View Full Version : Joining the team.. quick question!
Hey guys,
Got a 1GHz Coppermine system on the way for dedicated folding, and my primary rig in my signature is folding as we speak. I'm curious about the average time per WU, as I'm noticing that I'm getting about 1% per hour, meaning about four days (4000000 steps). Is there anything I should know about optimizations, or does that sound about right for what I'm running?
Hey guys,
Got a 1GHz Coppermine system on the way for dedicated folding, and my primary rig in my signature is folding as we speak. I'm curious about the average time per WU, as I'm noticing that I'm getting about 1% per hour, meaning about four days (4000000 steps). Is there anything I should know about optimizations, or does that sound about right for what I'm running?
Time to fold depends a great deal on the specific project # that you're folding, as well as which FAH client you're folding it with, what type of cpu is being used, etc.:
http://fahinfo.org/index.php?Graphs=true&Compare=true
This link gives a database that you may find useful for a general comparison of different project's on several different cpu's.
If you're not running the SMP client, you may want to consider it. For dual core machines, it is the best folder, clearly.
The most important optimization is client selection like adak said ... ie running smp if your rig is capable ... dual or quad core with enuf cache.
Also, with the standard client whether you select big packets and run with advmethods. These don't guarantee more performance but do affect which wu's the rig will get ... ones with bonus points due to their memory or bandwidth reuuirements will generate higher ppd. These settings don't guarantee you will be wu's with bonus points - it depends a lot on the wu mix atm. Sometimes, the best wu;s are obtained without advmethods. Bigpackets is always desireable i think.
Contention with other things on a non dedicated rig can also reduce production .. eg some screensavers etc. You can use task manager, processes tab and have it display cpu time (under view, select columns)... that will give you an idea of what apps are consumming cpu cycles.
And of course it goes without saying that OC'ing cpu and to some degree memory, will improve performance - this is OCF after all :)
Okay, I had the larger packages over 5MB turned off. However, it's now picking up, the first 40% of the WU took about one hour per 1%, now it's down to only about 20-30 minutes per 1%, which is more of the performance I was expecting from my Opty. Still new to this so just wanted to make sure that I wasn't crippling it in some way.
Thanks for the replies, all!
I'm joining also, and I have a few questions;
1. can I fold and play games on my main computer at the same time?
2. can you fold on a computer without internet access?
3. how long does it take to do this stuff? "0 out of 4000000 steps" has shown on my client for the last 20 minutes.
William Hung
05-30-07, 12:16 PM
You can play games and fold at the same time, the folding program is set to lowest priority (unless you change it) and so will give up any cycles to any program set to higher priority.
You will need internet access though, both to download and upload the work units.
And some projects take quite a while, depending on your system it can take up to an hour between frames. (A frame is the total number of steps divided by 100) So in your case below it would be 40000 units to get 1%. That should take anywhere between 20-60 mins.
I've just got back from lunch, and 120000 units have been completed. Go 3%!
also, another question, if you close the folding thing, does it start over or continue from where it left off?
and does it work even when logged off your computer?
also, another question, if you close the folding thing, does it start over or continue from where it left off?
and does it work even when logged off your computer?
As long as it is closed properly, it will pick up from its last checkpoint. Every 1% (aka frame) shown in the log messages is a checkpoint. There is also a timer based checkpoint that will occurr if your frames take a long time which defaults to 15 minutes and can be changed to be from 3-30 minutes.
If you are running it as a service, it will always run if windows is booted regardless of which user is logged on. This applies to the standand client 5.02/5.04.
If you are running it as a standard desktop non gui client, then you would need to put it in the startup folder to have it run when a user logs on.
Which client are you running, and how do people use the machines? eg logon/logoff or just switch users ... if multiple people will be using the machine then it would be best to run it as a service and you should be running the 5.04 client.
Jon is an admin for machines that he runs the smp client on, but you need to be careful running smp on work rigs. You will find his post under the beginners guide to running the win smp client thread.
William Hung
05-30-07, 02:57 PM
If it is shut down properly. (Cntrl +C For the console-version) it will pick back up where it left off. The work units do have a deadline though, and it can range from 3 days up to 40 days depending on the unit being worked on. If you complete the unit past the deadline, you don't get any points. :(
harlam357
06-02-07, 11:58 AM
:welcome: shadin & Zoris! Great to have you in teh Fold! :thup:
Looks like everyone has you up to speed. There is no shortage of excellent help around here. :)
vBulletin® v3.8.7, Copyright ©2000-2012, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.