Question for the folding experts and SMP

[flanzig1]

Decided to try the SMP client on my dual Xeon box. The Xeons are 2.2gHz w/HT and 512k cache. Have 1gig of ram per CPU.
Now for the ?, It takes a frame about 1 1/2 hours to do which means about 6.5 days to complete. Will I loose the points if it's returned after the deadline? And if the machine isn't powerfull enough, would it best to run 4 regular clients instead?

[Kov-Ice]

Thought maybe Eric or chief woulda tackled this one... I don't know a ton about the SMP stuff. How long are the deadlines on those proteins? Also, are you trying to run four SMP clients with your HT, or just one per processor?

[enhanced08]

as kov asked, how many smp clients are you running? its best to run 1 smp client per system or per 2 cores/cpus. the smp client is actually designed and optimized for 4 or more cores/cpus but will run on 2 cores/cpus as well. a number of people claim better points if you run 2 instances of smp on a quad core/cpu rather than just 1.

you wont get the full points for the unit if you turn it in late, you wont even finish the unit. once the deadline is passed the client will automatically stop and send the unit even if its not finished. maybe try overclocking it a little if not already?

best thing i can say is just to try the smp client and if it falls short of the dealines, switch to the normal client.

[DSCHIEF]

Did'nt jump-in because I have zero experience with Xeon processors.

http://fah-web.stanford.edu/psummary.html

check the above url for info on deadlines and points for Wu's.

all of the SMP wu's I have run have deadlines of 4 days or less.

the 2604 & 2605 take about 28 hrs

the 2608 & 2609 units take almost 40 hrs.

these are on E6400 machines / with 2 G of ram

It might be that the FSB on the Xeons is too slow ?

if the prices drop some more the E6850
would be my new processor of choice

[flanzig1]

With 2 CPUs and HT, I have one SMP running that is working between the 4 cores that are showing in Task Manager. The SMP that downloaded was listed at 4 days. So, looks like when I get back home, I'll set it up for 4 regular clients. I, m waiting for one of my P4 478 boxes to die before upgrading.

[enhanced08]

hmmm..... the HT might be the problem. i never read much about smp and HT because i run mostly AMD and the 1 system i have thats intel and has HT is a single core.

maybe try disabling the HT in the bios so it only runs on the 2 physical cores. but even then they may just be too slow for the smp client.