs but still good enough.

So My main rig, q6600 @2.9 and dual gtx260-216s (not sli), only pulls 270Ws idle
Adding 1 GPU2 client @ stock upp'd it to 345W (75W increase) for 6000ppd ish! A second GPU2 client further increased it to 435W (87W increase) for a total 12000ppd.

Now what about an SMP?

Like alot of us this is a dual use setup, so I usually run a smp on only 3 cores, aka -smp 3 setting. That raised my power up to 334W, and got me 3347ppd on 481 wus, and 2900 ppd on the 981pt units.
Intrestingly, using all 4 cores, did NOT increase my power consumption, with my box still claiming 334W at 100% load. Sounds suspicious, but with smp -3 i was still using 84% load, so its not to suspect. The ppd only slightly changes too. In my opinion, -smp 3 is the best setting.

So, now who doesn't like lots of points, so running the 2 gpus and the smp only drew a total of 496Ws, and nets me upwards of 16500ppd.

So as you see, running one GPU2 is slightly more power, but almost 2 times the points of a smp on a q6600 @2.9GHz.

BUT WAIT!! Order now and you'll see....... Oops this isn't a infomercial!

But I digress...... Who runs STOCK speeds on their gpus Not I you say... Me either.

So, I run my clocks at their optimum speeds, Remember shadders are key, and my gtx 260-216s top out at 1452mhz. I therefore run them at 605/1452/1015 and manually set the fans at 66%. At idle, the consumption didn't change, staying at 270Ws

Doing this increases my GPU2 consumption up 11W for 1 gpu running to 356W. But will net me upto 8000ppd. (This is on the 353pt and 783pt)
Adding the 2 GPUs run an addition 21W to a total of 453W for an addition 8K ppd.

And a full on 2 GPU2 and a SMP hit a whooping 513Ws, with no change in the individual smp draw. BUT give a total ppd of 20-21,000 ppd

Well to finally sum it up, a increase of 4000 extra points will only cost you 17-21Ws. But remember, I've only max overclocked my Shaders and not my Core and memory which are the settings that draw the most power.

Hope someoes bored enough to have enjoyed this, and once my i7 950s built, I'll be comparing the power draw and performance in a post or a blog maybe, about upgrading and the possible gains and losses associated with it.

 

[PP Mguire]

Power consumption then comes down to the bill at the end of the month. I wrote an article on PC power consumption and how much it costs using folding as my means of testing. At the time i was folding with a 940 and 2 280s. My max per month was 9 dollars on the bill give or take (since your never going to have the exact amount every month unless you and your family are robots) while folding ~90% of the time. I say 90 because i had to game some time in there but since i worked around 50 hours a week i didnt have much time for that.

This being said, i dont really mind folding anymore or power consumption. The only thing that bugs me is total heat of 2 PCs folding both CPU and GPU non stop.

 

[patonb]

Yha... I work from home, so I don't go out and buy coffee from a shop. So for me, my 2 machines cost me less than a cup or 2 of coffee a day. So I rather spend it folding.

On the heat side, my 2 puters are in my living/dinning room, and well being in Canada, they actually heat my house nicely. I haven't had to turn my heat on in my house, except for my bdrm, yet.

 

[Promethus]

i have a few rigs laying around but i have a car shop so im never home and the power bill is always low and i hardly use my pcs much so i fold them i really dont get hit to hard with the power bill it jumps like 20-50$ depending on how many things im folding on keep in mind this is 24/7 and its quad cores and gpus so not bad i dont think

 

[PP Mguire]

Yha... I work from home, so I don't go out and buy coffee from a shop. So for me, my 2 machines cost me less than a cup or 2 of coffee a day. So I rather spend it folding.

On the heat side, my 2 puters are in my living/dinning room, and well being in Canada, they actually heat my house nicely. I haven't had to turn my heat on in my house, except for my bdrm, yet.

Even when i worked 40 minutes away i never bought coffee. Im picky and i like my Folgers in the morning.

We dont get as cold as you guys (obviously) but it got below freezing last night and i was toasty all night long playing FF13 in my PC room. That was the window unit on and a fan sucking up cold air from the vents. (Vents underneath house so they bring in cold air since no central heat)

 

[Promethus]

my rig folding seriously heats the house its 20f outside and its like 80f inside heat is not even on and has not been all winter my gas bill is 10$ lol e bill is higher but its a good cause so works well