• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

Newbie getting started with F@H

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.
X

xXAlphaXx

Registered
‍
Joined
Jun 11, 2008
Wasn't sure what exactly yields the best results. I know there is a GPU and a CPU client for F@H and I have both a GTX260 and a Core i7 @ 2.66Ghz

From what I understand it will have no wear on my system if I use the CPU client, the GPU may be at more of a risk than the CPU.

What would the best possible setup for my rig be for F@H? Does Memory play into any of it?

Why CPU over GPU or GPU over CPU?
 
Folding 24/7 shouldn't really decrease the lifetime of neither CPU or GPU, not to an amount that really matters.

GPU client will yield much higher points than the CPU client.
 
Though if you can clock that i7 CPU to about 3.5Ghz, and run Ubuntu in VMWare Player 3.0.0, you can run the bonus WUs and get more PPD from your CPU than the GPU.

But running a single GTX 260 with your fan at about 70% should not excessively wear your video card.
 
torin3 said:
Though if you can clock that i7 CPU to about 3.5Ghz, and run Ubuntu in VMWare Player 3.0.0, you can run the bonus WUs and get more PPD from your CPU than the GPU.

But running a single GTX 260 with your fan at about 70% should not excessively wear your video card.
Click to expand...
Or he could just run Linux for both CPU and GPU.
 
Though if you can clock that i7 CPU to about 3.5Ghz, and run Ubuntu in VMWare Player 3.0.0, you can run the bonus WUs and get more PPD from your CPU than the GPU.

But running a single GTX 260 with your fan at about 70% should not excessively wear your video card.
Click to expand...

you will need to run it a good 18 hours a day to get any real results from the -bigadv and at +6gig of ram.
I tried the -bigadv on 11/30 with due date of 12/4 as of last night at around 2am I just hit 50% so no chance i would even finish the unit.
 
joedymueller said:
you will need to run it a good 18 hours a day to get any real results from the -bigadv and at +6gig of ram.
I tried the -bigadv on 11/30 with due date of 12/4 as of last night at around 2am I just hit 50% so no chance i would even finish the unit.
Click to expand...

Good point! As I understand it, at 3.5Ghz, you need to run it 24/7 to be able to make the deadlines.
 
The i7 is a great folder, and I've never seen a cpu show wear and tear unless you increase the voltage or the heat, excessively.

The GPU's are another matter. I've had two gpu GTX280's and after just 6 months of moderate 24/7 folding (never letting the temps get near max), the result is one completely dead card, and one that is *very* finicky about the voltage it will run at. By that I mean it is not running inside the parameters it used to run at, requiring a special voltage increase, just to work.

You could say I'm just unlucky with GPU cards, but I've done cpu folding for years, and *never* had a hiccup out of one of them.

Like a few others, I've gently overclocked my i7, using no voltage increases, using the guide on Xbit Labs. That took it up to 3.68GHz. It folds 24/7, nice and quiet, with temps below 70C. An aftermarket heatsink and fan help make that possible.

That's a winning combination, imo.

The GPU can put out a lot of points, but the engineering in the cards, has not been up to the stress of a 24/7 duty cycle of folding. It's like the gpu is playing the most intense scene of the most intense game, all the time.
 
Adak said:
The i7 is a great folder, and I've never seen a cpu show wear and tear unless you increase the voltage or the heat, excessively.

The GPU's are another matter. I've had two gpu GTX280's and after just 6 months of moderate 24/7 folding (never letting the temps get near max), the result is one completely dead card, and one that is *very* finicky about the voltage it will run at. By that I mean it is not running inside the parameters it used to run at, requiring a special voltage increase, just to work.

You could say I'm just unlucky with GPU cards, but I've done cpu folding for years, and *never* had a hiccup out of one of them.

Like a few others, I've gently overclocked my i7, using no voltage increases, using the guide on Xbit Labs. That took it up to 3.68GHz. It folds 24/7, nice and quiet, with temps below 70C. An aftermarket heatsink and fan help make that possible.

That's a winning combination, imo.

The GPU can put out a lot of points, but the engineering in the cards, has not been up to the stress of a 24/7 duty cycle of folding. It's like the gpu is playing the most intense scene of the most intense game, all the time.
Click to expand...
RMA? Surely "using the card too much" doesn't void the warranty.
 
Sydney said:
RMA? Surely "using the card too much" doesn't void the warranty.
Click to expand...

Another reason to ONLY buy eVGA. I have had nothing but good experiences with thier RMA process. Additionally, I'm *hoping* Folding kills mine early, as it is a discontinued model, I would be getting a free upgrade (hopefully)!
 
I've been running 2 9800 GX2s nearly continuously since November of 08, and I haven't had one die on me. Overclocked the shaders to 1783 too. If it gets too hot in the case, (like trying to run 3 of them) it will throttle the cards, but I haven't had EUE on them in over a month. And the last batch of EUEs were all from a bad WU that caused SHAKE violations. Not the cards.
 
Hmm, I think I'll stick too folding on my i7 since it is my main computer and folding it at 100% (for what ever reason) Doesn't take much processing power at all.

I do hope I could OC the i7 just a little bit, I know can push it strait too ~2.89 on Asus's CPU Level up but I'd be too nervous too mess around with BIOS settings as I never really have OC'ed. =P

And thank you for the welcome and some goo ideas. Hopefully I'll get another machine running both GPU and CPU through linux and crank out some points :)

Current rig will be on 24/7. Hope I can rack some points up.



Folding for my mom (God rest her soul) and my g-ma
 
Another reason to ONLY buy eVGA. I have had nothing but good experiences with thier RMA process. Additionally, I'm *hoping* Folding kills mine early, as it is a discontinued model, I would be getting a free upgrade (hopefully)!
Click to expand...

I have gone through 2 BFG GTX 295's RMA has been cake both times. cept when they run out of stock. I'm hoping this one will work fine, but it is starting to do the same thing the second one did. I'll Take a Co-op please :D
 
Hmm, I think I'll stick too folding on my i7 since it is my main computer and folding it at 100% (for what ever reason) Doesn't take much processing power at all.
Click to expand...

what CPU client do you use? it will run in the background and when you do something it will reduce the usage on the client

I use the Notfreds with modded VM cfg to allow 8 Cores. get about 6-8k ppd with it.
 
It was just the regular tray client that I got from the F@H site.




OH! Just had a great idea. Would F@H significatly increase if I built a Tesla rig and used that?
 
Last edited:
But still if I set it up as a GPU client, wouldent it run off the tesla?

I know its not considered a GPU, but does F@H know that?

I would go too a native install of Linux, but this also my main rig running almost everything on windows and I already know thier are no linux variants for it currently so I could only run it overnight. Would that still yeild more points?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

[H]pututu
Folding@home race (Jan 24 - 31)
2 3 4
Replies
67
Views
2K
Holdolin
Holdolin
don256us
  • Sticky
Getting Started: Updated 12/12/22
Replies
10
Views
1K
Farwalker2u
Farwalker2u
MisterEd
How long ago was folding with a GPU new?
Replies
6
Views
666
Farwalker2u
Farwalker2u
don256us
(Un)Official Race Week Thread.
2
Replies
26
Views
850
dfonda
dfonda
JLK03F150
New CPU and F@H Increased PPD
Replies
16
Views
916
JLK03F150
JLK03F150
Back