View Full Version : Quadro FX 3700 Crunchability
Any thoughts on this card (same G92 chip as 8800GT)? I am looking at an 8-core Xeon workstation that has two of these installed. I believe they are CUDA Compute level 1.1. Are these worth factoring in the purchase decision? Will they crunch any projects with any efficiency?
Thanks-
112 shader cores, and the 512MB RAM, works out to just over 500 GFLOPs - yes, they will crunch. Should give you output about 1/2 of what a GTX 560 would do. With Compute 1.1 you could crunch Collatz, DiRT, Einstein, SETI, and maybe a few others with them, so probably worth giving a try at using them if they come "included" already. :)
I would download MSI Afterburner and O/C the core MHZ to at least 600MHz to get it up to the 8800GT specs. Might even be able to go a little higher, but not sure. They have the Quadro detuned to 500MHz, so that it burns considerably less watts for the business workstations. ;)
Fire$torm
06-04-13, 12:34 PM
How does the selling price on that particular Xeon workstation compare to similar equipment listed (without the cards) on say eBay or Craigslist?
I ask because refurbished GTX 460s (w/ 336 CUDA cores) sell for only a few dollars more then the FX 3700s. At least on eBay they do. A single 460 will out crunch x2 FX 3700 and use less power doing so.
Therefore if you do purchase that workstation, you may wish to consider actually selling those FX cards and buying a refurb 460. Of course that is a lot of horse trading to do. It would be simpler and possibly cheaper to acquire a bare bones Xeon workstation and refurb 460 separately.
... Therefore if you do purchase that workstation, you may wish to consider actually selling those FX cards and buying a refurb 460. Of course that is a lot of horse trading to do. It would be simpler and possibly cheaper to acquire a bare bones Xeon workstation and refurb 460 separately.
I had a similar thought - why spend an extra $100-120 on a machine with GPUs I would want to replace? I passed on that deal, and I'm looking at another without a graphics card. If I land that one, I'll be looking for a good 460 (or two). Thanks FS & Dr Pop-
I had a similar thought - why spend an extra $100-120 on a machine with GPUs I would want to replace? I passed on that deal, and I'm looking at another without a graphics card. If I land that one, I'll be looking for a good 460 (or two). Thanks FS & Dr Pop-
Good idea. I wouldn't pay for those cards for crunching purposes - but if they were included "free" then not bad as a bonus.
What kind of XEONs are you looking for? Al and I got a pretty good deal on some...are you looking for server type or for a workstation only (in a regular computer case type)?
Good idea. I wouldn't pay for those cards for crunching purposes - but if they were included "free" then not bad as a bonus.
What kind of XEONs are you looking for? Al and I got a pretty good deal on some...are you looking for server type or for a workstation only (in a regular computer case type)?
I'm looking for a workstation type, dual-quad core with dual graphics capable mobo. Pretty flexible on the other specs. I've been looking at Dell T5400 and T7400s because either would blend in well at my office. I'm not crunching much at home right now due to the heat, but my office is a damn meat locker! I'll consider this workstation to be a 930 watt space heater.
Well, I saved $140 by passing on the 2x Xeon E5430 / 8Gb with dual FX 3700s and went with a 2x E5405 / 4Gb with no GPU. Now I just need to find a good GTX 460 (or HD 5850?) to complete this cruncher...
Well, I saved $140 by passing on the 2x Xeon E5430 / 8Gb with dual FX 3700s and went with a 2x E5405 / 4Gb with no GPU. Now I just need to find a good GTX 460 (or HD 5850?) to complete this cruncher...
Hmmm, what kind of RAM does that puppy take and do you have any free slots?
Hmmm, what kind of RAM does that puppy take and do you have any free slots?
The Service Tag info suggests it originally had 4 2gb sticks, the vendor says it is configured with 4Gb. I'll find out for sure when it ships. Type is PC2-5300 240-PIN ECC REGISTERED.
http://www.dell.com/support/troubleshooting/us/en/555/Servicetag/65MDPJ1?s=BSD
What kind of price point are you looking to go for on the GPU? We can figure out which one will give you the most credits in the project(s) you like to crunch for the budget. ;) Nice workstation by the way. :)
What kind of price point are you looking to go for on the GPU? We can figure out which one will give you the most credits in the project(s) you like to crunch for the budget. ;) Nice workstation by the way. :)
And, hopefully, it'll be an even nicer one once the team is done fiddling with it for him. :)
What kind of price point are you looking to go for on the GPU? We can figure out which one will give you the most credits in the project(s) you like to crunch for the budget. ;) Nice workstation by the way. :)
Price point around $80-100... I prefer public projects with specific scientific purpose like Poem and MW. I'm looking for bang/buck and decent gflops/watt. I only spent $160 on the workstation; I'd prefer to keep the project around $250 with the first gpu.
Price point around $80-100... I prefer public projects with specific scientific purpose like Poem and MW. I'm looking for bang/buck and decent gflops/watt. I only spent $160 on the workstation; I'd prefer to keep the project around $250 with the first gpu.
Hmmm...let me ask some guys on the team what we have sitting around. I'll get back to you by PM if I hear from them, or in the meantime some might post here sooner. ;)
Edit: Not super high output anymore, but I'm sure there's an HD 4850 or HD 4870 (or two - is it dual pci-e slot mobo?) around the team that could practically be given to you for the cost of shipping. ;) But let's see if we can round up something more high end first.
John P. Myers
06-04-13, 11:54 PM
Hmmm...let me ask some guys on the team what we have sitting around.
I wasn't asked, but oh look! I just happen to have a GTX 460 lying around (installed, actually) that i'm willing to part with :p I'll take $60 for it, which includes shipping. As a bonus, i removed the original thermal grease right before the Pentathlon and smeared on some Arctic Silver 5. Temps are far better than stock now. Also includes the original box, complete with a foamy/cushiony substance to prevent bouncing during shipment.
I haven't heard back from the guys I PMed yet, but I'd strongly consider jumping on JPM's offer. You won't find a better card for that price!
Of course if you're the wait and see type, could see what everyone comes back with, but odds are that's one sweet deal! :cool:
I wasn't asked, but oh look! I just happen to have a GTX 460 lying around (installed, actually) that i'm willing to part with :p I'll take $60 for it, which includes shipping. As a bonus, i removed the original thermal grease right before the Pentathlon and smeared on some Arctic Silver 5. Temps are far better than stock now. Also includes the original box, complete with a foamy/cushiony substance to prevent bouncing during shipment.
I haven't heard back from the guys I PMed yet, but I'd strongly consider jumping on JPM's offer. You won't find a better card for that price!
Of course if you're the wait and see type, could see what everyone comes back with, but odds are that's one sweet deal! :cool:
Sounds like I've found my gpu! Thanks all for your help; I'll report back in a couple weeks with the results of the build-
First of all, a big thanks to John for coming through with a great deal on a GTX 460 for this build - not only that, but he delivered it to me in person!
So, John was running around 80C with this card on DiRT - in my workstation rig I'm hitting 95C. This is a Dell T7400 case with 3 120mm fans. The two Xeon E5405 are cooled with passive heatsinks, so some of that heat is probably going to the GPU. However, I took the side panel off and directed cool air on the GPU with a room fan, and it still reached 95C. Ambient temperature is around 21C, GPU idles at 42C.
Any thoughts?
zombie67
06-11-13, 10:22 AM
Any thoughts?
Have you tried tinkering with manually adjusting the GPU fan speeds?
Personally, I don't worry about temps on the CPU or GPU, unless they start spitting out errors.
Have you tried tinkering with manually adjusting the GPU fan speeds?
Personally, I don't worry about temps on the CPU or GPU, unless they start spitting out errors.
If I max out the GPU fan, the idle temp drops to 32C. But when I put a full load on it - it goes to 95C. I suppose I'll let it run and see if any errors come up-
That does seem a little high for a GTX 460, those are usually cool running cards. The XEONs with the passive heatsinks are most likely the problem as you guessed - just different than in a gaming rig or something more desktop style.
These nVidia cards are amazingly robust though. You might just try it like Zombie says, and if there's no errors...why not? ;) I'd leave the fan pretty high just in case - I'm not sure at what % power the fan gets on your nerves (sound wise) but I usually put my fans one notch below what my ears tell me is too loud. :D ;)
Fire$torm
06-11-13, 01:03 PM
I think the biggest factor is the Dell case.
Pic 1 ---> http://megamall.co.nz/images/DB2/stock/large/T7400-XDC233X2-NOOS-R-Photo2.jpg
Pic 2 ---> http://www.2cpu.co.kr/data/file/hardware/2042140067_a62675f2_P1000170_s1.jpg
That setup is not great in terms of unrestricted air flow. Plus the expansion slot section has only one fan feeding it and nothing to help evacuate hot air. It would be fine in an office environment but as a cruncher, not so much.
Normally I would suggest something like a HAF 912 case but Dell does too many funny things with components. So hardware like PSUs, MBs, etc. won't fit in standardized cases. Even Dell's fans use a non-standard 5-pin plug so you have to buy adapters if you want to upgrade fans, or rewire them...
The only other suggestion I have would be to get an aftermarket GPU cooler although that has it's own challenges........
zombie67
06-11-13, 03:10 PM
Any opportunity to upgrade the fans to something with more flow?
I think the biggest factor is the Dell case.
Pic 1 ---> http://megamall.co.nz/images/DB2/stock/large/T7400-XDC233X2-NOOS-R-Photo2.jpg
Pic 2 ---> http://www.2cpu.co.kr/data/file/hardware/2042140067_a62675f2_P1000170_s1.jpg
That setup is not great in terms of unrestricted air flow. Plus the expansion slot section has only one fan feeding it and nothing to help evacuate hot air. It would be fine in an office environment but as a cruncher, not so much.
Normally I would suggest something like a HAF 912 case but Dell does too many funny things with components. So hardware like PSUs, MBs, etc. won't fit in standardized cases. Even Dell's fans use a non-standard 5-pin plug so you have to buy adapters if you want to upgrade fans, or rewire them...
The only other suggestion I have would be to get an aftermarket GPU cooler although that has it's own challenges........
I'm not sure I agree completely... There are two large fans serving the CPU/RAM (your pic shows only one) and one intake fan directed at the GPU. There's a fair amount of open intake and exhaust surface area, and while it is certainly not the best design for airflow, I'm hesitant to lay blame solely on the case. I'm particularly unconvinced because when I opened the side panel and directed cool air directly on the gpu with a room fan, the temp didn't change. I also ran the system with CPU tasks suspended, and again there was little change in the max temp. I also tried maxing out all four system fans (including HDD fan) with Speedfan, the thing sounds like a jet engine and still no temp change.
I'll keep playing with fan speed configurations for now...
I also tried maxing out all four system fans (including HDD fan) with Speedfan, the thing sounds like a jet engine and still no temp change...
That part makes me think something isn't quite right. Could be the software's not reading the temp right as well, and/or might try removing the HSF on the GPU and cleaning it real good, and replacing it with Arctic Silver or something equally good, and then retying...sometimes things happen.
The strange part to me is that the temp doesn't budge when you make the fan sounds like a vacuum cleaner. I can't stand running the fans that high, but every time I tried it, there was a noticeable temp drop in MSI Afterburner.
One other thought - can you see what the voltage is set at on the GPU? And lastly, did you try dropping the RAM speed waaay down, like as low as Afterburner will let you, and see if that drops the temp. If that doesn't drop the temp, then something is just strange with the reading I think.
That part makes me think something isn't quite right. Could be the software's not reading the temp right as well, and/or might try removing the HSF on the GPU and cleaning it real good, and replacing it with Arctic Silver or something equally good, and then retying...sometimes things happen.
The strange part to me is that the temp doesn't budge when you make the fan sounds like a vacuum cleaner. I can't stand running the fans that high, but every time I tried it, there was a noticeable temp drop in MSI Afterburner.
One other thought - can you see what the voltage is set at on the GPU? And lastly, did you try dropping the RAM speed waaay down, like as low as Afterburner will let you, and see if that drops the temp. If that doesn't drop the temp, then something is just strange with the reading I think.
Cutting the Memory Clock in half doesn't move the GPU Temp at all, but taking the GPU Clock from 675 to 600 lowered the temp from 98C to about 92C. Voltage is .95v.
I may try to remove the HSF and re-apply thermal compound as you suggest-
Fire$torm
06-11-13, 04:49 PM
Which utility are you using to monitor GPU temps? GPU-Z and MSI Afterburner are the 2 most accurate 3rd party utilities.
Which utility are you using to monitor GPU temps? GPU-Z and MSI Afterburner are the 2 most accurate 3rd party utilities.
GPU-Z, mainly. I'm using evga Precision X to make adjustments, and I8kfanGUI/SpeedFan to tinker with fan settings. I'll see if Afterburner gives any different readings.
John P. Myers
06-11-13, 08:53 PM
This is odd. Is Precision X reporting the same temp?
Maybe re-seating the heatsink would be a good idea, though i don't recall anything happening that could've unseated it.
Fire$torm
06-11-13, 10:03 PM
This is odd. Is Precision X reporting the same temp?
Maybe re-seating the heatsink would be a good idea, though i don't recall anything happening that could've unseated it.
It could have gotten bumped between your house and his. Stock cooler or aftermarket?
Aftermarket units are more prone to shifting.
John P. Myers
06-12-13, 01:03 AM
It could have gotten bumped between your house and his. Stock cooler or aftermarket?
Aftermarket units are more prone to shifting.
Stock, but i had already replaced the stock thermal grease with AS5 just ~2 months ago. Card was installed in my computer until the day i delivered it, though that computer hadn't been turned on since a couple days after the Pentathlon to crunch the leftover WUs.
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