Hi there, would anyone be able to help us find where we can buy a used GPU computer... bare bones... to be used for some BOINC projects that need GPUs?

We are also willing to build one if we can't find a used one locally or online, just enough to get good GPU performance. (Meaning, we don't want a crappy GPU, but don't want top of the line that costs $500+ for the GPU alone, so something in the middle. If there's a good cut off point where the crappy GPUs end and the better performing ones begin, that is where we'd want to go).

I am sure this information can be found online, but we were hoping to get the latest, up to date recommendations since computer hardware technology changes so quickly. (I haven't personally built a computer in over 10 years. We have some spare cases and motherboards and hard drives lying around, but they might not even be compatible anymore!)

Thank you in advance!

PS-This will be a "donation" of time, equipment and electricity from our company: http://www.netfloorusa.com. Our main HQ are in Charlotte, NC, so if there is a place locally to source used hardware, that would be nice.

We already have a couple devices starting to process away, but they are slow compared to what a GPU machine could do. We would like to do even more by having a dedicated, bare bones GPU machine that can run all day and night to help the cause(s).

I have a high suspicion that you're a spammer.
If you aren't, best take the URL out of your post (you have an hour to edit your post) and rename your account to one that doesn't include the advertisement.

If you do not comply within my evening, I'll remove you.

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It's not an advertisement, but thanks for your "suspicion"

Anyone else actually want to make a recommendation?

Thanks,

Ryan Hulland[/quote]

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Netfloor USA Access Floors

(Probably Ryan Hulland posting for Netfloor USA's account)

PS-The name of this account is the name of our company. Since we are looking for advice on how to build a middle of the road GPU machine to crunch some numbers at our office, on behalf of the company, using company resources, it made the most sense to name our account the name of our company. That's not an advertisement.. it's the name of our company. Truly, I don't know what else would make more sense to name it.

Other employees at our company have either just signed up or are planning to soon, and have named their accounts acordingly, depending if they're running BOINC from their personal devices or at work.

I'm not really sure how someone could "spam" distributed computing...? Either you set up BOINC and crunch numbers, or you don't.

To be honest, my friend, I thought the spirit of this whole project was to help science, medicine, and the world in general. I don't appreciate your hostile tone when myself and my company are just trying to pitch in and do our part.

My post didn't have any links to non-kid friendly material, no "viagra" advertisements, etc. You can kindly check our website and check my personal accounts (like twitter, linkedin, etc.) and I think you'll find I'm certainly not a spammer.

Sure, I posted a link to our website, but that's because we are proud to embark on this journey. I only wish I had found this a long time ago. I'm not one to hide behind fake screen names or anonymous IPs. I post either using my name, or my company's name. We're proud of what we do, and we aren't ashamed to use our real names.

Thank you,

Ryan Hulland.

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Netfloor USA Access Floors

(Probably Ryan Hulland posting for Netfloor USA's account)

There is also the rule No commercial advertisements.
You did not remove the URL from your first post as I asked you to or renamed your account to not include the company name.

Instead you now have your account named after your company, you have an URL to your company in your first post, you have that same URL in your signature, in the URL in your account and you're telling everyone who works for your company to go to projects and make multiple accounts with that company name and probably put the URL in the account, in the profile and in the signature as well.

How is that any different from what a spammer does?

In any case, I've sent word to my 'boss', asked him what to do about this. For the moment I will let things go, giving you the benefit of the doubt.

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Well, you and your 'boss' will do what you feel is right.

I see your point, but from my point of view, creating this account is no different than any single person or organization creating an account and using their name. I'm not sure what the difference is. I'm not trying to get anyone to buy our products... hehe, I doubt anyone here would be interested.

If the link is what bothers you, please feel free to remove it. You can remove my signature too, if you want. (I thought that's what signatures were for, though, to link to your homepage or website...?)

I'm not telling everyone who works for my company to create an account and add a link... sheeesh. They can create their own account if they want and call it whatever they want. But so far I think they are using their REAL names.

Just please don't remove the posts, because I'm seriously asking for advice on building a GPU machine.

So far we have been working on the Citizen Science Grid (SubsetSum@Home). Myself and another employee, George, just started crunching numbers 2 days ago, but feel free to check our team stats and see the progress we've made! (We started a team that we could all join!)

I want to join the MilkyWay project, but I read that is best done with a GPU... hence my original question.

To answer your final question: "How is that any different from what a spammer does?" here is my answer: 'spammers', whatever they are trying to do, don't try to get their employees to volunteer their computers for a good cause. They don't have a couple devices running 24/7 trying to make the world better. I doubt they'd waste their time on that. I doubt they would have even replied to you.

Like I said, I'm a real person, trying to help. Please Google my name and/or company. We're not spamming, we are trying to get involved.

Is there anyone else who can answer the GPU question?

Thanks,
Ryan[/quote]

Depending on what machines you already have on hand, you'll probably get the most "bang for your buck" if you just add a GPU to an existing machine, unless you're in the market for a new system anyway. Which card is the "best" somewhat depends on the project you want to do GPU computing for, since they all use different software that uses different manufacturers and cards... differently. If you pick one project you want to optimize your crunching for, you can ask around at that project's forum for the best GPU for them. Tools like WUprop might give you some info to make an informed decision as well, though they can be somewhat difficult to read.

Have you considered making a team for your company? That way, you could have both your employees and credit from "company" computers all contribute to a combined statistic, but still allow everyone individual control over their contributions. I was going to point you to the BOINC-wide teams site, but it appears that has been disabled due to spamming.

At any rate, since your username seems to be against the forum rules here (but this has nothing to do with the projects, where you should be okay--lots of companies have user accounts and teams) I might recommend you rename it as a personal account since your username on this forum has no bearing on your computing or any of the projects.

Hope I've provided some useful information, and hope that your experiences here won't dissuade you from contributing. Welcome aboard, and happy crunching!

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My Detailed BOINC Stats