Ungrade Question

[Mike029]

If I replace my old P4 Motherboard with a P4 motherboard with a pci-e slot could I drop a 58xx card into it and turn it into a good crunching box? Or will I run into bottleneck problems? I have a 750w ps so no problem there.
Here is the card I'm looking at.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138174

It says this it may have a problem with the cpu. This is the one I have.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116156
Can't tell if my chip is a problem or not. Any help and advice is appreciated. Thanks

[Maxwell]

I'm too lazy right now to read too much about those, but Bryan may be the one to ask. He's got some old server processors running some of his beastly cards, and may be able to provide some insight...

Are you implying that the bottleneck would occur with the CPU trying to feed the GPU? If so, Bryan's solution was to leave the CPU idle, only using it to feed the GPU. Compared to the GPU, that you wouldn't miss the CPU credits...

[Fire$torm]

I do not think you will have no problems with that upgrade.

Intel's info page here
Wiki listing here
The only difference between the Intel P4@3.0Ghz (SL6WK) that BioStar lists and the Intel P4@3.0Ghz (SL78Z) is the CPU's stepping.
SL6WK Stepping = C1
SL78Z Stepping = D0

The stepping level is internal to the CPU and should have no effect on the MB.

Edit: I forgot to add that one of my boxes "Blackie" is a P4@3.0Ghz HT (Prescott) with (2) nVidia 8800 GT's. I crunch CPU and GPU projects concurrently without issue. It is also my file/multimedia/torrent server.

[DrPop]

Bryan is running dual 5870s AND dual 5970s with his P4 Nocona XEONs. He was running into some "starvation issues" when the CPU was fully loaded crunching, the GPUs were waiting a little.

If you went with something like a single 5830, 5850, or 5870 GPU, I don't think you'd have a problem. That 3.0GHz Northwood core is actually pretty efficient; it has a much shorter pipeline than the Prescott, and more L2 cache than the Willamette did. Keep the HT on, and run something like AQUA, that loads the CPU at ~98%, so that "idle" 2% + a few HT "gotcha's" thrown in when it sees an empty spot in the pipeline - well, that ought to load a GPU just fine.
Of course, that is if you don't use it as a daily rig much, I mean if you just let it sit there and crunch, I don't see where you'd be bottlenecking at all, really.
Hope that helps!

[Maxwell]

Unless I'm missing something odd, F$ is right - that upgrade should work. And DP has a good point - how you're intending to use the computer will have an impact.

Since this should work, there's a simple experiment you can do: Set up your rig and disable CPU crunching. Stick it on MW (optimized for GPU). Crunch for a couple days, check credits and completion times. Turn on CPU Crunching (maybe a PG LLR project, to maximize CPU intensity), and check MW credits/time again.

Short answer: the rig will work. Whether you should allow CPU crunching on it is a separate issue...

[Mike029]

The rig will be used by the kids for internet mail, some homework and listening to music.
The cpu credits it can get is minuscule so I'll leave it off crunching on the cpu. Thanks for all the help guys. I'll let ya know how I make out.

[Maxwell]

The rig will be used by the kids for internet mail, some homework and listening to music.
The cpu credits it can get is minuscule so I'll leave it off crunching on the cpu. Thanks for all the help guys. I'll let ya know how I make out.

Then you should be fine. Only other thing I thought of: that was a Micro-ATX board you found - make sure your case fits that form factor...

[vaio]

I would bin the p4 spaceheater......get a nice gigabyte 1156 board with dual pci-e and an i3.

Or even a budget x4 platform.

suggests:

Gigabyte H55M-UD2H
i3 530 OR 540.

Runs cool, quiet and low wattage.

[Mike029]

Need an opinion and advice on my rig. I have a 5870 and a 4870 in one box. I was looking to replace the 4870 with either another 5870 or a 5850. My question is how much of an increase could I expect swapping out the 4870 for either of the 58xx?

The 5850 and 5870 that Joker posted in the "Deals & Savings" thread are XFX. My 4870 is Asus and my 5870 is Sapphire if it matters. Just trying to get the most bang for the money.

P.S. Update on original thread. The mb won't fit in the case I have so scrap that idea. I'll just save and build another along the lines Vaio suggested.

[Maxwell]

Need an opinion and advice on my rig. I have a 5870 and a 4870 in one box. I was looking to replace the 4870 with either another 5870 or a 5850. My question is how much of an increase could I expect swapping out the 4870 for either of the 58xx?

You can probably up your output 150-200k/day on DNETC. If it's an option, go with the 5870 and clock it the same as the other one.