Power Folding...?

[brownstone]

I'm just curious as to how I can increase my points without "increasing" my equipment. I've heard a number of different references to items that can score big points in folding, but I have no idea what they are or how to do them. Part of my curiosity stems from the fact that after folding for 24 hrs straight on my dual core machine (cpu) only, I'm looking at a paltry 100-120 points. Does this seem right? If this has been answered before, please point me in the right direction. Alas, I would like to add some points for Team Anandtech, but at the current rate I think I'm actually sucking points from the team.

Thanks!

 

[TonyH]

Any points you make are points we didn't have and they all help. And we welcome them no matter how small the contribution is.

You say you're running a dual core processor. Depending on which one it is you may be able to run SMPs and that would boost your output. Also what video card do you have installed in your machine?

 

[brownstone]

In this particular machine it is just onboard. What video card is the best bang for the buck for folding? Is there a superior brand for folding, ati vs. nvidia? So many questions. Thanks for the reply.

 

[dajeepster]

Is there a superior brand for folding, ati vs. nvidia? So many questions. Thanks for the reply.

depends which programs you want to do.

nvidia is best for GPUgrid, F@H, Seti@home

ATI is best for Milkyway@home, Collatz, DNETC

nvidia can do all these while ati can not do GPUgrid, and seti@home (for now)

Keep in mind that you must have a card that is direct x10 capable to do any of these.

 

[dajeepster]

oh... and the best ppd for cpu currently is Aqua@home

 

[TonyH]

I'm running a couple of Nvidia 8800s and a GTS250 that do quite well. At the moment Nvidia has a definite advantage on the folding production. The Nvidia card needs to be CUDA compatible (8xxx or newer). Higher end cards do best but you don't need to break the bank buying the top of the line card to see decent results. My 250 does a good job for a mid range card.

BTW, you didn't mention what processor you have in your machine.

 

[brownstone]

oh... and the best ppd for cpu currently is Aqua@home

Interesting, I'd never heard of that one.

 

[brownstone]

BTW, you didn't mention what processor you have in your machine.

It's an AMD 2.8ghz. My 965be doesn't do much better either (maybe a couple hundred ppd). Although I've read mixed reviews on whether I should do smp's and gpu folding or just gpu and single core folding on a quad core.

 

[TonyH]

The 965BE can definitely do SMPs and should easily get your ppd up to a few thousand.

 

[brownstone]

The 965BE can definitely do SMPs and should easily get your ppd up to a few thousand.

Will doing SMP's interfere at all with the GPU folding on the same machine? I've noticed that some processing power is used when doing GPU folding.

Also, do you have a ballpark of what your gts 250 does per day?

 

[TonyH]

I'm running my 250 with a Q6600 and the CPU does take a small hit but it's more than made up with the graphics card production.

As it stands now I'm getting somewhere around 4 - 5k from the 250 and about 2.5k from the cpu. If I were to stop the GPU I might get another 500 ppd from the processor.

 

[brownstone]

Sweet! I'm sold. I'm going to see if I can't get setup to run SMP's then. You've about got me talked into finding a gts 250 as well. Thanks for the pointers TonyH.

 

[TonyH]

Make sure that you set up the SMP with a passkey to take advantage of the bonus points.

Click here to request your passkey.

Once you've completed 10 work units, you maintain at least an 80% successful completion of assigned work units and complete the units within the desired time frame, the bonuses will kick in.

 

[SemperFi]

I quit using the gpu client with the smp client on my machine. It was actually slowing down the smp client.

 

[brownstone]

I quit using the gpu client with the smp client on my machine. It was actually slowing down the smp client.

What are you running as far as cpu/gpu? How much of a slowdown were you getting?

On a seperate note, I'm curious as to how I can track what the SMP client is doing as far as progress. With the gpu client I can just mouse over the system tray and see what my status is, but there is no icon for the SMP client that I know of. Anyone have any pointers for this?

 

[GLeeM]

how I can track what the SMP client is doing as far as progress.

HFM.NET - a monitor program.

 

[KentState]

So, is the SMP client better than running multiple instances of the command line client? I've been out of this for a long time.

 

[wbynum]

Here's my experiences after a couple weeks of folding:

1. A Phenom II quad core should get somewhere in the 5k - 6k ppd range with the better smp work units. Maybe better if it is overclocked in the 3.8ghz range. More cores really makes a difference with folding. Remember to use a passkey and pass in the -advmethods flag at the command line.

2. I prefer the smp command line client. Easy to setup, pass in whatever flags you want, etc.

3. A card like the GTS250 will do around 6k ppd.

4. Best bang for the buck is an i7 box running the smp client with the -bigadv flag. For the good bigadv WU's you get 30k - 35k on an i7 box depending on the overclock. Not for the faint of heart though as it takes 2 - 3 days to complete a bigadv WU on an i7 box.

Personally I used folding as an excuse to replace my two Phenom II boxes with i7 boxes. Come winter time I will also have my GTX470 folding. I hope the two boxes folding in the basement will help keep it warm. They certainly have been heating it up this summer.

 

[KentState]

That's for the info wbynum.

Here's what I have and let me know if I should change anyting.

i7 + Radeon 4890 desktop - run fh6.exe -smp -bigadv
2 - C2D laptop - run fh6.exe -smp
AMD 24 core server - run fh6.exe -smp -bigadv
PS3 - is there anything besides the defaults?

Is this correct or should I be doing something else?

 

[theAnimal]

That's for the info wbynum.

Here's what I have and let me know if I should change anyting.

i7 + Radeon 4890 desktop - run fh6.exe -smp -bigadv
2 - C2D laptop - run fh6.exe -smp
AMD 24 core server - run fh6.exe -smp -bigadv
PS3 - is there anything besides the defaults?

Is this correct or should I be doing something else?

Looks good, as long as the i7 is at 3.5GHz+.

 

[KentState]

Looks good, as long as the i7 is at 3.5GHz+.

The i7 is not being over clocked and I probably won't go down that path. Should I then run the F@H client differently? What would you suggest?

 

[GLeeM]

Should I then run the F@H client differently? What would you suggest?

I think theAnimal is suggesting that the i7 might not finish some -bigadv WUs in time to get the bonus if it is not OCed to at least 3.5.

In that case you should run without -bigadv.

It has been a roll of the dice lately to get the better WUs anyway, and if you don't get the best ones you will get the same ppd as without -bigadv.

The PS3 might not be worth running (electricity wise) until you need the heat to help heat the house.

 

[KentState]

OK. Thanks for the clarification.

I didn't realize that the PS3 was not a strong contributor anymore.

 

[theAnimal]

I think theAnimal is suggesting that the i7 might not finish some -bigadv WUs in time to get the bonus if it is not OCed to at least 3.5.

I don't think an i7 quad at stock would finish any bigadv on time. A 980X would be OK.

 

[KentState]

Is it not worth running the GPU client in conjunction with the smp client on my i7 machine?