Cudalucas on cheap cards
 

I was looking at an online shop and they are clearing out old stock. They have the following:

ASUS GeForce GT 430 700MHZ 1GB 1.2GHZ GDDR3 Lowprofile DVI HDMI VGA PCI-E Video Card [B]40$[/B]

ASUS GeForce GT 520 810MHZ 1GB 1.2GHZ GDDR3 DVI HDMI VGA PCI-E Video Card [B]45$[/B]

EVGA GeForce GT 520 Fermi 810MHZ 1024MB 1.4GHZ DDR3 PCI-E VGA DVI HDMI Video Card [B]50$[/B]

Gigabyte GeForce GT 520 Fermi 810MHZ 1GB 1.3GHZ DDR3 Low Profile DVI HDMI HDCP PCI-E DX11 Video Card [B]46$[/B]

PNY GeForce GT 430 700MHZ 1GB 1.8GHZ DDR3 PCI-E VGA DVI-I HDMI HDCP Video Card [B]35$[/B]

Any comments on which is the better deal? What might I obtain in the way of results?

This is an attractive option for me since my system is too old to justify any expensive new cards, ideed if it can run them at all. These older cards cost next to nothing and will most likely be compatible with my current crap. When I do upgrade, I can still keep the card as a secondary cruncher.

Comments?

This useful [URL="http://mersenne-aries.sili.net/cudalucas.php"]webpage[/URL] gives a comparison of graphics card performance for CUDALucas.

[URL]http://mersenne-aries.sili.net/cudalucas.php[/URL]

mognuts

It seems the 430 is the better card. This is twice as fast as a core in my box. I think I'll do it.

You will do disproportionally better with at least a $109 card (550Ti, like a EVGA 01G-P3-1556-KR). You will do better still with higher cards - they will all get discounted soon.

[QUOTE=Batalov;297829]You will do disproportionally better with at least a $109 card (550Ti, like a EVGA 01G-P3-1556-KR). You will do better still with higher cards - they will all get discounted soon.[/QUOTE]

Using the link from post 2 to compare, the improvement appears quite proportional from these to the $109 you cite. 2.5x the performance for 2.5x the price. So, on what computations is the 550ti a bigger improvement?

Is the power use less than 2.5x larger?

Well, actually, I flipped some webpages and it is hard to beat a $19.99* [URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127602"]430 card[/URL]. (Forget about $40.) Geez, these are really being dumped.

Maybe the question should be - is it not too early to buy. :-) They will be cheaper still.

[QUOTE=rajula;297865]"$19.99 after mail-in rebate card"[/QUOTE]
I didn't see the rebate info the first time I looked, I usually block javascript to sites. I'm going to see if that is what happened.

I went back and again didn't see the rebates until I told the chrome extension scriptno to allow all blocked for session.
I wonder what other bargains I've missed by not letting the sites do more when I visit

[QUOTE=only_human;297866]I didn't see the rebate info the first time I looked, I usually block javascript to sites. I'm going to see if that is what happened.

I went back and again didn't see the rebates until I told the chrome extension scriptno to allow all blocked for session.
I wonder what other bargains I've missed by not letting the sites do more when I visit[/QUOTE]

I wouldn't worry too much, as far as rebates go. Those things are scams more often than not (and when not, they're still a pain in the butt).

[QUOTE=Dubslow;297894]I wouldn't worry too much, as far as rebates go. Those things are scams more often than not (and when not, they're still a pain in the butt).[/QUOTE]I hate rebates and have has some trouble in the past.

One consideration for me is I strongly prefer silent cards. Both for the quiet and also there is no fan to wear out.

That leaves out much of the high end but most of those are overkill for my needs.

This seems not that bad:
Fanless, $77, before $10 rebate
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121469[/url]
ASUS ENGT440 DC SL/DI/1GD3 GeForce GT 440 (Fermi) 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

As the Kepler cards are going to push prices down for the rest, maybe I will wait a bit. There are a couple of silent GTS 450 cards manufactured but I didn't notice them when I was looking at the buy sites. I didn't see any silent GTX 550 Ti's and even though I have a couple of big power supplies sitting around somewhere or other, if I stick with the 440 I am probably going to be able to avoid upgrading power.

About fans: I prefer them since they can cope with a variable ambient temp, something that passive cooling cannot do. I recently returned from Africa, where I had ambients of around 45C and a passive device under load would have most probably failed.

My brother hates fans; he once had one of my old geforce cards fry when the fan failed - there was no warning and the problem wasn't detected until the card fried. But, he stays put in a cool room ...

I don't know if I can even support one - my box is old, Pentium D on Asus P5MT. I don't want to put any money in this ancient rig, not now (a coup d'etat ruined me and my business). Twenty or thirty bux is pocket change, and will still double productivity ...

When I go for a shiny new 8 core Xeon, I'll pick up a pair of 580's.

[QUOTE=Batalov;297829]You will do disproportionally better with at least a $109 card (550Ti, like a EVGA 01G-P3-1556-KR). You will do better still with higher cards - they will all get discounted soon.[/QUOTE]