Question about folding clients

[matrixzen]

I've been out of the loop for a very long time as real life has a thing for keeping you busy. Here's where I need help. I've been folding for a very long time, and I was curious if I was still doing things the right way. I still use the 5.02 client from Wedo's one click installed for two single core machines. I'm going to be adding two more single core machines and a quad core. I know when you see single core, you're like WTF peanuts, but it's all I have available at the moment.

Anyways, these are the CPUs I'm currently running.

Pentium 4 3.4Ghz HT
AMD Athlon XP 2500+

And I'm planning on adding...
Intel Quad Core Q9300
AMD Barton 3000+
Pentium 4 1.8Ghz Non-HT

Would I still be best off using the 5.02 client from the Wedo's one click installer? Help me out so we can fend off our threats!

[Adak]

Welcome back MatrixZen :welcome:

Lots of changes in the folding world! Although we talk "points", remember that more points equals more science. Vijay at Stanford is committed to that.

Our points hierarchy:

1) GPU: A good graphics card that supports CUDA (the programming language for gpu's), is about 80 X faster than a single core 5.02 client, no matter what the cpu is.

If you have a good graphics slot and board that's supported, you WANT to fold GPU.

Because it hardly uses any cpu - really! Maybe 1%! It is quite common to combine a GPU client, with an SMP client, on the same folding rig, for this reason. 'Tis a thing of beauty. Points per day (ppd): 900 to 8000, depending on the card, per card. Meaning yes! You can run multiple GPU cards on the same motherboard *if* it has enough of the slots that support these GPU cards.

Now you're talking about anywhere from 2000 ppd total, to nearly 30,000 points per day! :)

Your Work unit will be folding in 1 to 4 hours. Deadlines for return are very short - 2 days are typical.

Linux version of this client are slower and more prone to errors, since they must run through the WINE emulator. Windows is the preferred OS for this client.

These cards draw more power, and give off more heat, as well. An E6700 C2D cpu will draw 95 watts max. A powerful GPU card may each need 300 watts while folding.

2) SMP: Uses 4 active threads - must have a dual-core, a quad, or more cpu's to run them. This client is about 7 X faster than a single core 5.02 client, on the same system. In Windows, an E6700 dual core (stock), will get about 1600 ppd. In Linux, that number jumps to 2,200 ppd.

Setup is more complex, you can't cut corners with it, *AT ALL*. Some teammates have insisted on it, and have consequently wandered through the desert of folding - please don't do that!

WU's fold in about 24 hours on a stock E6700 dual-core @ 2.66GHz. Deadlines are short - 3 or 4 days are typical.
This folding client is a beta program, and requires more monitoring.

3) PS3's: The Sony Game console has a very powerful cpu and FAH has a folding client that runs in the PS3 to take advantage of that. It gets 900 ppd., but actually folds enough that it should be earning about 3000 ppd, and it will, according to our fearless leader at Stanford.

4) The single core client.

Do you like good music? Right from the heart? There is a song that is soooo perfect for this client - not every word of course, but the feeling - it's perfect.

R.I.P. Single core client:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1bxlDAjGCo

Perhaps 250 ppd on that same E6700 @ 2.66GHz. on each client. With two cores, that's about 500 ppd.

Easy set up, and quite reliable. The 5.04 version is the standard and offers some added features.

Like the song says "I'm moving on", and FAH has moved on. I can't honestly recommend folding with this client.

If your system won't meet the deadlines for any of the other clients, even with a gpu client, then I'd sell it/pass it on to others, and concentrate on getting something that will fold one of the newer clients. Electric rates have gone up over the years. IMO, it's time we moved on, as folders, as well.

Typical time needed to fold: 2-5 days. Deadlines are very long - 3 to 9 months.


We now have a folding mentor program here. I advise you to get one before proceeding.

To me, the Quad is your folder. Get a good (supported) GPU card for it. Fold with the GPU client, and one SMP client (and this is slick - there's free software, so you can run a Virtual Machine inside your quad. Load Linux in the Virtual Machine, which allows the cpu to fold best, and your GPU can use the much better Windows OS drivers for it's folding (all at the same time), and you're well on your way to 5,000 - 15,000 ppd.).

That's just sweet science, right there!

That would be my suggestion, but take it step by step, at a comfortable pace. This is a marathon, not a sprint.

:beer: :beer: :beer: && :soda: :soda: :soda:

[MARCI]

See, I see it the other way, Yes, the single core is slow, but put those cpus to use. Unless you have relatives who could use it as a web and email machine, there's no better use for them than to crunch what science they can.

Of course, as Adak said, you will get the highest point per day from the q9300, hands down. Even higher if you set up a GPU client on that machine.

In a marathon like F@H, every step counts, no matter how slow you take it.

[matrixzen]

The point difference is pretty shocking. Seems pretty far fetched for a little 1.7ghz duo core to not just beat but slam a Penium 4 Extreme Edition in PPD lol. Times have changed indeed.

[~(o)-(0)~]

well keep in mind the points system isn't really linear.

Stanford allocates points based on not just the amount of scientific work a client does, but also on how much trouble it is to set up. They consider that most SMP clients that are running are 24/7 machines that aren't really used for anything else, therefore they add a certain amount of "bonus" points into the equation. I have no idea exactly how that works but I read it on their site. Same goes for the GPU client, since it uses the video card and some CPU resources, it counts for more points.
But don't think that its all a scam either, they are actually doing alot more work, just not as much as the points reflect.
Don't give up on the single core clients just yet though, I just got some insane WUs on 2 of my single core clients, I'm getting 500 and 1400 ppd respectively, don't know how, but I'm sure as heck not arguing :p

Nick

[tgxiii]

I wish those SMP clients were as stable as the others. My SMP clients stop folding after it finishes a work unit and I have to manually close it and restart it. Also, the ones on WHS and Vista 64 refuse run as a service (the one on Vista 32 can though).

[Adak]

Try the 6.23 version of the SMP client - it's better about that stopping stuff.

Really, it's just a plot to force you to fold with the GPU client - have you tried it out?

[tgxiii]

Yup, tried the GPU client/ In fact, it was my very first client. It was the reason I got into FAH in the first place. :D I was running Rosetta and I read about the FAH GPU client, so I ran that along with Rosetta. I eventually switched to FAH completely (CPU and SMP clients) after lurking these forums for a while.

Unfortunately, I only have one GPU capable of running it, my 8600 GTS on my main rig. The rest have onboard video. I have the shaders overclocked as high as I could get it though to maximize my output.

[Adak]

Got a piggy bank? Got a hammer?

If the board has the slot a gpu folding card needs, the onboard video can be disabled in the BIOS. So many more points, just waiting for you...! :D

And :welcome: tgxiii!