Current state of folding?

[Jmtyra]

Hi folks -- been awhile, hope everyone is well.

What's the current state of folding? It's been well over a year since I turned in a WU, so I'm very much out of the loop. Looking at Stamford's page, looks like there is a Chrome client, android client and lots of fun stuff. Last I recall there was the BA points nuke and I haven't touched a WU since.

Is GPU still the way to go? Or 4P? Any advice/feedback would be welcomed.

Edit: Also, is Linux still the top PPD versus Windows, or has that changed?

Fold on,

 

[Nathan_P]

GPU is the current way to go, there are blog posts from VJ referring to a new smp core with avx support but until that arrives I would not invest extra money into smp folding. A GTX 970 will get you north of 200k PPD depending on WU and OS, a intel E5 v2 2p 24c/48t tops out at 200k max, for an AMD 4p set up you would probably get the same, maybe a bit more PPD but worse power draw, if you can afford to run it then no reason not to but if you are starting afresh its gpu time. I haven't seen any E5 4p numbers on SMP so I can't vouch for them.

OS wise Linux is still the way to go, even for gpu folding.

 

[Jmtyra]

Thank you!

 

[torin3]

Actually, with a GTX 970, you should be able to get around 300-330K ppd folding in Linux. The main reason is there are Windows WUs that give the 970 very low PPD that were never released for the Linux client.

I think that to fold with AMD cards in Linux you have to be a beta tester at the moment.

Also, Welcome Back! Good to see you here again.

And I'm going to pass you in 5 days.

 

[Jmtyra]

Thanks Torin! How about a 'previous gen' card that I could get on eBay for less PPD? Looking for ideas on a less expensive (initial) investment but still performs well.

It's nice to be back, and pre-congrats on your victory. I'm surprised I'm still in the top 10 TBH.

 

[torin3]

Thanks Torin! How about a 'previous gen' card that I could get on eBay for less PPD? Looking for ideas on a less expensive (initial) investment but still performs well.

It's nice to be back, and pre-congrats on your victory. I'm surprised I'm still in the top 10 TBH.

If you are willing to go windows, you can get AMD 7970 or 280X cards for about $100 to $150 for about 130-150K PPD per card.

 

[don256us]

I've been getting old bitcoin AMD cards for cheap from eBay. The 280x gets about 150k ppd and cost me about $150/ea. I put two of them in my gaming rig and xfired them for gaming goodness too.

 

[Jmtyra]

If you are willing to go windows, you can get AMD 7970 or 280X cards

Will those not work on Linux?

Thanks folks! Now with the wife-factor, I have to build over time. It's safer for me, haha.

 

[don256us]

Will those not work on Linux?

Thanks folks! Now with the wife-factor, I have to build over time. It's safer for me, haha.

I don't know how AMD folds on Linux but apparently Nvidia gets more ppd than AMD in Linux so.....

 

[Jmtyra]

Ah, OK, that makes sense

 

[WhitehawkEQ]

Hi folks -- been awhile, hope everyone is well.

What's the current state of folding? It's been well over a year since I turned in a WU, so I'm very much out of the loop. Looking at Stamford's page, looks like there is a Chrome client, android client and lots of fun stuff. Last I recall there was the BA points nuke and I haven't touched a WU since.

Is GPU still the way to go? Or 4P? Any advice/feedback would be welcomed.

Edit: Also, is Linux still the top PPD versus Windows, or has that changed?

Fold on,

OMG, he lives back

 

[Jmtyra]

 

[caddi daddi]

amd folds on windows, you have to be a beta tester to get work units.
get a 970 and a linux box, 300.000 ppd and no operating system to buy.
my 280x cards draw about 250 watts for the whole box for 120-150.000 ppd my 970 draws about 60 watts less for 300-350.000 ppd.

 

[WhitehawkEQ]

Jmtyra, My 4p's is down for the summer but will startup in fall (yes, I have 2 )

 

[Jmtyra]

I'll be no match for your 4P pair, I've only got dusty hardware laying around. Maybe over the next few months as I convince the wife to let me buy some new toys.

 

[Jmtyra]

Anyone folding with older video cards? I found a GTS 250 collecting dust in my pile o' junk, threw it into a box and for some reason it won't get a WU assignment. Is it too old?

Here is the log:

18:05:06:WU01:FS01:Connecting to 171.67.108.200:80
18:05:06:WARNING:WU01:FS01:Failed to get assignment from '171.67.108.200:80': Empty work server assignment
18:05:06:WU01:FS01:Connecting to 171.67.108.204:80
18:05:07:WARNING:WU01:FS01:Failed to get assignment from '171.67.108.204:80': Empty work server assignment
18:05:07:ERROR:WU01:FS01:Exception: Could not get an assignment

When I check the F@H server status page, those two IPs are for 'classic' WUs.
Shouldn't I be talking to a GPU AS? This is on Zorin v9 Full 64-bit using the v7 of the FAH client.

 

[caddi daddi]

look in your gpus.tex file, it is a list whitelist of gpus.

it is locared >>>>> /var/lib/fahclient

 

[HayesK]

old card not elgible for new core 17/18/21, but may be able to get old core 15 work.

from the FF

"If you want to try and see if your card can do Core_15 work, you will need to add a couple options to your GPU slot to indicate that. First is adding the option max-packet-size and set its value to small. Next is setting the option client-type to beta. Then you should be able to get a Core_15 WU assigned."

https://foldingforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=80&t=27697#p276379

 

[Silver_Pharaoh]

Core 15's are slowly being phased out though don't forget.

As for folding I switched to a GTX 780 SC and with the beta flag and a nice overclock, I'm getting 200K PPD
I hope to get my 7850 and 270x folding again soon (175K PDD combined, 100K 270x, 75K 7850)

 

[Jmtyra]

Thanks for the help guys, I think it just needs to be replaced. The dusty ol' i7 will have to do until I can afford a GPU investment.
Even with the flags it still refuses to get an assignment. It was worth a shot, though!

03:05:28:  <slot id='1' type='GPU'>
03:05:28:    <client-type v='beta'/>
03:05:28:    <max-packet-size v='small'/>
03:05:28:  </slot>
03:05:28:</config>
03:06:27:WU00:FS01:Connecting to 171.67.108.200:80
03:06:28:WARNING:WU00:FS01:Failed to get assignment from '171.67.108.200:80': Empty work server assignment
03:06:28:WU00:FS01:Connecting to 171.67.108.204:80
03:06:28:WARNING:WU00:FS01:Failed to get assignment from '171.67.108.204:80': Empty work server assignment
03:06:28:ERROR:WU00:FS01:Exception: Could not get an assignment

Fold on!