cfp ExtremeHW Community Folding Project

[franz]

Hey @franz, do you think Ubuntu on a VM will give you the same boost or would it be less?

I have been thinking about installing Ubuntu on my second rig, cause it's a dedicated system.

After seeing this I should have gone that route..

 

I honestly dont know I have never tried a VM, but based on what I have read in the past your PPD will increase but maybe not as much as a pure Linux OS.

 

I have heard of some people running Linux off a USB for a sudo dual boot rig. That would give you a chance to test it out to see if you like it.

 

So we had a little set back today. Seems that the board shipped to me with an older BIOS revision meaning that it will not boot with the CPU (i7-9700) we have. Oddly it does fully boot and the only diagnostic light that is active is the one that refers to lack of boot media and not the CPU. All I know is I get no video out using onboard on either HDMI or DVI. I also tried multiple screens and a re-seat of the CPU but nothing, so I will assume the board cannot utilize the CPU properly. So I will go ahead and get a cheapo CPU that was compatible with the mobo at launch to ensure compatability, flash to the latest BIOS and pop the back in i7-9700.

 

I long for the day that you can at least get to BIOS with any chip that fits in the socket.... I know there are different pin layouts and junk but seriously you shouldnt have to borrow a CPU to do a BIOS update.

Edited May 8, 2020 by franz

[ENTERPRISE]

 

I honestly dont know I have never tried a VM, but based on what I have read in the past your PPD will increase but maybe not as much as a pure Linux OS.

 

I have heard of some people running Linux off a USB for a sudo dual boot rig. That would give you a chance to test it out to see if you like it.

 

 

 

I long for the day that you can at least get to BIOS with any chip that fits in the socket.... I know there are different pin layouts and junk but seriously you shouldnt have to borrow a CPU to do a BIOS update.

 

They kid of do. Any motherboard with a Bios Flashback option can flash ab to the board for recovery reasons or for updates and it does not need a cpu co carry-out the process. Unfortunately Bios flashback is considered a premium feature, so you tend not to see it on the low end boards... certainly not ones meant for mining.

 

However I purchased a Celeron G4920 to pop in so I can flash to the latest BIOS and do any other testing to see if we have a Bum CPU or board. Want it done soon as if I find any bum parts I can get refunded.

[tictoc]

Hey @franz, do you think Ubuntu on a VM will give you the same boost or would it be less?

I have been thinking about installing Ubuntu on my second rig, cause it's a dedicated system.

After seeing this I should have gone that route..

 

You will see a marginal boost in ppd for CPU tasks in a VM. Running GPU tasks in a VM is a bit more complicated, because you need to pass the GPU through from the host to the guest OS. You will get near native performance, but for a dedicated machine just installing Linux is much easier.

[ENTERPRISE]

Thanks to @franz for donating his prize money from the Fight Covid-19 Giveaway to the CFP !

[Bastiaan_NL]

Thanks for the information @franz and @tictoc ?

Once I have the main rig back up and running it'll be the next thing on my list!

[ENTERPRISE]

So we have an update.

 

Phase one of the build process has started. We now have the Mobo,CPU,RAM,CPU Cooler installed into the case alongside the 1300Watt mining PSU for the GPU's and of course those mad case fans which I have very much had to configure otherwise the noise would have been nuts. So some may have seen the updates prior to this post that the i7-9700 CPU would not boot in the motherboard which I diagnosed (after doing the standard CPU/RAM re-seat etc) was the board was flashed with an earlier BIOS meaning it did not have support for the i7-9700 out of the box, BOO ! I identified a Celeron G4920 CPU that was supported at launch, purchased one on good old Ebay and used it to flash the mobo to the latest BIOS. Fortunately when I put the i7-9700 in afterwards, all booted up just fine .

 

Cable management is a little tougher in this type of case, so it will never look perfect, but lets face it, it is not meant to be a showcase build. Fortunately I have many cable ties and sticky pad anchors which helps make sure I can keep cables semi managed. All I am now waiting for is the hardware kindly donated by @InverseTundra which will bring me to phase 2 of the build with the installation of the main system PSU and PCIe risers.

 

I took a couple of pics of the current build process, apologies that it is a little dimly lit.

 

 

See below a quick run through video of the rig with fans at a managed level, ironically the PSU fan is louder than the system fans now lol.

 

[video=youtube_share;1fc-d8pIqmY]

 

I am also excited to announce that we have had a very kind member donate to use a GTX Nvidia 1070 which will be the first GPU for this folding rig. The donor has chosen to remain anonymous. However please join me in giving them huge thanks in getting us another step closer

[Bastiaan_NL]

Good to hear about the system working now!

Getting some hardware into the case gives an idea how big it really is

 

Also, thanks to Mr. Anonymous for the generous 1070 donation ?

[tictoc]

I wouldn't sweat cable management too much. The most important thing in a rack case like that, is just keeping optimal airflow front to back. My last decent sized machine that I had running in my rack, I actually used the pile of wires to direct some air flow from the outside fan towards the HBA. :laugh_laugh:

[ENTERPRISE]

I wouldn't sweat cable management too much. The most important thing in a rack case like that, is just keeping optimal airflow front to back. My last decent sized machine that I had running in my rack, I actually used the pile of wires to direct some air flow from the outside fan towards the HBA. :laugh_laugh:

 

Yeah airflow should not be an issue in this case fortunately. I love the face you used a wall of cables to manipulate airflow...why not haha.

[ENTERPRISE]

 

 

 

Well I am pleased to announce that the items kindly donated by @InverseTundra made there way to my doorstep this morning, here is the stash including our interested Rabbits.

 

 

 

 

 

I got straight to it and started to install the the PCIe risers into the case.

 

 

 

 

 

I did end up re-doing a little cable management while I was working everything out in my head as to where to best put things for easy maintenance in the future if something goes faulty, a fan for instance. I proceeded to do some rough routing of the USB 3.0 cables and the riser card power cables dipping and ducking around certain case elements, all without too much issue. I did remove two of the fans from the mid section of the case in order to allow for easier cable routing through the holes that would have usually housed the fans. With airflow being more than good enough, there is no loss in cooling by removing these fans, I kept the center one which will blow directly at the CPU heat-sink and fan solution.

 

 

 

 

Due to the EVGA Powersupply position, it will mostly cover the lower half of the motherboard, as such I have pre-installed the USB 3.0 risers into the mobo as well as the necessary power cables. This means I can simply install the PSU later without any worry of trying to work around it or disrupting any prior work. Once installed all I have to do is hook up the cables to the PSU and we are good to go.

 

 

 

 

Here to the right you will see a small white header with a black and red cable, this is a handle little jumper that comes with the mobo that hooks up to the 24Pin ATX connector of the other PSU that will handle all the power to the GPU's. As you may guess, what this does is jump start the GPU PSU when the system powers on, much better than the other bulky adapters you can get. This motherboard being a mining board, you can use this method for up to 4 PSU's...not too shabby !

 

 

 

 

That is it for now. The next step is to install the SSD and use some hot glue to secure the USB risers into the PCIe 1x slots, just enough to prevent them being easily pulled out. I will do the same for the USB connections on the PCIe 16x riser cards. However I will not do this until I verify that each riser is working correctly and communicating with the system. I will wait for the GTX 1070 in order to do that. For ease of testing I will be using Windows 10, but when it comes to folding time the machine will run a variant of Linux.

 

Here it is tucked up for the night until the next phase !

 

 

 

Until next time ! Thanks again to all our generous donors as well as TeamGroup & Overclockers UK for sponsoring this project !

[NavJack27]

THE BUNNIES APPROVE!

[Bastiaan_NL]

More goodies :wheee:

And I love those rabbits ?

[Andrew]

What kind of dogs are those?

[ENTERPRISE]

What kind of dogs are those?

 

Not sure just yet but they certainly behave like doggo's at times, especially Babbit (the grey one). Fyi there names are Babbit and Bobs lol

[InverseTundra]

Nice to see it all survived the trip in one piece. Now hopefully it all works after the tumbles of international travel too. Funny those parts are going from retired hardcore 24/7 bitcoin life to 24/7 life saving folding research lol.

[ENTERPRISE]

Nice to see it all survived the trip in one piece. Now hopefully it all works after the tumbles of international travel too. Funny those parts are going from retired hardcore 24/7 bitcoin life to 24/7 life saving folding research lol.

 

I am sure everything survived, will await on a GPU to test each riser section to ensure all is well before I start using hot glue in places lol. I am surprised that I have not seen other builds like this, converting a mining rig type build into a Folding@Home rig, or similar project. There probably are some and I have just not looked hard enough.

[axipher]

 

I am sure everything survived, will await on a GPU to test each riser section to ensure all is well before I start using hot glue in places lol. I am surprised that I have not seen other builds like this, converting a mining rig type build into a Folding@Home rig, or similar project. There probably are some and I have just not looked hard enough.

 

No need to hot glue, put one long piece of velcro across the bottom, then smaller opposite pieces under each PCIe daughter board. then you can replace them easily or move them.

[ENTERPRISE]

 

No need to hot glue, put one long piece of velcro across the bottom, then smaller opposite pieces under each PCIe daughter board. then you can replace them easily or move them.

 

Velcro was another idea I did have as it does make maintenance easier for sure. Might just go that route then now its its been suggested again lol

[ENTERPRISE]

So we have another update on the build as it enters phase 3.

 

There was a moment where I wondered if I would get the second PSU in, I meant to take a picture but essentially where the USB riser cards were located on the motherboard, the PSU covers them. This in itself is no issue.....however the tops of the USB connect come ever so slightly proud over the PSU support tabs in the case. Fortunately I was able to shape the USB wired, or should I say bend them in a position whereby I could get the PSU into place.

 

A further bonus to this was that that PSU actually pushes down ever so slightley onto the USB connectors/risers which will keep them in place, so no need for velcro or hot glue to anchor those down !

 

Once all the relevant cables were in place into the system PSU (EVGA) the Team Group Tforce SSD was installed into place somewhere accessible for any future maintenance.

 

Lastly the only thing to do was to ensure that all the PCIe risers were functioning correctly and communicating with the motherboard. Fotunately all was well, you will see from the images that I used a trusty old Quadro card I had in my posession. As the tolerances on the riser cards with respects to the screw holes was a little on the looser side, I noticed that when installing the GPU that the fixing bracket did not line up with the case screw hole. So I went back and put the GPU into each slot, undid the fixing screws and moved the risers forward using the card until the holes lined up and then resecured the risers, Glad I noticed before installing the real GPU's.

 

[bonami2]

It alive!

[jpmboy]

That is looking real good... Six cards to crunch? Nice!

 

[ENTERPRISE]

That is looking real good... Six cards to crunch? Nice!

 

Yup, 6 GPU unit, should see some nice out put

[tictoc]

Here's a WU running on a GPU that is more than 2x as powerful as the 1070 I tested before.

 

OS: Arch Linux

Kernel: 5.6.14

Driver: 440.82

GPU: RTX 2080 Super

 

p13406 (core_22)

PCIe 3.0 x16: TPF - 01:09 | ppd - 2,512,601 || PCIe Utilization - 18% | GPU Utilization - 97% | GPU Power - 220W | Clocks - 1935core|7500mem

PCIe 3.0 x4: TPF - 01:12 | ppd - 2,357,211 || PCIe Utilization - 34% | GPU Utilization - 95% | GPU Power - 217W | Clocks - 1935core|7500mem

PCIe 3.0 x1: TPF - 01:28 | ppd - 1,744,509 || PCIe Utilization - 50% | GPU Utilization - 84% | GPU Power - 190W | Clocks - 1935core|7500mem

PCIe 2.0 x1: TPF - 01:50 | ppd - 1,248,271 || PCIe Utilization - 55% | GPU Utilization - 77% | GPU Power - 168W | Clocks - 1965core|7500mem

 

While I was testing this, I realized that the earlier numbers I reported with a 1070 are not accurate. I was using the x1 slot in my x399 board, and that slot is PCIe 2.0 x1.

That means that the performance at PCIe 3.0 x1 is going to be quite a bit better than what I posted before.:applaud:

Edited May 30, 2020 by tictoc

[ENTERPRISE]

Here's a WU running on a GPU that is more than 2x as powerful as the 1070 I tested before.

 

OS: Arch Linux

Kernel: 5.6.14

Driver: 440.82

GPU: RTX 2080 Super

 

p13406 (core_22)

PCIe 3.0 x16: TPF - 01:09 | ppd - 2,512,601 || PCIe Utilization - 18% | GPU Utilization - 97% | GPU Power - 220W | Clocks - 1935core|7500mem

PCIe 3.0 x4: TPF - 01:12 | ppd - 2,357,211 || PCIe Utilization - 34% | GPU Utilization - 95% | GPU Power - 217W | Clocks - 1935core|7500mem

PCIe 3.0 x1: TPF - 01:28 | ppd - 1,744,509 || PCIe Utilization - 50% | GPU Utilization - 84% | GPU Power - 190W | Clocks - 1935core|7500mem

PCIe 2.0 x1: TPF - 01:50 | ppd - 1,248,271 || PCIe Utilization - 55% | GPU Utilization - 77% | GPU Power - 168W | Clocks - 1965core|7500mem

 

While I was testing this, I realized that the earlier numbers I reported with a 1070 are not accurate. I was using the x1 slot in my x399 board, and that slot is PCIe 2.0 x1.

That means that the performance at PCIe 3.0 x1 is going to be quite a bit better than what I posted before.:applaud:

 

Nice thanks for the extra data. Will also amend my table, what was the PCIe version where you using for these number's ?

[tictoc]

Everything that I had previously tested at x1, was at PCIe 2.0 x1.