Well I had to get my 2 of my computer back up this month, long story, but I basically am going to have money for the most exspensive part of my computer build next month. I was looking at the thermaltake toughpower tp-1500m from superbiz. But am open to suggestions. I just got tired of looking. Take your time, im really looking for a 1600 watt, as if you google thermaltake psu calculator, which is the one i use, and put in my specs with cpu load and capacitor age it gives around 1600 watts. If you dont account for age it gives 1100 watts, but I personally hate when things break. So around 1600 watts for following build;

8150 amd cpu,
four 570 gtx (just expansion space)
GA-990FXA-UD7 gigabyte motherboard,
and lastly cd-rw and hard drive.

I just like to annoy yall anyways so 1500 watts is close to what i want, 1600 would be nice. I just bought a 850 watt corsair tx this month but corsair doesnt build them that powerful. Thermaltake i was looking at was 310 dollars, but if you got a better brand up your sleeve would love to hear it cause I aint got no experience.

You might try an 80+ Platinum certified supply from someone such as Seasonic. The supply you come up with only requires 1100W. If the supply is constructed from reliable components, then I would expect little effects from aging over the life of the supply.

If aging were a big problem in the industry, it would be widely publicized by all the hardware review sites; frankly, I have never heard of it, and I distrust Thermaltake in their attempt to get customers to buy bigger because of aging concerns. Since Thermaltake sells power supplies, it is to their advantage to get you to pay for more capacity than you will ever need. IMHO, Thermaltake sells "bling," and a supply from a more well-known manufacturer like Seasonic (who, incidentally, makes supplies that other manufacturers sell under their brand name), say 1250W, would be more than adequate.
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If you don't like failures, don't put 4 GTX 570s in a single PC.
If you insist to do it, you should cool them with water and a big external radiator to increase the longevity of all components by decreasing the inside temperature.
No wonder that you've got tired of looking for a 1600W PSU, the top size is 1500W by the well known manufacturers.
I would choose an Enermax Platimax 1500W for supplying 4 GTX 570s.

So you think four 570s will overheat even with all fans unlocked at 100%, cause that was* my plan. I can either do 8150 with four 570s 16x2 8x2, or I can do xeon 1270 with two 570s x8. First would be mainly gpu grid, second mainly rosetta.

I didn't say that 4 GTX 570s will overheat with their factory made cooling. In worst case they could. My point is that aging is much faster at higher temperatures, so if you are concerned about aging, you should use extra cooling, because your system needs larger than standard radiators to dissipate 1100 watts at lower temperature. If you put 4 dual slot GPU into a single PC, there is no room left between the GPUs, so you can't install larger heatsinks onto the cards, also they will heat each other, and their air intake will be blocked by each other hence they will run hotter. The only solution is to use water to take the heat from the cards outside the PC at lower temperature to slow down aging.

I saw a picture of where yall had put together a 4 card system on here, its nothing to me to replace a graphics card if one goes out. I had a 4870 1gig go out doing folding, and it was basically time for a new one anyways. I did start looking at amd server processors and think I would have no problem installing everything except im getting mixed internet signals on the case form factors such as extended atx having newer versions out as well as SSI EEB 3.61 with newer. I guess I could buy a single processor atx board, but wheres the fun in that. Im just unfamiliar with these form factor cases and power supplys and theyre not cheap so I would like to build a monster gpu grid computer. I think I will be safe with evga because they have a folding@home link on their main webpage, and folding@home makes my asus which is locked at 85% fan speed run from 90 degrees on gpu grid, to 98 degrees on folding which is a degree over spec. Im giving the asus away to my cousin anyways.

There are some products that allow you to use 2 power supplies in the same computer. This could be a good option for you because (2) 1000W PSUs typically cost less than (1) 1500W PSU. In addition, you can draw power from 2 AC circuits. 1 PSU could be dedicated to the computer and 1 GPU and the other one could push power only to the GPU.

I have never used one of these devices but someone here likely has some experience with them.

I have 1 computer that can take a third GPU but 3 is the max for me. I think I will just buy another computer or get another GTX 590. The 590 has some issues but you get 2 570s in a single slot.

If you want heat, just use 590s or 690s. At 375 Watts, the 590 generates lots of heat!
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Thx - Paul

Note: Please don't use driver version 295 or 296! Recommended versions are 266 - 285.

You think this case with some unlocked fans would do the trick?

http://www.xclio.com/products/case-windtunnel.htm

You think this case with some unlocked fans would do the trick?

http://www.xclio.com/products/case-windtunnel.htm

Do you think the ram will bottleneck? I know toms hardware was saying they think its a gimmick, but I saw the 3820 with only .2 ghz turbo boost, it was nice but it didnt really save on electricity. If I did spend the extra money I would want some electricity savings. Right now the bulldozers price is well below what it should be for such a powerful cpu. I would just rather run on 8 threads not hyper threaded than 4 ht. Plus the savings.

Do you think the ram will bottleneck? I know toms hardware was saying they think its a gimmick, but I saw the 3820 with only .2 ghz turbo boost, it was nice but it didnt really save on electricity. If I did spend the extra money I would want some electricity savings. Right now the bulldozers price is well below what it should be for such a powerful cpu. I would just rather run on 8 threads not hyper threaded than 4 ht. Plus the savings.

see i wasnt sure if amd still used floating point in their processors. I have heard bad things about it. like it means only a certain part of the processor does math. I guess I will start looking at intel then. I really dislike floating point, any other info you wanna share about floating point i would like to hear, thanks.

As I posted in another thread, I think it is highly unlikely that if you are running only GPUGrid that RAM will be overloaded even with 4 GPUs - regardless of CPU choice as long as that CPU is not too old.

I agree with skgiven that the better way may be to use 600 series GPUs. They are considerably more power efficient than the 500 series and that also means less heat to deal with. However, if you are planning on running any projects that require double-precision, such as MilkyWay@home, I personally think the 500 series is a better choice because the 600 series double-precision computation throughput is significantly less than the 500 series.

I personally think that the 3820 is likely much more efficient power wise than the BD chips, however, if the only reason for buying that is because of its memory bandwidth and you are running only GPU Grid or other distributed computing projects, I would recommend against the 3820.

Distributed computing projects, for the time being, do not need the inherent memory bandwidth of the 3820 or other SB-E CPU. In fact, about the only programs that need that kind of memory bandwidth are professional CAD programs, and professional FEA programs. As many hardware sites have stated, the 3820 also offers no advantage for gaming, either. I just built a rig with a 3820. I picked that CPU because of its performance for CAD and FEA. Running distributed computing projects on that machine is more of a secondary application, and for that, I chose a single GTX 580.

If you plan on doing serious gaming in addition to running distributed computing, then I would avoid BD. Basically, its gaming performance is terrible, and so is its single-threaded application performance. However, with multi-threaded apps, it sometimes outperforms Intel offerings, however, not all the time.

That said, if you only plan on running GPUGrid and no other distributed computing projects, then the BD chip may be a good, value oriented choice; otherwise, I would stick with Intel for now.

I also agree with Retvari. With many GPU offerings, they vent their heat inside the case, and with so many inside, it may become difficult to cool the system unless it is very well ventilated. The problem is to remove the heat from the case. In my 3820 system, if the GPU, which vents heat into the case, is crunching any WU from any GPU enabled project in which I participate, it pushes my CPU temp up about 8 - 9 degrees C.

Retvari's suggesting of water cooling, provided the radiator is external to the case, would likely provide the most efficient means of removing heat from the case. Otherwise, you will likely have to use a bunch of very noisy fans that may be disagreeable to you because of the noise.

The NZXT Gamma case has a lot of ventiallation. I own one, and think it is somewhat cheaply built, but it can be had for about $40 at most places. It may not have enough expansion slots for your particular application.

I built my 3820 with a Lian-Li PC-Z70 case. This is a pricy case, but I think it is well-built, lots of room for expansion cards and hard drives, provides plenty of ventilation, and has ports for water cooling tubes. You will probably need something like this that has plenty of expansion slot room.
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Does nvidia support pci 3.0? I read they dont, not sure if its just the chipset or what. I think its all their drivers tho. C602 chipset would be my intel chipset. Also I have bought like 3 xeons online and they all had problems, so im about to buy a new one with sata support, is this like setting up a regular computer cause if you know could save me about 600 dollars. lol. I bought one where the hard drive was bad and my friend said i needed a new pata one, oh well 100 dollars anyways. so im suspicious. Ive built a couple computers tho so im starting to gain confidence 8D

NVIDIA does not currently "officially" support PCIe 3.0 on x79. HOWEVER, there is a very easy way to get it working.

I've got 2 cards both running at PCIe 3.0 on my x79 Sabertooth. 680 and a 670

Then there are the GTX690's (combined TDP of 600W) - two of those would keep the running costs well down, and again an 850W PSU should suffice (assuming you don't start overclocking)..

You may want to look at using blowers to force air between the cards. Liquid cooling sounds great but it has plenty of other issues.

2 GTX 690s would be a great solution. I am still looking for a way to get 2 GTX 590s into a system.

Good Luck and start crunching!
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Thx - Paul

Note: Please don't use driver version 295 or 296! Recommended versions are 266 - 285.

Then there are the GTX690's (combined TDP of 600W) - two of those would keep the running costs well down, and again an 850W PSU should suffice (assuming you don't start overclocking)..

Are you saying that 2 690s could be run on a high quality 850?

Ken

[quote]As I posted in another thread, I think it is highly unlikely that if you are running only GPUGrid that RAM will be overloaded even with 4 GPUs - regardless of CPU choice as long as that CPU is not too old.

I agree with skgiven that the better way may be to use 600 series GPUs. They are considerably more power efficient than the 500 series and that also means less heat to deal with. However, if you are planning on running any projects that require double-precision, such as MilkyWay@home, I personally think the 500 series is a better choice because the 600 series double-precision computation throughput is significantly less than the 500 series.

I personally think that the 3820 is likely much more efficient power wise than the BD chips, however, if the only reason for buying that is because of its memory bandwidth and you are running only GPU Grid or other distributed computing projects, I would recommend against the 3820.

Distributed computing projects, for the time being, do not need the inherent memory bandwidth of the 3820 or other SB-E CPU. In fact, about the only programs that need that kind of memory bandwidth are professional CAD programs, and professional FEA programs. As many hardware sites have stated, the 3820 also offers no advantage for gaming, either. I just built a rig with a 3820. I picked that CPU because of its performance for CAD and FEA. Running distributed computing projects on that machine is more of a secondary application, and for that, I chose a single GTX 580.

If you plan on doing serious gaming in addition to running distributed computing, then I would avoid BD. Basically, its gaming performance is terrible, and so is its single-threaded application performance. However, with multi-threaded apps, it sometimes outperforms Intel offerings, however, not all the time.

That said, if you only plan on running GPUGrid and no other distributed computing projects, then the BD chip may be a good, value oriented choice; otherwise, I would stick with Intel for now.

<snip>

Not quite. running 2 cards won't need PCIE3, however running 3 or more, I have seen several reviews showing substantial gains from PCIE3.
on an x79 system all 4 GPUs will still run at x16 speed whereas
on a p67 4 GPUs would be reduced to a mere x4 each.

It has been said, and I'll agree, there is no gaming benefit to SB-E.
This sounds like it will be a dedicated Crunching rig that would benefit from the extra bandwidth if he is going to run 4 GPUs.

SB-E only has 40 lanes. Only 2 cards can run at x16 at any given time. If you buy a mobo with 3 slots like I did, it's x16,x16, x8. 4 slot mobos usually default to x16, x8, x8,x8.

SB-E only has 40 lanes. Only 2 cards can run at x16 at any given time. If you buy a mobo with 3 slots like I did, it's x16,x16, x8. 4 slot mobos usually default to x16, x8, x8,x8.

One other factor to consider in a 1500W PSU if you choose to continue down this path is feeding it.

1500W is about as much as you can safely draw from a dedicated 120V, 15 amp wall plug circuit. I believe the electrical code only lets you load a circuit to 80% of its rating with plug in devices which limits you to 12 amps at 120v. A dedicated 20 amp circuit would handle it fine with the proper (#12 AWG) power cord. A 220V circuit would be even better as all the efficiency curves I have seen are better when fed with 220V.

Using more power efficient GPU's is, of course, a more prudent idea. The savings in electricity will pay for the more expensive cards fairly quickly.

Is 1500 watt for the entire outlet? meaning I should only run one extension cord from one wall outlet per 1500 watts. This seems very important to me. I dont mind running extension cords from other places in my house. If the outlets are on the same breaker then its beyond my knowledge anyways. I guess I will end up buying an extension cord with this build. Im starting my intel build with core 2 quad, altho it only has one gpu slot, I want to be sure I can handle the intel build before I spend bigger bucks. I also dont want to melt my sockets as I did by plugging two air conditioners to a strip so if you got some info 2 share 8D

You say 15 amp wall circuit plug so I assume you mean more than one outlet, directly from the breaker box. Is this the case? I dont really understand my breaker box and just kinda pray I dont start a fire. Can more than one outlet come off the circuit? def buying extension cord.

You can have many outlets on circuit. In most bedrooms, all of the outlets are on 1 circuit. Bathrooms and kitchens usually have more of a 1 circuit to outlet relationship. With a dedicated 20A circuit, you will have 1 outlet directly connected to a 20A breaker in the box. Using the 80% rule, you could draw 16AMPs on that circuit or (110V * 16AMPs) = 1760 Watts. You can draw more than that, up to a max of 2200 Watts but the breaker would trip at anything greater than 20AMPs.

Your breaker box is just a power distribution box. All of your power comes in on one line, a 220V line at around 200 AMPs. The breaker box splits this 220V feed into 2 110V feeds. In the US we typically call this 120 but it is usually more like 110V. You can also add double gang breakers that touch both 110V legs in the box to get 220V power for water heaters, ovens, stoves, dryers, etc.

If you overload a circuit, it will trip the breaker (no big deal, that is what the breaker is designed to do), just reset and try again. If it happens again, you have overloaded the circuit and you need to get that extension cord.

I have a Core 2 Quad over clocked by 50% + 2 GTX 580s overclocked to 962MHz and a 21" monitor on one outlet with no problems. You might be shocked to see just how much a singled 110V outlet will provide.
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Thx - Paul

Note: Please don't use driver version 295 or 296! Recommended versions are 266 - 285.

well I found my outlet map, the person who lived here before me made. It has them all except one. One circuit doesnt work, and one has only two prongs. I am interested in how much a two prong can handle. Anyways, I got alot of power now anyways.