Guidance for building a folding dedicated computer

[Nathan_P]

For me, PCIe 3 was worth an extra 1-2% over PCIe 2. that doesn't sound like a lot but when its a 1070 pushing 600k that's an extra 12k PPD

[QuintLeo]

Both systems running Slackware 14.x with a modern kernel. But I also got this same amount last year on Debian.

How did you get folding working on Slackware (I'm presuming 14.2)?

I'd LOVE to drop XUbuntu on my dedicated folding rigs but could never get folding running under Slackware....


As far as PCI-E utilization goes - it goes in bursts/packets, so while the average might be low there will be times it saturates or at least on PCI-E 3 16x gets heavy loaded.

[v00d00]

Its not impossible to fold on any Linux distro. But their are a couple of caveats.

I dont use FAHControl. So I dont need any dependencies attached to it. I only use FAHClient and its web management interface. Everything else is run from scripts. Mostly a script that checks its working, something to look for hangs and a toolkit script that can display logs, delete and reinstall FAH from a snapshot, change client-types, etc. (just a case statement with a ton of options).

I've done it this way since they released a Linux client (cant remember when that was off-hand, but i've been running FAH on Linux since v3, although it was run via Wine back then). My machines are essentially Slack 14.1 with updates applied. If you want hard, try getting v6 to work on LinuxFromScratch, that was fun. Slackware is no harder than Arch, Debian or CentOS (much easier actually, considering you dont have to faff with systemd).

Also if you decide to retry, it may be that you need to enable multilib support. If you do a search for "AlienBob multilib slackware" it will give you the lowdown on what you need and how to do it. I had to install it to get Steam to work, so that may be a reason why FAH also works. The other thing is you need a 64bit version of Linux (for the FAHCore's as I remember). I use Slackware 64.

[bruce]

Most of the discussions by folks who have successfully installed FAH on slackware are in
Q&A about unsupported distros of Linux

[v00d00]

Its fine Bruce. I will start a How-To thread later for Slackware over in unsupported distros. I did a quick search through topic titles and their doesnt appear to be a Slackware specific thread.

[Burlingtonian]

What are the current 2020 recommendations for building a folding dedicated computer from scratch? I would like to do this as cheaply as possible but am willing to spend extra to make the system energy efficient.

[HaloJones]

What are the current 2020 recommendations for building a folding dedicated computer from scratch? I would like to do this as cheaply as possible but am willing to spend extra to make the system energy efficient.

The official stance is that this project is for unused processing time on existing equipment.

If you want to build a dedicated folding computer, the biggest question would be budget. Clearly a Threadripper with twin Titan RTX would be incredibly productive but it's also enormously expensive both to build but also to run.

[Burlingtonian]

Budget is $1,000. Definitely not a Threadripper with Titan RTX .

[Joe_H]

For that budget pick out a good motherboard and CPU from your favorite, Intel or AMD, does not need to be top of the line but a few steps down will be more than enough. That should leave enough for a GPU in the mid range, RTX 2060 or Radeon 5600, again whichever you prefer - nVidia or AMD. Buy from a brand that uses quality fans for cooling.

[HaloJones]

A Z390 motherboard, a G5400, 8GB DDR4
Cheap SSD (Linux needs practically no disk space relatively - 120GB is heaps)
A P300A is an excellent case
A 550W PSU
See if you can then stretch to a 2070S.

[HaloJones]

or

AMD Athlon 3000G 3.5GHz
4GB Kingston DDR4 Memory
Gigabyte A320M-S2H inc. Radeon Vega 3
Cheap SSD (Linux needs practically no disk space relatively - 120GB is heaps)
A P300A is an excellent case
A 550W PSU
See if you can then stretch to a 2070S.

[kiore]

I have built a number of dedicated folding rigs but have always stuck to the principle that it should be useful for other things or easily repurposed, this allows for sale or gifting on should you want to do something else or build a new one.
Probably the easiest option for this price is a 2nd hand desktop with a quad core CPU, that you can add a powerful PSU and slot in a fast modern GPU with room for a 2nd in the future as mentioned. This may already have an OS or if you like and are up for it run on Linux which currently runs better than windows for GPUs. I always try and leave room for an upgrade because I always want to add stuff at a later date.
There are some bargain ex mining rigs around but they often have poor PCIE slots as this not critical for mining. There are also 2nd hand mining cards but there can be compatibility issues with these and of course they were probably heavily used.
F@H doesn't care too much about peripherals, a curved screen won't make it faster, when I lived by myself I ran mine in the open on test benches, or just with the sides off the case for airflow. The one time I did built a dedicated rig on a plywood hand made test bench with metal struts holding the fan/radiator for 3 hybrid cooled GPUs it was 'cleaned' by a helpful person with with window cleaner spray. My fault is was in the open near a window and very dusty, 2 GPUs and the PSU survived and that was my last open build.

[MeeLee]

For a $1000 budget,
Personally, I'd get a Ryzen 3 3200g system, with 2x4GB of DDR4 RAM, A bronze 80+ 700W PSU, 2x RTX 2060 ($100 CPU, $100 Mobo, $75 RAM, $25 SSD, $50 PSU, $600 for 2x GPU) = $50 left over for a case.

Prices of electronics going to lower in about 2 weeks, when shipments from Asia come in.

If you plan on upgrading later, I'd get a single 2070 Super instead. It's a little slower than 2x RTX 2060 KOs, but leaves a slot open for a future upgrade.
The end of the year is a good time to get the upgrade we've been promised since May (but hasn't been done due to transportation limits set due to Corona).

[bikeaddict]

The way I did it was to pick up a couple used prebuilt workstations with decent power supplies and PCIe cables, an HP Z240 (400W) and a Dell Precision T3600 (635W). They are sometimes on Craigslist, Letgo, OfferUp, Facebook Marketplace or local used computer stores.

I installed some mid range GPUs, a GTX 1660 Super and 1660 Ti (the Ti appears to be a waste of money since the Super can do within 30-40K the same PPD).

There's a site that shows how to upgrade old prebuilts at https://www.greenpcgamers.com/

[Burlingtonian]

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 ?