[Eugene]

Originally Posted by Brad But I figured I'd grab the Linux client and drop it on an old machine that sits idle most of the time. Curiously, though, it never seems to use more than about 40% of the CPU time.

If you're on a dual-core system and only run one core, then that's what I'd expect. For Linux, I assume there's a specific smp client and you may have to run it with "-smp"

[turtle]

I can't seem to get the SMP client running on this machine. It crashes every time it I tell it to do anything. I haven't been able to get it configured yet. I can see "smpd.exe *32" in my process list, but it's doing nothing and isn't configured anyway.

Any pointers to actually get SMP working?

[Iago]

I've got a PS3 and my MacBook Pro not doing much at the moment, so I'll start contributing to the team.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by Eugene If you're on a dual-core system and only run one core, then that's what I'd expect. For Linux, I assume there's a specific smp client and you may have to run it with "-smp"

Ah, okay. This is a P4 with HT that shows up to the OS as two CPUs. I'll look into the possibility of a SMP mode. Thanks, Eugene.

[turtle]

So I decided that since "Beast" isn't really doing anything major most of the time that I'd run F@H on him. Right now MenuMeters doesn't show all 8 Cores working at 100%. In fact it's more like 2 running full at best. Is there something I'm missing?

./fah6 -smp -local -verbosity 9

Is my command line. Should I use another flag or something? Also, would I be better off running my 4870 GPU instead of my i7 920? Any input here, Eugene specifically or anyone else who knows?

[torifile]

I've gotten the GPU client working on my 4890 and it seems to pump out units pretty well. Only thing is that I need to be in windows to use it.

[Eugene]

The ATI client isn't as evolved as the CUDA/Nvidia client, but it should still be capable of higher PPD than your i7. The nice thing about the Nvidia client is it uses way less CPU time, and you can use both the CPU and GPUs at the same time more effectively. To run the client for 8 cores, you need to use the flag "-smp 8" ...I think.

[Maciej]

Is OpenCL going to have a big impact on people's ability to fold at home? Or does the client already use a form of this?

[PB PM]

OpenCL, as things stand today, has no effect on folding what so ever.

[Maciej]

Originally Posted by PB PM OpenCL, as things stand today, has no effect on folding what so ever.

Dang. I thought it would be perfect for that type of job. Supposing the client has OpenCL support written in.

[PB PM]

There have been no new versions of folding at home for some time now, about a year, other than Windows SMP clients, so I doubt they've even considered OpenCL yet.

[turtle]

So how about some support from our board to help get our ranking up? All those shiny new Macs sitting on your desks could be doing so much more.

Plus, we only show 11 "Active" team members right now.

[jcoley2]

Ok, just cranked up my new iMac i7 Core up. Took awhile to figure it out since Migration Assistant copied some bad files in Library folder over and I had to delete them.

What's weird is I would think I would be running four cores and therefore for applications at once, but only two are showing up--any reason why?
Also, where is the link on our team standings? I seemed to have deleted the web link.

BTW--my boys sold their PS3 so that's one reason we have dropped off.

[turtle]

Here is the one for Overclockers and then the one for Stanford is in my signature.

I'm not sure why your system isn't seeing all cores. I've ended up going back to using InCrease on Beast though I'm only running it on two of my 4 cores.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by turtle2472 So how about some support from our board to help get our ranking up? All those shiny new Macs sitting on your desks could be doing so much more. Plus, we only show 11 "Active" team members right now.

My 4-year-old P4 box at work is churning through units as best it can. I just realized my 9-year-old "file server" dual 0.5 GHz G4 box is sitting idle; so, I dropped a pair of fah5 units on it. Watch out, boys! I'm about to burn up the charts with that baddie!

[PB PM]

Guess I could turn folding back on. Been watching the electic bill a bit more this winter though.

[Eugene]

Originally Posted by PB PM Guess I could turn folding back on. Been watching the electic bill a bit more this winter though.

Heat is heat, power is power. So if you have a tiny electric space heater that produces more heat, it costs more to run than a PC.

Originally Posted by turtle2472 So how about some support from our board to help get our ranking up? All those shiny new Macs sitting on your desks could be doing so much more. Plus, we only show 11 "Active" team members right now.

Ironically, none of my Macs or devices with displays attached run F@H right now. If I'm going to burn a hole in my power bill, I may as well do it efficiently.

[PB PM]

Originally Posted by Eugene Heat is heat, power is power. So if you have a tiny electric space heater that produces more heat, it costs more to run than a PC.

We have natural gas heating, so that isn't the issue.

[Eugene]

Originally Posted by PB PM We have natural gas heating, so that isn't the issue.

Still more expensive than localized heating with a portable space heater!

[PB PM]

That is all well and good in an apartment, but no so much for a 2 level, 4 bedroom home. Natural gas is cheap anyway, considering our hydro and gas bills are far lower than most parts of North America.

[turtle]

Originally Posted by Eugene Ironically, none of my Macs or devices with displays attached run F@H right now. If I'm going to burn a hole in my power bill, I may as well do it efficiently.

So what's doing your folding?

I'm down the Beast and my PS3 right now. I'm also only running 2 cores on Beast (i7 920) because when I ran 4 cores it never completed the units because they expired. I'm doing better with listing 2 cores though. Once I get my i7 860 running I'll put it folding too. It's going to be running Win7 rather than Mac OS X.

[turtle]

Originally Posted by Brad My 4-year-old P4 box at work is churning through units as best it can. I just realized my 9-year-old "file server" dual 0.5 GHz G4 box is sitting idle; so, I dropped a pair of fah5 units on it. Watch out, boys! I'm about to burn up the charts with that baddie!

Hey, something is better than nothing!

[kieran]

I had to take my PS3 off of folding when I moved home with my parents. I was paying the bills at my school house, but here, the parents are paying, so I'd rather not increase their stuff if I don't have to.

I'll get back in there eventually. I was up to 23 on the list.

[Eugene]

3 GTS 250s, 2 original 9600 GSOs.

[PB PM]

That is a lot of folding, I'm just running one GTS 250.

[Brad]

With people here talking about the increased CPU load requiring more power and ratcheting up the electric bills... how much of an actual $$$ difference is that making for you guys?

[DMBand0026]

I'm curious to know as well. I'll throw Folding on my PS3 if it won't raise my electric bill and won't vastly shorten the life of my PS3. My 1.33ghz 12" PowerBook G4 won't help much, that might actually do the poor little guy in. I need this thing to last until the end of summer when I can buy a new MacBook Pro!

Am I incorrect in thinking that Folding would shorten the life of my PS3? I already use it for a ton of things, occasional gaming, it is my primary DVD player and I also use it to watch Blu-Ray, I use it for Netflix streaming. I'm just worried that my $400 investment isn't going to last more than a few years because it was being so heavily taxed all the time.

[PB PM]

Originally Posted by Brad With people here talking about the increased CPU load requiring more power and ratcheting up the electric bills... how much of an actual $$$ difference is that making for you guys?

It depends on the usage. With our hydro company, there are usage brackets, if you go over a set amount you are considered a high usage customer and they jack up the price. Our hydro bill would normally be $25 a month, but if I am folding too much it can go as high as $35-45 a month.

DMBand0026:
Folding shortens the life of your equipment, it stresses it to the max, for all insensitive purposes, but how many of you will use your hardware for it's rated hardware life (5-15 years)?

[Brad]

Originally Posted by turtle2472 Hey, something is better than nothing!

BAAAH HAHAHAAHAHAHA!!

[PB PM]

Hmm, Brad, I doubt those will count for points, as they will likely exceed their deadline (the units will just be passed on to another machine at that point).