X1950 AGP is Folding

[Athlex]

Just fired up my new X1950Pro AGP yesterday and it's running beautifully. I wasn't sure initially since everything I'd read about previous referred to PCI-E cards. F@H's docs also don't mention support for Catalyst 6.11, but it appears to be working fine on my Win2K box.

Also, if anyone is considering this card for their AGP system, try to get the Powercolor one with the Arctic Cooling heatsink. I picked up a Visiontek one at a BestBuy B&M. The box brags about it's <27dB cooler, but it's the loudest component in my PC by a long shot.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

:thumbsup: Damn, now my wife is going to want an ATI video card...

 

[GLeeM]

What are your frame times?

How much should I expect to pay for one of those?

Thanks!

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

"I want to keep my video concentrated on making things pretty". Okay, so I guess she doesnt' want an ATI video card to crunch more. ROFL

 

[Ayah]

Nice.

 

[CupCak3]

yes please post those frametimes

 

[Athlex]

Originally posted by: GLeeM
What are your frame times?

How much should I expect to pay for one of those?

Hi GLeeM,
I'm still familiarizing myself with the GPU client. For efficiency, I run the console client, but it bombs out any time I run something that uses 3D graphics so I haven't been running it as a service like v5.04. What would be the best way to measure WU completion time? Does the GPU crunch the same WUs as the CPU client?

The X1950 Pro AGP runs $299 at Best Buy. A little annoying to pay a $100+ premium over the PCI-E version, but game FPS are noticably improved and it means I can postpone upgrading my SK8N for a while to come. Strangely, it comes with a 6-pin PCI-E power connector, but fortunately it comes w/ an adapter.

Let me know the best way to bench and I'll get those #s to you. I'll also stop wasting time with the ATI video transcoder.
/atx

BTW, anyone interested in a a Geforce 6800?

 

[Athlex]

Originally posted by: Fullmetal Chocobo
"I want to keep my video concentrated on making things pretty". Okay, so I guess she doesnt' want an ATI video card to crunch more. ROFL

LOL
It can crunch AND make things pretty. Prettier, even!

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Originally posted by: Athlex

Originally posted by: Fullmetal Chocobo
"I want to keep my video concentrated on making things pretty". Okay, so I guess she doesnt' want an ATI video card to crunch more. ROFL

LOL
It can crunch AND make things pretty. Prettier, even!

She's afraid something will slow her Guild Wars down... hehe She has a 7900GT right now... And she won't let me get a 8800 because then my card will be faster than hers.

 

[chris huff]

Gleem and anyone thinking of upgrading to the AGP version.

Here is my situation and progression plan.

I currently have a skt 754 A64 3000+ with 9800Pro video card 1gb ddr400 ram.
I am going to buy an ASrock mb that has C2D support, DDR & DDR2 support, AGP & PCI X4 support ($60)
I will probably get an E6600, but maybe just an E6400 ($200-$300)
I will add the X1950Pro in a few months (pci-e x16)
This board shows no improvement from DDR to DDR2.
When I am ready, I'll upgrade to an Asus mb and DDR2 so I can overclock the CPU.

Just wanted to give you an option that might be more future proof and only "waste" $60 for a temporary mb.

*edited to clarify which X1950

 

[Athlex]

Originally posted by: Fullmetal Chocobo
She's afraid something will slow her Guild Wars down... hehe She has a 7900GT right now... And she won't let me get a 8800 because then my card will be faster than hers.

It'll just be a matter of time before there's a GPU client for that that 8800 too... I know- get a X1950XT/X so hers is faster, THEN 8800 time once the GPU client is out!

 

[GLeeM]

Originally posted by: Athlex

Originally posted by: GLeeM
What are your frame times?

How much should I expect to pay for one of those?

Hi GLeeM,
I'm still familiarizing myself with the GPU client. For efficiency, I run the console client, but it bombs out any time I run something that uses 3D graphics so I haven't been running it as a service like v5.04. What would be the best way to measure WU completion time? Does the GPU crunch the same WUs as the CPU client?

The X1950 Pro AGP runs $299 at Best Buy. A little annoying to pay a $100+ premium over the PCI-E version, but game FPS are noticably improved and it means I can postpone upgrading my SK8N for a while to come. Strangely, it comes with a 6-pin PCI-E power connector, but fortunately it comes w/ an adapter.

Let me know the best way to bench and I'll get those #s to you. I'll also stop wasting time with the ATI video transcoder.
/atx

BTW, anyone interested in a a Geforce 6800?

Hi Athlex!

1. I haven't run the GPU client yet, but the frame times should be in a log file (maybe named FAHlog.txt or something like that). During a time when only F@H is running, check how many minutes and seconds it takes per frame (percent). If possible average several frames.

Frame time is what we want to know, but you can find the points per hour (PPH) this way:
PPH = WU points / total hours to finish
total hours to finish = minutes per frame X 100 / 60
PPDay = PPH X 24

So if your WU is worth 330 points and your frame time was 6.3 minutes (6 minutes and 24 seconds) you would get 742.5 PPD.
If your frame time was 10 minutes you would get 475 PPD
And if 15 minutes - 317 PPD

WU points (value) can be found here.

2. GPU has different WUs.

3. Is your computer dual core and if so do you run a CPU client also?

4. Does the GPU client slow down normal use of the computer (lag)?

5. Are you running at 3D speeds?

6. What does the ATI video transcoder do?

 

[Athlex]

Originally posted by: GLeeM
1. I haven't run the GPU client yet, but the frame times should be in a log file (maybe named FAHlog.txt or something like that). During a time when only F@H is running, check how many minutes and seconds it takes per frame (percent). If possible average several frames.

Frame time is what we want to know, but you can find the points per hour (PPH) this way:
PPH = WU points / total hours to finish
total hours to finish = minutes per frame X 100 / 60
PPDay = PPH X 24

So if your WU is worth 330 points and your frame time was 6.3 minutes (6 minutes and 24 seconds) you would get 742.5 PPD.
If your frame time was 10 minutes you would get 475 PPD
And if 15 minutes - 317 PPD

WU points (value) can be found here.

2. GPU has different WUs.

3. Is your computer dual core and if so do you run a CPU client also?

4. Does the GPU client slow down normal use of the computer (lag)?

5. Are you running at 3D speeds?

6. What does the ATI video transcoder do?

1. Frametimes are approx. 8.5 minutes for this 100 frame 330 point WU. ~560 PPD? (Project 2732)
Dumb question- is that good? I never checked w/ the CPU client since I was always running it as a service in the background.

3. I'm running a single core Opteron 150 which is at 100% load running the GPU client.

4. Normal computer use doesn't seem to be affected. If I fire up a game in 3D without closing the GPU client, audio and video halt a lot. Eventually the GPU client shuts itself down, but it takes a couple of minutes. The GPU client also like RAM, most CPU WUs I've seen (no amber core) are 4MB-16MB, rarely more. Both GPU WUs were ~164MB

5. What 3D speeds?

6. The ATI Avivo transcoder is an addon to the Catalyst drivers that use the GPU's pixel shaders to speed video scaling. Yields about a 50% improvement in video encoding speed on a single core sytem. The downside is that it is not very task scheduler friendly and at 'normal' priority causes the computer to halt frequently. To fix this I have to open the task manager and assign CLI.EXE (ATI's GPU CLI?) to low priority. I've been using it to make MPEG2 files for DVDs. Takes about 45 minutes for a 15 minute video. Doesn't seem that fast, but the price (free) was right.

 

[Assimilator1]

Originally posted by: Athlex

Originally posted by: GLeeM
What are your frame times?

How much should I expect to pay for one of those?

Hi GLeeM,
I'm still familiarizing myself with the GPU client. For efficiency, I run the console client, but it bombs out any time I run something that uses 3D graphics so I haven't been running it as a service like v5.04. What would be the best way to measure WU completion time? Does the GPU crunch the same WUs as the CPU client?

The X1950 Pro AGP runs $299 at Best Buy. A little annoying to pay a $100+ premium over the PCI-E version, but game FPS are noticably improved and it means I can postpone upgrading my SK8N for a while to come. Strangely, it comes with a 6-pin PCI-E power connector, but fortunately it comes w/ an adapter.

Let me know the best way to bench and I'll get those #s to you. I'll also stop wasting time with the ATI video transcoder.
/atx

BTW, anyone interested in a a Geforce 6800?

Aww man your just a little too late ,I just took delivery of a 2nd hand X800XT PE AGP for a modest £92 (+P&P)

FMC
Lol
I don't see her on anymore ,different name or is it still time zone issues?

chris huff
Just wanted to give you an option that might be more future proof and only "waste" $60 for a temporary mb.
+ cost of CPU
Here you can get a S754 DFI PCIE mbrd for £30!
Personally I choose to stick with my old setup this time round (will be last time)

Anyway ,back to F@H

 

[GLeeM]

I don't know for sure how PPD compare to other ATI cards, but it seems good compared to the F@H benchmark computer (P4@2.8) on regular WUs - 110 PPD.

"5. What 3D speeds?"
I read something about when playing games the card speeds up to full speed and that with a utility tool there is a way to set it to run at 3D speeds all the time.

Sounds like this would be a perfect upgrade for my dual Xeon 1.6@2.5, maybe! that is if I can keep my kids from playing games too much on it.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Originally posted by: Assimilator1

Originally posted by: Athlex

Originally posted by: GLeeM
What are your frame times?

How much should I expect to pay for one of those?

Hi GLeeM,
I'm still familiarizing myself with the GPU client. For efficiency, I run the console client, but it bombs out any time I run something that uses 3D graphics so I haven't been running it as a service like v5.04. What would be the best way to measure WU completion time? Does the GPU crunch the same WUs as the CPU client?

The X1950 Pro AGP runs $299 at Best Buy. A little annoying to pay a $100+ premium over the PCI-E version, but game FPS are noticably improved and it means I can postpone upgrading my SK8N for a while to come. Strangely, it comes with a 6-pin PCI-E power connector, but fortunately it comes w/ an adapter.

Let me know the best way to bench and I'll get those #s to you. I'll also stop wasting time with the ATI video transcoder.
/atx

BTW, anyone interested in a a Geforce 6800?

FMC
Lol
I don't see her on anymore ,different name or is it still time zone issues?

No, she's been playing a lot less, as she got a game for the PS2. So Okami (great game, by the way--I play it when I have time, as I can't play GW right now, as I have no computer besides the laptop...) is her current obsession. When I do get my computer up and running (just ordered the case & PSU; more will come soon), then she will be on hopefully... Oh, plus the fact that she is working now. So instead of playing Guild Wars all of her waking hours, she is a working girl who plays PS2 in her spare time.

 

[CupCak3]

you should be able to set the clock speeds in the ati Catalyst control center. 3D speeds for this card are 575 for core and ~1400 for memory depending on your model. That should give you a decent boost in speeds

 

[IEC]

How things have changed :shocked:

I remember running F@H on my old K7 500MHz...

Now if only my X850XT could run F@H...

 

[Athlex]

Originally posted by: GLeeM
I don't know for sure how PPD compare to other ATI cards, but it seems good compared to the F@H benchmark computer (P4@2.8) on regular WUs - 110 PPD.

"5. What 3D speeds?"
I read something about when playing games the card speeds up to full speed and that with a utility tool there is a way to set it to run at 3D speeds all the time.

Sounds like this would be a perfect upgrade for my dual Xeon 1.6@2.5, maybe! that is if I can keep my kids from playing games too much on it.

Sounds like the GPU speeds are pretty good. I should run the standard CPU client on this box again for comparison...
One other 'gotcha' I remember from installing the GPU client is that it crashed out complaining it was missing some DLL. Directx 9c was installed and working with all the games I play, but re-running the DX installer loaded whatever the GPU client was looking for.

Good point about the running speed of the video card. RivaTuner and the Catalyst control panel both report 575MHz (normal), but I'm not sure how to check clock speed in real time. Any ideas on how to check this?

Sounds like a great machine for this card. It's too bad the GPU client is so CPU intensive or you could crunch 3 WUs at a time! So far I've been very happy with this card. I was hesitant to switch to ATI from my nVidia because their drivers are cumbersome (catalyst control center is junk) and ATI cards tend to use cheap power supply components and skip on features like PWM fans. Noisy fan aside, this upgrade has been pretty flawless.

 

[Soulkeeper]

impressive
yeah i'd like to see comparisons between cpu vs. gpu

 

[Athlex]

I did some more reading about GPU WU scoring and it looks like my system is performing slightly above their benchmark system.

F@H is awarding 660 points per day (for now) for GPU work based on their benchmark machine with an X1900XT. The plan is to give 440 PPD for GPU work, but it's so CPU intensive, they're adding extra points during the beta period.

I figure I'm doing about 560 PPD with my current setup (~85% of the benchmark system) with 75% of the shaders (36 vs. 48). My mind boggles to think of the kind of work an 8800GTX could do with its 128 shaders... :shocked:

 

[Athlex]

Originally posted by: Soulkeeper
impressive
yeah i'd like to see comparisons between cpu vs. gpu

Anything specific you'd like me to benchmark?
When I run the GPU client (core10), it would complete 1 frame in about 8.5 minutes. With the CPU client my Opteron 150 (2580MHz, 1MB cache) did one frame (core78) in about 39 minutes.

 

[GLeeM]

Originally posted by: Athlex

Originally posted by: Soulkeeper
impressive
yeah i'd like to see comparisons between cpu vs. gpu

Anything specific you'd like me to benchmark?
When I run the GPU client (core10), it would complete 1 frame in about 8.5 minutes. With the CPU client my Opteron 150 (2580MHz, 1MB cache) did one frame (core78) in about 39 minutes.

one frame (core78) in about 39 minutes.
You have to say which project this was so we know how many points it is worth. (We don't have anything to compare against)

 

[Athlex]

Originally posted by: GLeeM
one frame (core78) in about 39 minutes.
You have to say which project this was so we know how many points it is worth. (We don't have anything to compare against)

d'oh! Project 2125 (392 points, 100 frames), so about 145 points per day on that one.

 

[GLeeM]

How big is the WU download?

How big is the results upload?

You should be able to see this data in the FAHlog.txt file.