Can I fold at home? F@H

djkilla

djkilla

Weaksauce
Joined
Nov 16, 2008
Messages
104
I'm running Windows 7 64bit and the following hardware. Can I fold at home and join the [H] team #33?

LIAN LI PC-8N Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower
EVGA E758-TR Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 130W Quad-Core Processor
Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme CPU Heatsink
mushkin 12GB DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory
Intel X25-M 80GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD)
Western Digital 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive
XFX Radeon HD 5870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
AuzenTech AZT-FORTE X-Fi Forte 7.1 PCI Express Sound Card
Sony Optiarc Black 2MB Cache SATA DVD/CD Rewritable Drive
CORSAIR 750TX 750W Power Supply

CPU is overclocked to 3.6
 
Yup you can. I think your best bet would be to setup a VM for that i7 and maybe try to push the -bigadv work units.
I'm sure others will chime in with more info and help.

Welcome to the [H]orde!!!
 
Welcome!!

Is this your daily rig? Do you game/compute alot? If so, a GPU client and SMP2 would be more up your alley since it's easier on the resources

Of course you could use bigadv, its all up to you

Either way, stick around, ask questions (as many as you need, but don't forget weve got some great guides too!)

BTW, nice rig :)
 
like vaulter said.. if you do game a lot.. and guessing from the fact that you have a 5870 id assume you do.. the SMP2 and gpu clients are your best options.. SMP2 client tends to give up cpu cycles a lot easier to applications that need it.. not to mention uses very little ram compared to the VM client.. especially if your running -bigadv WU's..

but it really comes down to how much work and baby sitting of the clients you really want to do..
 
I game once in a while. I would like to fold when not using my computer or just surfing the net, checking email and downloading if possable. When encoding video or gaming, I'll probably not fold since it will probably take away from needed processing power.

So what's the best way to do this? Which guide should I follow and do I need anything special (software, specific settings) to get me started? By the way, thanks for helping and pointing me in the right direction.
 
Welcome!

Sir has you all set up with the links. If you need any help or hit a snag just let us know.

Welcome to the fold!



Edit: you can run the smp client all the time. Just make sure that the priority is set to low and you will never notice it.
 
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Nice machine...

I found I got better ppd on my rig though by only running the smp2 client. When i tried running the gpu at the same time on my 5770 my ppd on the smp2 client were cut in thirds. Try it both ways though and see what you get.
 
OvrrDrive said:
Nice machine...

I found I got better ppd on my rig though by only running the smp2 client. When i tried running the gpu at the same time on my 5770 my ppd on the smp2 client were cut in thirds. Try it both ways though and see what you get.
Click to expand...

need to change the priority levels on the programs.. set the gpu client to normal and set the smp2 client to idle.. should solve your PPD issue.. been a while since ive delt with any cpu client so i dont remember what program is worth using to switch the priority setting..
 
He's got an ATI so that may play a factor, but regardless it's anice rig and should top 10k easy
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
Vaulter98c said:
He's got an ATI so that may play a factor, but regardless it's anice rig and should top 10k easy
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
Click to expand...


yup.. was that fix for the cpu usage ever added to the guide? nvm ill just look myself.


found it!
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1419852

ignore the 9.4 version recommendation and vista.. all other information works fine in any other drivers and windows 7 as well..
 
sirmonkey1985 said:
SMP client
[H] install/setup guide


gpu client (get the systray version)
Click to expand...

As far as I know, I believe everything is set up and working correctly. I tried running the GPU client (systray version) and I get a message that says my GPU is not supported. I've got the following GPU:

XFX Radeon HD 5870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

Is there also a GUI or visualization/graphics of the folding process?
 
djkilla said:
As far as I know, I believe everything is set up and working correctly. I tried running the GPU client (systray version) and I get a message that says my GPU is not supported. I've got the following GPU:

XFX Radeon HD 5870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

Is there also a GUI or visualization/graphics of the folding process?
Click to expand...
You have to add the -forcegpu ati_r700 flag to the client. Put it at the end of the Target box in the Properties of the shortcut you use to launch F@H.

There is a viewer, but you shouldn't use it since it will significantly reduce folding performance while open.
 
I have the settings set for the SMP mpich client and the GPU systray. So do I run the SMP client first and then the GPU systray or use the GPU systray only to run Folding At Home?
 
The SMP and GPU clients are completely separate. You'll have to run both concurrently if you want to fold on both your CPU and GPU.
 
Ok, I have a few more questions. I ran the SMP client yesterday and completed my first 500,000 unit/cycle in just a few short hours. I could easily probably do 3 of these a day (computer is always off at night). Thanks to Zero82z I was also able to get the GPU systray working. Now for the questions.

When I run only the SMP client, it's fast. But when I add the GPU systray, my SMP client is slow. Is this normal? I also noticed the GPU systray is working on 10,000 unit/cycles. Would it be better just to run the SMP client working on 500,000 units? I'm assuming the bigger the work unit the more points. I'm also interested in using the -bigadv work units. Do I have to run the -bigadv in a VM? Where do I add the -bigadv flag? If it's in the install.bat under 'Additional client parameters []?', do I replace the flag -smp -verbosity 9 or add -bigadv flag?

 
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Download HFM.NET from here and use it to monitor your F@H clients: http://code.google.com/p/hfm-net/

HFM will show you progress in terms of percent, the points value of each workunit, ETAs, points per day estimation (including calculations for bonus points for the newer A3 core and -bigadv work units), and a bunch of other nifty stuff. You basically need to use a monitoring program like HFM in order to figure out how well you're doing.

Regarding the speed of each of your clients, the GPU client does take away CPU power for itself. However, in general you'll gain more PPD overall than you'll lose since the extra performance from the GPU will be more significant than the performance drop of the CPU client. Also, follow this guide to decrease the CPU usage of your GPU client (except set your FLUSH_INTERVAL to 128): http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1419852

If you're interested in -bigadv, this thread has all the information you need: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1478481
 
I've got some questions about the badge.



What do the [H] and the color mean? I noticed I've got two silver ones. Also, to the left of F@H Team: [33] there is a green triangle and a number. What do they mean?
 
The [H]'s and color have to do with the milestone you're at. The colors will keep changing as you go up in rank. The arrow and number are your 24hour rank change. You have mowed 1020 people in the last 24 hours.
 
Thanks to everyone for their help! I'm fine tuning my SMP client setup but ran into a problem. For some reason I can no longer edit my install.bat. When I run it, it gets as far as entering the password and then it shows the following:

Password encrypted into the Registry.
If you see this twice, MPI is working
If you see this twice, MPI is working
Press a key to continue...

When I press any key, it kicks me out of the install.bat and to the command prompt. I also have a question about flags. The only one I'm using is -smp -verbosity 9. Should I also add -advmethods? Later this week I'll probably try the big work units.
 
That is all install.bat is going to do, your fine.

You want:

-smp 8 -verbosity 9 -advmethods

That will get ya going full speed
 
sirmonkey1985 said:
need to change the priority levels on the programs.. set the gpu client to normal and set the smp2 client to idle.. should solve your PPD issue.. been a while since ive delt with any cpu client so i dont remember what program is worth using to switch the priority setting..
Click to expand...

sirmonkey1985 said:
yup.. was that fix for the cpu usage ever added to the guide? nvm ill just look myself.


found it!
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1419852

ignore the 9.4 version recommendation and vista.. all other information works fine in any other drivers and windows 7 as well..
Click to expand...

I finally got around to making the changes and I'm happy to report that the cpu useage has gone down to less than 1%. Thanks.

The only problem I'm having is that hfm reports that my current wu expired on 2/8 and I can't figure out how to delete it and get a new unit. I deleted everything in the work folder and the log but its still working on it. Any ideas?
 
did you shut the client down first and delete the stuff in the work folder then start it back up?
 
I keep forgetting to run it as administrator... It's fine now. ;)

I'll report ppd in the morning.
 
Running SMP alone I was getting right at 6 minutes per frame and hfm reported just over 5200 ppd. Running the gpu and smp I'm getting about 7.5 minutes per frame and hfm is reporting 4200 ppd while the gpu client is doing 5 minutes per frame and 1500 ppd for a net gain of about 500 ppd.

One thing I notice is that in ATI Overdrive the card is only running at 50% load. Is there any way to get it to 100%?

It's staying around 52C so I can push it harder.
 
OvrrDrive said:
The only problem I'm having is that hfm reports that my current wu expired on 2/8 and I can't figure out how to delete it and get a new unit. I deleted everything in the work folder and the log but its still working on it. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
queue.dat is the file that stores the current workunit information. If you want to get a new unit, you can delete queue.dat and the client will request a new unit from the servers. However, only do this when it is truly necessary, otherwise you'll be wasting a unit.
 
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