[gallocs]

Hey OCN. For some reason, I got the itch to re-enter the world of [email protected] tonight. I just reconfigured my SMP client with my recently acquired passkey and hopefully, it will pump out a fair 2-3K PPD (Q6600 @ 3.5GHz, Windows 7 x64 Pro.)

However, I was wondering, do you guys think it would be worth it for me to setup a linux virtual client for CPU folding? If so, what would my projected PPD be? I was also wondering whether or not I should throw an old nVidia card into the mix(either a 9600GT, a 9800GTX+ or even my GTX260+, but idk how my PSU will like the 9800 or the 260.)

I would fold on my 5850, but I'm fairly certain that ATi cards still don't fold very well since Stanford's GPU client doesn't handle more than 320 SP's properly.

TL;DR -- Should I setup a linux virtual client? Benefits of doing this? Should I throw in an nvidia card to fold on/use physx in Batman:AA (just a thought

)?

 

[zodac]

No need to go over to a VMware anymore; the bonus points for a3 WU on the Windows SMP give better PPD than Linux now. (Guide here; you need HFM since Fahmon doesn't calculate with the bonus points)
You'll get more than 2/3k too; expect closer to 7k.

As for GPU, you can use this guide to set up your 5xxx card. It might not be as good as the nVidia equivalent, but should bring in ~4k PPD too. And an extra nVidia card is always appreciated.

Make sure you sign up for this month's Foldathon too (sig).

 

[gallocs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zodac No need to go over to a VMware anymore; the bonus points for a3 WU on the Windows SMP give better PPD than Linux now. (Guide here; you need HFM since Fahmon doesn't calculate with the bonus points) You'll get more than 2/3k too; expect closer to 7k. As for GPU, you can use this guide to set up your 5xxx card. It might not be as good as the nVidia equivalent, but should bring in ~4k PPD too. And an extra nVidia card is always appreciated. Make sure you sign up for this month's Foldathon too (sig).

Thanks for the quick and well informed reply!

I just have a few questions/comments to make:

1) A3 work units? I just updated my SMP executable to 6.29 and I'm getting an estimated PPD of ~2.8K. I am using HFM.net which appears to be a very nicely designed program, but I just want to be sure that I'm getting the max PPD out of it. Are the A3's the new I7 work units, or are they just the new standard?

2) I'll consider setting up the GPU folding in a bit; possibly later on or tomorrow, it depends on how I'm feeling. Hmm... that's not a bad estimated PPD for an ATi card... I'll have to seriously consider that.

 

[jspeedracer]

On my laptop a core 2 duo t9600 @ 2.8ghz would get about 2k ppd using a smp client with vmware player. I think you need at least 4gb of ram for it to produce good results. I am going to be trying out a few clients myself once i get my i3 clocks where I want them for 24/7. Also if you're considering buying a new gpu to fold on I just picked up a gt 240 ddr3 version and am getting about 4500 ppd and it only draws 70watts. I paid $80 for it and am pretty happy for it to just be a folding card, it doesnt do great in other benches but the card is ideal for lower power usage folding.

 

[zodac]

1) They're new with v6.29. You need a passkey and the -smp & -advmethods flags activated to get the a3s. You can check either from project number (6011-6015 & 6020-6025), or Task Manager> Processes> FahCore_a3.exe.

2) If you do set up the ATI card to fold, check my guide for the environmental variables to cut down ATI CPU usage. If you've got an a3 and (with the ATI card folding and the variables active) your PPD is still around 3k, let me know, and I'll set you up with the other flag and fixes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jspeedracer On my laptop a core 2 duo t9600 @ 2.8ghz would get about 2k ppd using a smp client with vmware player. I think you need at least 4gb of ram for it to produce good results. I am going to be trying out a few clients myself once i get my i3 clocks where I want them for 24/7. Also if you're considering buying a new gpu to fold on I just picked up a gt 240 ddr3 version and am getting about 4500 ppd and it only draws 70watts. I paid $80 for it and am pretty happy for it to just be a folding card, it doesnt do great in other benches but the card is ideal for lower power usage folding.

Odd, you don't seem to have entered that in the CPU PPD Database. Why not?

 

[jspeedracer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zodac Odd, you don't seem to have entered that in the CPU PPD Database. Why not?

I only had it up for a couple weeks before I got rid of the laptop, it was just the last time I used a linux client. Thanks for the link though, will post my results once I get my i3 up and running!

 

[zodac]

Thank you.

So you know, there's a GPU Database too.

EDIT: Make sure you use the SMP client now; gives better PPD than the VMware.

 

[jspeedracer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zodac Thank you. So you know, there's a GPU Database too. EDIT: Make sure you use the SMP client now; gives better PPD than the VMware.

I was using '[GUIDE] VMWare 3.0 (8 Core Folding w/ -bigadv) -UPDATED v1.1'

How much better would the SMP client be in ppd?

 

[gallocs]

Hm... I keep getting A1's and A73's (or core #'s... not quite sure), even though I have the -smp and -advmethods flags setup. I've also reconfigured the entire executable. Should I just let my processor fold, or should I be getting A3's?

 

[zodac]

Here are the comparisons. It looks like ~9% increase for the project, which would be similar to the other a3s.

A quad @ 4.0 Ghz gets ~10k PPD. Your one at 4.2 (with HT) would get similar numbers. (Though if someone put that info in the database, this conversation wouldn't be necessary.

)

EDIT:

Quote:

Originally Posted by gallocs Hm... I keep getting A1's and A73's (or core #'s... not quite sure), even though I have the -smp and -advmethods flags setup. I've also reconfigured the entire executable. Should I just let my processor fold, or should I be getting A3's?

The a1s are fine; sometimes you just get them. But if you're getting '73s, then I think the client isn't set up correctly. Are you running the newest version (v6.29)? And are you sure the passkey is entered correctly.

If yes to both, please post your FahLog here; it might give us some answers.

 

[gallocs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zodac Here are the comparisons. It looks like ~9% increase for the project, which would be similar to the other a3s. A quad @ 4.0 Ghz gets ~10k PPD. Your one at 4.2 (with HT) would get similar numbers. (Though if someone put that info in the database, this conversation wouldn't be necessary. )

I think you misread my OP. I have an Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600.

EDIT: Or maybe I'm just very confused... >.<

 

[zodac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gallocs I think you misread my OP. I have an Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, so my guess that A3's were for I7's was correct.

No, that was for the post above (for jspeedracer).

The i7s run a2 core WUs (-bigadv). Windows SMPs get the a3 cores.

 

[gallocs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zodac No, that was for the post above (for jspeedracer). The i7s run a2 core WUs (-bigadv). Windows SMPs get the a3 cores.

I ninja edited my last post. XD. I'm confused then... I keep getting things other than the A3 core... What exactly should I do, since I already have my executable setup with a passkey, set for -advmethods and I am using the latest .exe, 6.29. Am I missing something here?

*Note: I have the time between saves set to 3 minutes, could this be a bigg issue, since your guide said to set it at 5 minutes.

P.S. Thanks for sticking with me on all of this Zodac!

 

[jspeedracer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gallocs I ninja edited my last post. XD. I'm confused then... I keep getting things other than the A3 core... What exactly should I do, since I already have my executable setup with a passkey, set for -advmethods and I am using the latest .exe, 6.29. Am I missing something here? *Note: I have the time between saves set to 3 minutes, could this be a bigg issue, since your guide said to set it at 5 minutes. P.S. Thanks for sticking with me on all of this Zodac!

I set my saves to every 30 minutes, it seems like saves slow you down but I have no proof as to if it does or doesn't.

 

[zodac]

The checkpoint times won't make any difference to what WUs you're getting.... could you post the contents on your client.cfg file?

EDIT:

Quote:

Originally Posted by jspeedracer I set my saves to every 30 minutes, it seems like saves slow you down but I have no proof as to if it does or doesn't.

Technically you should leave it at 15 (default) for slower machines, but for anything modern (last 4 years-ish), you could put it down to 3 and not notice any difference in PPD.

 

[gallocs]

Here's the client.cfg information:

Code:

[settings]
username=gallocs
team=37726
passkey= *blanked for posting purposes*
asknet=no
machineid=1
bigpackets=big

[http]
active=no
host=localhost
port=8080
usereg=no

[core]
priority=0
cpuusage=100
disableassembly=no
checkpoint=3
ignoredeadlines=no
nocpulock=0
addr=

[power]
battery=no

[clienttype]
memory=4096
type=3

Hmmm... I just noticed... there's no mention of advancedmethods in that config.

 

[zodac]

Mine doesn't either, but if you want, add -advmethods in the same way you added -smp (with a space between both flags). Even if you do have -advmethods active, the flag won't mess anything up.

 

[PCCstudent]

gallocs, are you familar with the process of running the install.bat file for 6.29?

 

[gallocs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zodac Mine doesn't either, but if you want, add -advmethods in the same way you added -smp (with a space between both flags). Even if you do have -advmethods active, the flag won't mess anything up.

I already added that flag to the .exe... Should I definitely be getting A3's, or are other WU's still floating around for SMP clients? Does it matter that I'm using the MPICH version over the DEINO version...? I'm running out of ideas.

 

[zodac]

If you were getting a3s, I wouldn't mind; you can get them sometimes too. But you shouldn't really be getting '73s...

Try once more; delete the WU (Go to the install location and delete queue.dat and the 'work' folder). If the new WU is an a3, you owe me a cookie. If not, I'll look into it tomorrow (going to sleep after your next post). Then I'll fix it and you'll owe me a cookie.