folding speeds

[speeddude2000]

i am folding on 2 comps. one: P4 Prescott 2.8 and one P4 Northwood 2.8. My question is that when i fold on the prescott its very slow...takes about 3 minutes 2 do 1/400. when i fold on thenorthwood, takes about 1 minute to do 100/10000 of a WU. is it just the processor efficiency or can i set it 2 go faster? i think i played with the config a little. plz tell me how to make it GO AS FAST AS IT CAN! THX

[lil Jimmie]

First off, unless the 2 systems are running the same WU there is no use in comparing speeds between them. I have a number of 2.8C's and one 2.8E and yes they will get different WU's and fold at different speeds. The prescott is working on a Tinker and they do run slower than the gromacs.

CPU speed is everything when it comes to folding..... memory, cache, hdd and video have very little do with how fast a system can fold. Anything requesting cpu time will slow down folding so keep the system running lean when it comes to background programs ( step away from the keyboard & mouse more often... your wasting cpu cycles ) If you are using Hyperthreading cpu's you can run 2 clients and gain 20-40% increase in points over what you would get running one client this will only show a real gain in the long term.

[speeddude2000]

im using HT, how do i run anoter client? i have teh GUI version. also, when i go to the task manager and i look at the CPU usage, it gives two graphs. whats the diff between the two? does it have something to do with SMTs? whats an SMT? i saw it whne i was enchmarking with siaSandra.

[lil Jimmie]

I never had much luck getting the GUI and text console to work together, but I think Kov-Ice has and he can shed more light on running 2 instances with one being the GUI.
When you have HT enabled and you see two graphs under the performance tab in task manager it is showing the one physical cpu as 2.

Here is more info on Hyperthreading

[Kov-Ice]

I ran one of each for quite some time, so it's possible tho not the best setup... I've since moved to using the console only. This way you avoid any OpenGL conflicts the GUI sometimes may cause. Plus, the console seems to fold ever-so-slightly quicker than the GUI.

[lil Jimmie]

I agree with Kov on the console being the client of choice. I'd say either finish the WU you have with the GUI or stop the GUI and drop the console client into the F@H folder then follow these directions:

b) Two folds are better than one (Difficulty: Advanced)
For those lucky users with dual-processor machines or rigs with hyperthreaded P4s, you can run two instances of the Console version simultaneously. It's rather involved, but well worth it to see both of your CPUs (or both of your virtual CPUs) being utilized to their fullest. These instructions assume you are running Win2K Pro or XP Pro.

1) First, create two separate directories and dump FAH4Console.exe in each one.

2) Then, you're going to have to make a shortcut to each FAH3Console.exe. Paste the Shortcuts into the Cocuments and SettingsAll UsersStart MenuProgramsStartup folder so that both FAH consoles will startup every time the system boots up.

3) Right click on each shortcut you've created. You'll see the "Target" line: "C:Program Filesetc.etc.FAH4Console.exe"

Now, you MUST add the -local flag, if you haven't already done so here. Remember to add the -local flag for each shortcut. It's also a good idea to add -advmethods and -forceasm.

4) Now, you're almost set. Double click on one of the shortcuts you created. The first time you do, you'll be asked to configure FAH. Aside from your username and Team No. (select team No. 13761 for Team PCMech), one of the configuration options is to set the Machine ID for the first FAH4Console.exe program to "1" (when you get to the point where we run the second FAH4Console.exe, you'll need to set the second one's Machine ID to "2").

5) Now that one instance of FAH is up and running, go into your task manager and hit the "processes" tab. You'll see FAH4Console.exe there. Right click on it and choose "Set Affinity" and set it for CPU 0 only (uncheck CPU 1). You'll also see FAHCore_xx.exe running. Set that for CPU 0 too.

6) Now you're ready to run the second console (again, launch it by clicking on your second created shortcut). When you configure it, set it for a different machine ID ("2").

7) In take manager, you'll set the Affinity for your second instance of FAH3Console.exe for CPU 1. Now, this will be tricky as you'll see two FAH4Console.exe's running. You can check which one is the first one by checking the affinity. The new one will have both CPU 0 and 1 checked, while the first one was just set to CPU 0.

8) Do the same thing with the second FAHCore_xx.exe. Set it to CPU 1 only.

9) Now you're running two instances of FAH, and they are taking full advantage of your processors.

10) As long as you don't close out the Console programs, they'll remember their affinity. If you close them, or restart or reboot your computer, you'll need to go back and set the affinity again.

EDITED fot the new client ver. 4 and team number

info taken from http://maximumpc.com/features/feature_2003-06-10.html