^Yep. My PS3 is never switched off. Always folding, just like my PC



Support Cancer Research and the NCSU Wolfpack With Your Computer's Idle Time!

What Is It?
Essentially Folding@Home uses your unused CPU cycles to model how proteins fold in the human body. The misfolding of proteins is often involved in well known diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Mad Cow (BSE), CJD, ALS, and Parkinson’s disease. Because this endeavor requires massive amounts of computing power, their project uses spare CPU time on computers that would otherwise sit idle in homes and businesses across the world. Here at North Carolina State University, we have formed this team in order to donate our spare CPU time to help this important endeavor.

The North Carolina State University Folding@Home Team (Team # 59) was one of the first teams to join the Folding@Home project, and was the very first University-based team to join. We are currently ranked in the Top 100 teams in the world and are ramping up production in an effort to make it into the Top 50. We are all dedicated to doing our part to help end some of these terrible diseases, and we would appreciate the support of anyone who would like to help.

All it takes is the installation of a small piece of software and your computer will start completing Work Units for the project and the team. The Folding@Home process runs at the lowest possible priority so you can run it 24X7 without slowing down your computer or interfering with your everyday computing tasks. If you have a Sony PS3 Game Console you can also run Folding@Home on it with great results.

How can I Help?
Download and install the software appropriate for your OS (Windows/Linux/Mac). For dual/quad core computers, be sure you install the SMP client. It will get you and the NCSU team far more points than the traditional client. Whichever client you choose, we recommend running the Folding@Home client as a service. The client will run in the background without notification, and will release CPU resources as needed since it runs at the lowest priority. The NCSU Team Number is 59.

Visit the team homepage for detailed installation instructions

Windows Computers
We recommend using the "text-only console” client for most windows computers. If you have a dual/quad core processor, be sure to install and run the SMP client to get you and the team far more points than the standard console client In general, its best to stay away from the graphical clients. If you have a Pentium 4 with Hyperthreading, its best to turn off Hyperthreading in the BIOS if you know how. Feel free to post in this thread with any questions.

Mac and Linux Computers
There are both "text-only" consoles and SMP clients for Linux and Macintosh computers too! If you have a dual/quad/etc core processor be sure to run the SMP client as you'll get far more points than the text-only client. But the regular console clients also help out too if you only have single-core processors.

Playstation 3
PS3s currently provide over 60% of the processing power in the Folding@home network and are capable of producing many points for the team. If you have PS3 system version 1.6 or later, you will see a Folding@Home icon in the Network column of the XMB (PS3 Networking menu). Just click on the icon and that's it. If you don't have 1.6 or later, perform a system upgrade. Make sure to use Team #59!

The more computers and PS3s you run the clients on, the more points your username and the NCSU team earns! Install as many clients as you can and watch your username/team progress at the stats page


Links

Team Links
Official NCSU F@H Team Website - Tell your friends people. It's ncsufolding.com
NCSU F@H Team Discussion - This page.
NCSU F@H Team Facebook Group - Join our facebook group!

F@H Links
F@H Project Homepage - Official Stanford project webpage
F@H Official Forums - Official Project forums. Full of great information about the project and the computer/ps3 clients
F@H Wikipedia Article - General information about the F@H project
F@H Wiki Site - Excellent Wiki site with tons of helpful information about the project. Geared towards F@H users like us.

Stats
Extreme Overclocking NCSU Team Stats Page - The best F@H stats site
Stanford Stats Page - Official Stanford stats site
Monitor your production - Extremely useful little utility. Monitor the point production of local/network F@H clients
Compare your production with other users - Use information from above to compare your points production with other folders

[Edited on June 28, 2008 at 11:25 PM. Reason : Since it's the first on the page.]

6/28/2008 11:24:25 PM

I had to turn off my folding abilities currently. The city of Apex have shut off my AC units at my house remotely and have to wait to call them on Monday to get them back up. The room with the computers and ps3 running went up to 88 degrees, 10 degree difference to the hallway and the room is like a 40x30' room.

6/29/2008 12:45:25 AM

lol why did they shut them down???

6/29/2008 12:53:51 AM

yeah normally my ps3 is folding 24/7, however I decided to play madden nfl the other night, and then I left town, so its just sittin there not doing anything.

d'oh.

6/29/2008 3:57:20 AM

When it was 100+ degrees, I did shut down my computers to keep a bit cooler and use less energy during peak demand times. No worries in the winter though.

6/29/2008 9:01:16 AM

Hello, all. Thought I'd pop in here and introduce myself, I fold under the name Matt_Timmons and have climbed back up the charts to a respectable place recently (currently #6 by ppd and #25 by total points). I broke through 200k a few days back (yeah!).

I'm currently folding on a 9600GT powered by an e8400. GPU2 client only on this setup is yielding ~3k ppd. Should have a second GPU2 client running soon (rebuilding my mother's box, might as well add the extra bucks for a video card and get some use while I'm at it) and a third a while after that (HTPC in the works).

Are most of you current students or alumni from NCSU?

6/29/2008 11:46:22 AM

Alumni

6/29/2008 12:12:27 PM

^^Welcome! So are you getting 3K points per day just off the GPU client? Or is there an smp client there too? I have a 9600GTS...what kind of points can I get out of that? It's in a Q6600 box which runs two SMP clients already if that matters. And I'm an alumni

Who's alexzogh? They're also putting up some pretty awesome points.

Wonder if we can reach 100k PPD?

6/29/2008 1:10:37 PM

so what good things have come from all of this computer processing? any diseases cured yet?

6/29/2008 2:40:10 PM

holy crap, where did some of these teams below us some from???

http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/team_summary.php?s=&t=131015
http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/team_summary.php?s=&t=111065

0 to 700K PPD in like two weeks?

ok a little research shows that whoopass is NVIDIA.
http://foldingforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=3575&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&sid=01fb67a3a597b7368185a1c2716b2006&start=15

6/29/2008 2:40:42 PM

if i switch on my PS3 to do this, how much will it end up costing me per month in power? can i deduct the added expense on my taxes?

6/29/2008 2:40:48 PM

assuming it pulls all 200? watts while burning, think its like $10. and you can deduct whatever you want

6/29/2008 2:57:41 PM

I just checked and it only pulls 145 watts when folding...so I'm sure thats less than $10 per month

6/29/2008 3:36:27 PM

Those two teams (whoopass and Folding@EVGA) are people using the GPU2 client on nVidia hardware. That's how they are rising so quickly through the ranks (shows the power of GPU folding).

@Synapse
Yes, I'm getting ~3,000 or so ppd using only the GPU2 client on a 9600GT. I never could get the smp client to behave nicely on my system, so I was previously just folding with the standard Windows client. If you're running Vista the GPU2 client will only require ~10% of one core leaving you plenty of power for smp crunching. If you're running XP you will need to dedicate a core to the GPU client and the others can run smp. For more info read the Distributed Computing forums over at Anandtech.com.

I have my other box running now, 8800GS is pulling ~3,500 ppd for Team Anandtech (just while I bench it for average ppd to report over there). Not bad at all for a card I got for $70AR. Now I just have to get a better cooler for my Radeon 4850 and see what kind of ppd that card (with 800 stream processors) can crank out.

[Edited on June 29, 2008 at 8:11 PM. Reason : general edit]

[Edited on June 29, 2008 at 8:12 PM. Reason : general edit]

6/29/2008 8:07:40 PM

so this is what i get when i try to run the gpu2 on an 8600GTS

Quote :

"[01:20:55] + Attempting to get work packet [01:20:55] - Connecting to assignment server [01:20:59] - Successful: assigned to (171.64.65.20). [01:20:59] + News From Folding@Home: GPU folding beta [01:20:59] Loaded queue successfully. [01:21:06] + Closed connections [01:21:11] [01:21:11] + Processing work unit [01:21:11] Core required: FahCore_11.exe [01:21:11] Core found. [01:21:11] Working on queue slot 05 [June 30 01:21:11] [01:21:11] + Working ... [01:21:12] [01:21:12] *------------------------------* [01:21:12] Folding@Home GPU Core - Beta [01:21:12] Version 1.06 (Mon Jun 23 10:53:13 PDT 2008) [01:21:12] [01:21:12] Compiler : [01:21:12] Build host: amoeba [01:21:12] Preparing to commence simulation [01:21:12] - Looking at optimizations... [01:21:12] - Created dyn [01:21:12] - Files status OK [01:21:12] - Expanded 44437 -> 246249 (decompressed 554.1 percent) [01:21:12] Called DecompressByteArray: compressed_data_size=44437 data_size=246249, decompressed_data_size=246249 diff=0 [01:21:12] - Digital signature verified [01:21:12] [01:21:12] Project: 5002 (Run 1, Clone 27, Gen 103) [01:21:12] [01:21:12] Assembly optimizations on if available. [01:21:12] Entering M.D. [01:21:18] mdrun_gpu returned -1 [01:21:18] Going to send back what have done. [01:21:19] logfile size: 5529 info=5529 bed=25 hdr=1 [01:21:19] - Writing 6067 bytes of core data to disk... [01:21:19] Done: 5555 -> 2060 (compressed to 37.0 percent) [01:21:19] ... Done. [01:21:19] [01:21:19] Folding@home Core Shutdown: UNSTABLE_MACHINE [01:21:22] CoreStatus = 7A (122) [01:21:22] Sending work to server [01:21:22] - Read packet limit of 540015616... Set to 524286976. [01:21:22] + Attempting to send results [01:21:26] + Results successfully sent [01:21:26] Thank you for your contribution to Folding@Home. [01:21:30] EUE limit exceeded. Pausing 24 hours."

any ideas?

6/29/2008 9:25:47 PM

http://foldingforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=3266

6/29/2008 10:02:31 PM

I hope my 24/7 folding is helping out, when I look at my hardware in use, I think that it should be doing more PPD than I currently have ;(

6/30/2008 1:42:35 PM

Synapse, what version of the drivers are you using? I think you will get best results with 177.41 and make sure to install the CUDA toolkit as well.

Hacked 177.35 driver (inf modified to recognize older hardware)
http://forums.overclockersclub.com/lofiversion/index.php/t81435.html
Note you can also copy the inf file into the 177.41 folder if you download those drivers.

CUDA toolkit
http://www.nvidia.com/object/cuda_get.html

6/30/2008 2:20:31 PM

i have 177.35 drivers with CUDA running on a Quadro FX 570, but it tells me the GPU is not supported or i need a new driver... no go.

6/30/2008 2:27:40 PM

^^ thanks for the info.

so i just installed whatever the latest drivers where on NVIDIA's website. Can you give me a 1-5 list of what i need to do to get the GPU running?

and does this client use any CPU power? I've already got two smp clients running on my Q6600 suystem, so I guess it'll slow one of those down huh?

6/30/2008 2:37:54 PM

just started running this thing on my PS3, joined the team and signed up as OMGyouresexy...

i think...

I havent quite figured out how this works yet.

6/30/2008 5:25:37 PM

well you'll know pretty soon because you're name should pop up on the list below when you submit a work unit.

http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/user_list.php?s=&a=2&t=59

6/30/2008 5:39:17 PM

last time i did this we were 84th?

how about now?

6/30/2008 5:49:33 PM

takes some time for your nae to appear in the stats

6/30/2008 10:45:35 PM

what is th preferred drivers for 8800gtx 512, with vista 64?

????

6/30/2008 10:46:19 PM

WOOT brook 2,000,000 points last month. I do believe thats a first ever.

On a sad note for me, but good for the team, it looks like I will be relinquishing the #2 ppd to alexzogh before too long.



[Edited on July 1, 2008 at 8:29 AM. Reason : ]

7/1/2008 8:27:28 AM

Concerning using the GPU client on nVidia hardware, everyone should read the FAQ:
http://folding.stanford.edu/English/FAQ-NVIDIA

Synapse & Ablancas: Here you go, a 5 step guide to running the GPU client. Including the hacked .inf files you need to install the 177.41 driver from nVidia. Just download the .inf and copy it into the directory created when you try (unsuccessfully) to install the 177.41 driver (which only officially supports GTX 260/280 and 9800GTX but actually works just fine on all their cards).
http://foldingforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=3224

Prospero: It looks like the Quadro cards are not officially supported yet either, but I found one reference ( http://foldingforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=3576&p=34477 ) to successfully folding on a laptop with a mobile Quadro chipset so it's possible. Your FX570 is based on G84 so it's equivalent to an 8600GT. Follow the instructions above and see if you can get the driver to install correctly, then you should be in business.

As a general note, the GPU client still requires some CPU time (to keep it fed). Vista is very well optimized for multicore processing while XP is not so well optimized. On my main box (Vista x64 on e8400) while GPU folding I run 7-8% of one core. On my secondary system (XP SP3 on e4500) as soon as I start the GPU client one core pegs to 100% and stays there. So for the first time I've seen an advantage of Vista over XP. For Synapse, this means you can probably still run one smp client on your Q6600 (I don't know if one smp will max three cores or not).

And here is the best deal around, for those of you willing to spend a little cash to drastically improve your crunching results. EVGA 8800GS (nearly silent, I can't hear it in the case next to me with the side off) that gets 3,500-4,000 ppd for $80AR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130332

7/1/2008 9:38:59 AM

So who is alexzogh? If you keep up your last few days average you will be the #1 ppd producer for the team. Also I am curious as to what hardware is in the 11 computers you are running for F@H?

7/2/2008 8:12:40 AM

So if i start folding again what would be my best option to maximize ppd? I have a core 2 duo @3.2ghz, 8800gtx, and vista 64bit.

7/2/2008 9:01:06 AM

Quote :

"So if i start folding again what would be my best option to maximize ppd? "

I think running that new GPU client will get you max points...sounds like at least 3000 PPD from your graphics card maybe you could even run a smp client on top of that for more points

7/2/2008 9:05:30 AM

so the dual core smp client AND the new nvidia gpu client?

7/2/2008 9:06:13 AM

well run the GPU for sure (but read the info above before trying to run it..think you need certain drivers or something), and then try the SMP too. i've heard the GPU can use some of your proc...thats why i'm saying maybe on the SMP in addition. maybe somebody who is running the GPU2 client can comment on CPU usage of it...

^^^^^ thanks for all the info!

7/2/2008 9:14:18 AM

Neodata686: Run the GPU2 client (follow the steps above to update drivers & etc). On an 8800GTX (stock speed) you should get around 4400 ppd. And since you're running Vista you can also run an smp client because under Vista you will only use about 8% of one core to push the GPU client. Note that overclocking the video cards can produce considerable gains in ppd although it also obviously places additional heat/stress on the card.

7/2/2008 4:09:39 PM

My GTX is clocked pretty much to ultra speeds. That's gonna be a lot of ppd with the cpu and gpu2 clients.

7/2/2008 4:15:30 PM

We fell to 85th place today.

7/2/2008 6:13:28 PM

Yeah, if your card is @ Ultra speeds it will probably be around 5K ppd by itself plus just a little less than you normally get with smp on your system (under Vista the GPU client only takes a small percentage of one core leaving the others for smp work). Should be a 6K+ beast of a machine!

7/3/2008 8:25:11 AM

alright ladies I just got gpu2 installed on my 8800GTS 512, and its currently pumping out at 4.8k PPD by itself. by the way, nVidia has updated the drivers on the CUDA site to incude .inf's for the GeForce 8 series, so no more mod's are needed. also this is running on Vista 64.

not quite sure why my SMP Q9450 has dropped to ~2.5k PPD, was around ~3.3k PPD... more to come later after I figure it out.

on a sad note, all my other computers throughout the family are off for the next few days due to the holiday, everyone has left home ;-( mine will be on the grid 24/7 like always!

7/3/2008 10:59:08 AM

so you're getting 4.5k on the 8800gts and 2.5k on the smp on the same computer? I can't wait to see what my overclocked 8800gtx can do.

7/3/2008 11:15:45 AM

yes, i have the Q9450 clocked to 3.4GHz, but the 8800GTS 512, is stock factory... may try to over clock it later.

7/3/2008 11:18:20 AM

Quote :

"not quite sure why my SMP Q9450 has dropped to ~2.5k PPD, was around ~3.3k PPD... more to come later after I figure it out."

probably due to different work units

the 1920 point work units are crap

7/3/2008 11:23:16 AM

what you mean crap?

7/3/2008 11:24:40 AM

lower PPD than most other work units

7/3/2008 11:50:07 AM

ok, so I got it running on my PS3, the SMP client running on one laptop (dual proc), regular client running on another laptop (single proc), and have the fah504console running on two desktops, one using about 90% and one using about 50% of the respective cpu.


how can I get more production results? more ppd, etc?

7/3/2008 8:09:52 PM

GPU is where its at these days...

moor gpus and smps!

7/3/2008 8:15:56 PM

I've got another GPU inbound (Gigabyte 8800GT 256MB for $77AR from newegg.com) that will be paired up with an X2 3800+ and just stuck under my desk to crunch. Should see 4k+ ppd from that. Hmmm...I also have an old Shuttle with an Opty 165, could throw in another 8800GS if I get one...

Geez, we need someone to start paying for crunching time so we can afford the power consumption!!

7/4/2008 2:12:42 AM

Ablancas:
PPD drop probably due to some cpu cycles going to feed the GPU client instead of pushing the SMP client.

EDIT: And just a note, these GPUs really respond well to overclocking. My 9600GT went from 3200 to 3600 from raising the core from 650 to 700 and memory from 900 to 1000. And my 8800GS went from 3500 to 4300 by boosting the core from 550 to 650 and the memory from 800 to 900. Just use Rivatuner to adjust your core/memory speed and push the fan up a little if it starts running too hot for your taste.

I need to figure out how to run the SMP client on my e8400 so I can squeeze out a few more points.

[Edited on July 4, 2008 at 2:18 AM. Reason : GPU OC info]

7/4/2008 2:15:11 AM

OK, so when I buy/build my next computer I need to pay close attention to the video card. Normally I don't since I don't do any PC gaming anymore. I was originally thinking of a quad core, but I could save money with a dual core and spend some of the savings a video card. Hopefully by the end of the year I will have a new rig.

7/4/2008 8:11:47 AM

^^ hey thanks for the info, I will try all of it once I get back... about to burn down the beach in my new s2k.

happy 4th

[Edited on July 4, 2008 at 8:32 AM. Reason : .]

7/4/2008 8:32:39 AM

what are yall getting in terms of PPD for GPU2?

i have my Asus 8800GTS 512 clocked to 729MHz (clock), 1000MHz (Memory clock), stable with averaging 5200 PPD alone.

Does anyone know the "safe" clocks for this GPU?

thanks

7/6/2008 8:17:12 PM

Quote :

"i have my Asus 8800GTS 512 clocked to 729MHz (clock), 1000MHz (Memory clock), stable with averaging 5200 PPD alone. "

holy crap thats amazing

7/6/2008 9:19:15 PM