random questions

[Onlypro]

I have been folding folding on/off for past few months. I am trying to get all my 10 rigs folding 24/7.

I have a couple questions:

1. My main rig use to fold a step in roughly 12minutes before I had formatted it and replaced the single IDE HD with 2 SATA Raid0 HD'S. Now it takes 30minutes a step, would replacing a harddrive affect performance this much?

2. I am using 3.25F@H console beta, is this the best client to use in regards to performance?

3.I have one system running win98. It is either really slow or it doesnt fold. What client should I be using for it?

TIA

 

[axlecrusher]

Did you remember to use the flags -advmethods -forceasm or -forceSSE?

Axle

 

[Onlypro]

no, i never used flags b4 and the ystem seemed to fold fine. How do I set flags. Do I need to edit a text file or something?

 

[axlecrusher]

How do you start the FAH program? If it's from the command line or shortcut just put the flags after the exe file. If it's the service install you have to edit the registry I believe. The flags, BTW, make FAH go much faster.

Axle

 

[orangebug]

It's great to have you folding for the team, we appreciate the work. Getting all 10 rigs up and running will generate a fair number of points for you, especially if you get the -forceSSE flags figured out.

In regards to your questions:

1) Make sure you are comparing apples to apples. Different wu's vary in size so some will naturally take longer to complete. You probably are now working on a larger unit (higher point value) so the frame times can't be compared as easily.

2) The latest beta client is 4.0 but I am unsure whether or not it gives a real performance boost. You'll be fine with either client, but the new client requires the -forceSSE flag rather than the -forceasm flag. With that in mind, you'll probably want to update the client to the 4.0 beta.

3) If you are running win98, the 4.0 beta client should run just fine. The minimum processor that will fold units in time is about a P200. If your machine is slower than that, you could run Genome units as thay so not have a time limit, but you should probably just turn the machine off as the electricity costs to run it are not worth the points produced. Also keep in mind that the older processors don't use the extra SSE boost so you'll probably be running "tinker" units and Stanford seems very fond of sending out the 70 pointers lately. These run awfully slow and can take weeks (!) to complete. You'll need patience.

I hope this answers your questions, if new ones pop up, feel free to ask!

Orangebug

 

[David]

To answer your 2nd and 3rd questions:

- The 4.00pre client is also available and doesnt add much really in terms of folding, except that -forceSSE is used to force SSE on rather than -forceasm. AFAIK it also allows GAH WU caching.

- What CPU has the PC got? If its a Pentium II over 300MHz (AFAIK all are) or K6-2 over about 350MHz try folding. If its not, then run GaH but still use team 32. GaH is better than nothing.

 

[Onlypro]

Thank you, your answers are very helpful. I agree. I have noted anything under 200mhz isnt worth using, really.

My slowest machine is a dual pentium pro 200 512 l2 , would f@h be able to get use out of both the cpus?

I use the executable client, not the service install.- I dont like adding extra stuff to my registery.

Is G@H a totally different client?

Can I get some linkage to F@h 4.0? I couldnt find it.

 

[David]

Thank you, your answers are very helpful. I agree. I have noted anything under 200mhz isnt worth using, really.

My slowest machine is a dual pentium pro 200 512 l2 , would f@h be able to get use out of both the cpus?

I use the executable client, not the service install.- I dont like adding extra stuff to my registery.

Is G@H a totally different client?

Can I get some linkage to F@h 4.0? I couldnt find it.

A PPro might make deadlines and yes you can use both CPUs by using two seperate clients.

GaH and FaH use the same client - use the advanced options to select GaH only.

 

[Wedo]

I agree with everythig the guys have said, but here's an easier way to install FAH and KNOW it's running with the appropriate flags.

Download the One-Click Installer here.

Unzip the .exe file to you desktop, click it (which installs the FAH for you), then edit the client.cfg with the shorcut provided. Reboot and you're folding.

Wedo