Guidance for building a folding dedicated computer

[PantherX]

...What will be the approximate PPD with a single 2070 Super added to this system and running 24/7 ?

I think it was around 1.6 Million PPD (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... =323814829) from this thread: viewtopic.php?f=38&t=34510

[kiore]

Thanks to all for your replies. I have managed to locate a Ryzen 3 3200g system, with 2x4GB of DDR4 RAM and am working on the graphic card(s). One question: What will be the approximate PPD with a single 2070 Super added to this system and running 24/7 ?

In windows or Linux? PPD will vary most people report best numbers but this card will be very fast this in the top performing cards group. Something faster will cost lots more.

[Burlingtonian]

I am planning to run Linux (Arch Linux) as I gather from the forum it is the the most efficient OS for folding. Still in the steep part of the Linux learning curve but for now it's my new hobby.Thanks to Covid-19 I have time on my hands.

[MeeLee]

I believe it's about 1,37M PPD on Core 21, not sure on core 22, I haven't ran that specific GPU on core 22 yet.
You can also fold on the Ryzen 3 IGP. But don't fold on the CPU.
The CPU is just to feed GPUs.
If you want to CPU fold, you'll have to get something like a Ryzen 9 3900x , Intel Xeon 10/20 c/t at 3,5Ghz or higher.
Anything lower, and PPD will be low.

The Ryzen (with the correct motherboard) hopefully will be able to run 3 GPUs on x8/x4/x4 speed. The x4 speed is good enough for the RTX 2070 Super in Linux, which once you buy a faster GPU, you can swap out the 2070 from it's x8 slot, and occupy it with a faster GPU.

[MeeLee]

There has been no specific tests done that prove that Arch Linux, or any other linux, is any faster than the other.
You'll have to make/compile your own version of FAH, as FAH only offers a Debian (deb) or Redhat (RPM) package.
If you are into make/compiling software, this can be done on any other version of Linux as well.
If you want fastest performance, you can run your system headless (server/lite).
It is my personal opinion (but I could be wrong) that all Linux versions based on the same kernel, offer the same performance.
It is my personal belief that, (in theory at least) there's little to no difference between Redhat vs Debian operating system in performance.

With the exception of if your system is lacking RAM, has a slow disk, and the OS GUI needs some more of those resources to run.
Or, if the software for that distribution was ported, it could be a little slower and buggier as well.

While Mint is much larger than Lubuntu, the overhead is just a few hundred MBs of RAM. If you have 8GB of RAM, with only 4GB used for folding, performance differences will be nearly identical.
If you only have 4GB of RAM, then Lubuntu vs Mint will make a difference, with preferences going to the lowest footprint system.
But if you're running less than 4GB of RAM, it may be easier to just upgrade your system with more RAM, than it is to run a server/lite version of Linux, and figure out how to make everything work.

You could start out with a server and a personal (smaller/cheaper) PC,
Run a GUI on both, and while your server is folding, you can use your personal PC, to see how you can make it work without a GUI.
Or, set up everything with GUI, and then (for debian) do:
sudo init 5
sudo service lddm/sddm/lightdm/lxdm/gddm3 stop
(whatever your desktop manager is).
Which will close off the GUI, and free a few MBs of memory.

[Burlingtonian]

I can't say enough about the level of support provided on this forum. I have now added a 2070 Super and am happily folding away. Running the "new" machine on Windows for the moment but converting it to Linux on the weekend. Will post a log next week if I run into any issues or feel the need for some fine-tuning. Thank you to all and take care.