Folding Large — with the -bigadv option flag

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Folding Large — with the -bigadv option flag

We need to update our guides to include some pointers on how to fold large with the new hardware. Anyone up for this task?

Thoughts and ideas:

* recommended hardware: CPU, how much memory, best motherboards, etc. Dual socket versus single socket. Minimum recommended hardware.

* recommended software, including primary OS and the need for a VM, including a recommended VM. Can you fold without a VM?

* PassKey requirements.

* Can you GPU fold and/or play games while folding large.

* Budget-conscious ideas on how to get in the “folding large” game.

* Links to information on how to do this, and where to download software.

* What to expect with the -bigadv option flag in place. What if I cannot make the deadline? Can I use this boxen as my daily rig, or is this for dedicated folding boxen only?

This thread is a wealth of information: Who's folding large?

Any other thoughts on how to proceed?
 
I dont mind doing it, but I would not have all the information for it....

I vote vaulter or tigerbiten for the task...... lol
 
One person does not have to do it all...

we just need to tackle this job one small bite at a time!
 
i think once we get more people doing it and seeing how it works with various setups then a guide can be made.. since most of the people running it are still asking questions and trying to tweak it..
 
Even me have no idea how to do that... I'll dip into this as soon as my i7 rig is ready (just waiting for the motherboard to get here).
 
Hardware & Software.

To use the -bigadv flag you need an 8 CPU core or better computer.
It does not matter if some of the cores are virtual, so an i7 will work just as well as a dual-quad core Xeon/Opteron setup.
In theory you could run it on a 4 core box, BUT you'll need to overclock it to over 4 Ghz if your going to make the 4 day bonus deadline.

The bigadv client needs ~4.5Gb of ram to run in.
So the minimum amount needed in the box is 6Gb.

With 8 CPU cores you can either run the client in a 64 bit Linux OS or run it inside an 8 core VM useing VMWare Player 3.0 on a 64 bit version of Windoze.
It needs to be a 64 bit OS due to needing over 4Gb of ram.

With 16 or 32 CPU cores the a 64 bit Linux install is the only option if you want to maximize your PpD as no free VM will run well with that number of cpu cores.
With 4x 8 core VM's in Windoze you'll be looking at ~45k PpD, with 32 cores and a plain Linux OS you could be hitting over 85k PpD.

Tidy up as needed.

Luck .......... :D
 
Passkey Requirements:

In order to qualify for the Bonus a user must:
Use a passkey
Complete 10 linux SMP units (regular or BigAdv) with the passkey before the bonus kicks in.

Bonus Calculator
 
Time require to complete.

In order to get the bonus you will a TPF of 57min and 36 seconds or lower.
Although prob needs to be around 56mins because it takes time for the MPI threads to sync at the end.
 
Please also mention the very long pause at the end before uploading the completed WU. This is normal and the client is not hung.
 
Speed.

The bigadv workunits have a 4 day deadline.
As long as you can fold normal SMP work-units faster than ~6.5k PpD then you should make the bigadv deadline.
I'm not sure how much leeway 6.5k gives you
But the higher your PpD is above 6.5k, the better .......... :p

The work-units have an upload size of ~95Mb.
So they take twice as long to upload as a regular SMP work-unit.
If you have a slow connection, it could take 30-40 mins to upload.
Also it can take from a couple of mins to half a hour to clean up the work files at the end of a run.
Put them both together and it could easily add an hour to your folding times from the start of the download to the end of the upload.
This makes the maximum frame time to be ~57 mins per frame. ~55 MpF to be safe.

Luck ........... :D
 
It's good to hear that this will actually work with less than 8 threads. I could drop one of the Thuban 6-core AMDs into my current system and possibly make the cut with a nice overclock. Obviously these won't be released for another 3-6 months but a guy can dream, you know. Based on my current x3 at 3.45 Ghz running 2x ATI GPUS, I would expect the Thuban to do better than5 min/frame on regular 1920s. Based on some of you're experience with i7, what kind of overclock would net you a 5 minute frame time on regular SMP?

I'm trying to determine a factor to compare Phenom II/opteron core counts and clock speeds with i7 or Xeon performance. Right now its an Intel or server only game but perhaps that will change with 6 cores if it's not too expensive.

Edit: Based on Tiger's 6500 ppd number, I come up with a frame time or 4.2 minutes on the regular 1920s. Does that sound about right?
 
Last edited:
darn 6500 PPD.. my phenom II only does 6000ppd across all 4 cores.. :( plus i play games a lot so i guess ill just stick with boinc on my cpu..
 
From my reading in various forums I get .........

My dual-quad Xeons @3.4Ghz (~27Ghz) = single i7 @3.8Ghz (~30Ghz) = quad-quad Opterons @2.4Ghz (~38Ghz).

All will do a frame in around 30 mins (+/- a min or two).

If thats right then AMD's are ~25% slower vs Intel's, Ghz for Ghz.

It also make it that anything ............
Intel with 8 cores over ~2.0Ghz.
Intel with 4 cores over ~4.0Ghz.
AMD with 8 cores over ~2.5Ghz.
AMD with 4 cores over ~5.0Ghz ........... :p
All may make the final deadline if my maths is right.

Luck ............ :D
 
Your math is rarely wrong tiger. that is good info to have.
 
does the -bigadv option become available after 10 completed wu with passcode?

because when i try to run it it tells me that its an invalid flag when i run (./fah6 ?) its not listed as an available option. the os is ubuntu x64 9.04 kernel 2.6.28-11-generic.
only an -advmethods flag

i believe i finally got my proxy setup so now my rigs wont go down and no longer need manual authorization. currently im pulling about 60k ppd on just gpu's alone 3 gtx260s 3gtx 280s 4 8800ultras
plus 8-9k more with the dually. have to find time to put up the 2 gtx295's i have layin here

only of we could do -bigadv with high end gpu's that would rock
 
lehmann said:
I have my i5 running 4 ghz will this make it?
Click to expand...

I think your the one that will let us know ;)

Load it up and see if your TPF falls within the guidelines.

If it does, we just found the base for a econ -bigadv box.
 
Installing the bigadv client with Finstall.

I always use Finstall to install the FaH client on Linux.
Its quick and easy.
Code: 
curl -O http://ra.vendomar.ee/~ivo/finstall
chmod +x finstall
./finstall smp
If curl does not work try .........
Code: 
wget http://ra.vendomar.ee/%7Eivo/finstall
More Info on Finstall.

Once you have configured the client, make sure to add passkey, shut it down as you need to do a clouple more tweaks.
First:- you need to ddownload and drop in the new fah6 from http://www.stanford.edu/~kasson/folding/osx/fah6
If you dont do this you get a bad argument message when you add the -bigadv flag.

Second:- You need to change the default flags the client starts with.
Open the FaH file with an editor and find the line .....
Code: 
 FAH_default_flags="-smp -verbosity 9"

If your just running standard work-unit change it to .......
Code: 
FAH_default_flags="-smp X -verbosity 9"
Where X is the number of cores you want it to run on.
It can either be the number of cores on your computer or the number minus one if you want to save a core for something else.

If your running bigadv then change it to ......
Code: 
FAH_default_flags="-smp X -bigadv -verbosity 9"

If you want to install the client as a service just run .....
Code: 
./installService

To start, stop and restart the client use ........
Code: 
CD ~/foldingathome
To change to the folding directory.
Then.......
Code: 
./folding start
./folding stop
./folding restart
To start,stop, restart it.

Luck .................. :D
 
mikey976 said:
does the -bigadv option become available after 10 completed wu with passcode?

because when i try to run it it tells me that its an invalid flag when i run (./fah6 ?) its not listed as an available option. the os is ubuntu x64 9.04 kernel 2.6.28-11-generic.
only an -advmethods flag

i believe i finally got my proxy setup so now my rigs wont go down and no longer need manual authorization. currently im pulling about 60k ppd on just gpu's alone 3 gtx260s 3gtx 280s 4 8800ultras
plus 8-9k more with the dually. have to find time to put up the 2 gtx295's i have layin here

only of we could do -bigadv with high end gpu's that would rock
Click to expand...

You need the new dropin client
you can run a bigadv without a passkey
 
Good start, once we fill up this thread we should be able to make a good walk through
Might also want to add in a few TPF from the tpf thread so people can get a rough gauge of what theirhardware will do

I'll try to get my 16 core (4 quad core opterons) up tomorrow and post my findings, but I havnt touched Linux in 3 years so it will be slow going

I'll toss in a few more things if I can think of it
While were at it, a few of the other guides could use some touch up, they are starting to get dated
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
mikey976 said:
only of we could do -bigadv with high end gpu's that would rock
Click to expand...

I've got my 2 GTX 275s folding while the bigadv running too. While I'm waiting for the biggie to post I'm pulling down a little over 17k ppd which makes up for the slight slowdown in minutes per frame.
 
I think he means fold it on the card, which would be cool
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
tjmagneto said:
I've got my 2 GTX 275s folding while the bigadv running too. While I'm waiting for the biggie to post I'm pulling down a little over 17k ppd which makes up for the slight slowdown in minutes per frame.
Click to expand...

I've also got my 3x 9800GTX+ GPU's running with my bigadv client on my Xeons.
I loose ~1-2k PpD from the bigadv but gain ~16-18k PpD from the GPU's.
I also come out on top.

Its only if your running at +80k PpD or have an ATI card that it makes no sence to run both clients.
Then the points gained from the GPU's dont match the points lost from the bigadv.

Luck ............ :D
 
Anyone with some hardware recommendations?

best motherboard without regard to cost:

best CPU without regard to cost:

best budget motherboard:

best budget CPU:

plus your reasoning or analysis about you chose certain hardware!
 
Your going to get a big argument over 1156 and 1366 sockets.

I think the 1156 sockets wont be a big problem.... but if you push them to far (I think from what I've read 4ghz+) and you don't have the high end socket.... you could get a short.
 
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