F@H - Do you get more points the faster you crunch?

[MichaelD]

I have noticed that I've got a lot of points (not complaining!) for relatively few WUs. Others have just as many points as I, but way more WUs.

Do you get awarded more points, the faster you turn in the completed WU?

Thanks.

 

[Zuke]

No. The points / WU ratio is different now than it used to be.

 

[MichaelD]

Thanks, Zuke.

 

[kb3edk]

Originally posted by: MichaelD
I have noticed that I've got a lot of points (not complaining!) for relatively few WUs. Others have just as many points as I, but way more WUs.

Do you get awarded more points, the faster you turn in the completed WU?

Thanks.

You have been getting boffo points lately, MichaelD, keep it up!

The point credit system is a little weird, though... there is a huge amount of variety among the WUs.

Basically what Stanford does is benchmark all WUs on a single Pentium 4 2.8 GHz box running Linux. Based on how well that particular machine can crunch the WUs, points are assigned. You can check point values for all the proteins here.

I've noticed that my Athlon box running Windows gets results wildly divergent from Stanford's Intel/Linux baseline. It tends to hinge mostly on the difference between the two F@H cores (Tinker is the older one, Gromacs is newer code). My box just finished a 242 point Tinker in 27 hours (about 9 pts per hour rate), while two days ago it took 8 hours to get through a 46 point Gromacs (only 5.75 pph). And that was with SSE and other speed-enhancing options turned on. YMMV, of course.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Adam in Philly
Athlon 64 FX-51 @ 2.4GHz/1.625vcore - ASUS SK8V
Liquid cooling by Koolance

 

[MichaelD]

Thanks, Adam. Great info.

I have been reading the logfile and have noticed that all the WUs I've done have used the Gromax core. Maybe that's why.

On a related note: FEDEX just came! I've got a Barton2500/Corsair Valueram PC3200/Epox8RDA3I to OC the snot out of. For F@H, of course. It will be replacing the P3-731MHz box that hasn't yet completed it's first WU...after FOUR days. :roll:

BBL.

 

[kb3edk]

Originally posted by: MichaelD
Thanks, Adam. Great info.

I have been reading the logfile and have noticed that all the WUs I've done have used the Gromax core. Maybe that's why.

On a related note: FEDEX just came! I've got a Barton2500/Corsair Valueram PC3200/Epox8RDA3I to OC the snot out of. For F@H, of course. It will be replacing the P3-731MHz box that hasn't yet completed it's first WU...after FOUR days. :roll:

BBL.

Yeah, it's stuff like this that makes F@H so addictive. I just Googled "Tinker Gromacs" now and got pointed to a bunch of various F@H forum threads attempting to explain the performance gap. There is something of a consensus that Gromacs WUs run better on Pentiums because of Intel's allegedly better implementation of the SSE instruction set, and a more minor consensus that Gromacs run better on Linux vs. Windows. (Wonder where this leaves all the Mac users :roll: )

However, the determination of WU core assignment is not entirely left up to the fates... if you run the F@H client with the "-advmethods" flag turned on you supposedly get a higher percentage of Gromacs WUs. Needless to say I leave this turned off on my Athlon box because it does so much better with Tinkers. But plenty of Intel owners in the other forums swear by it.

Anyway good luck getting your new cruncher set up... mind my asking where/how much for it?

-------------------------------------------------------------
Adam in Philly
Athlon 64 FX-51 @ 2.4GHz/1.625vcore - ASUS SK8V
Liquid cooling by Koolance

 

[MichaelD]

mind my asking where/how much for it?

Nope, don't mind at all. "How much it costs" is hard to pin down as I already had:

Case
PS
HD
DVD-Rom
Cables

I only had to buy:


Mobo: Epox 8RDA3I - $61 (NF2 Ultra400, onboard LAN/sound (SPIDF out, but no Soundstorm) USB2.0
No SATA or Firewire, but I won't use them and this board would STILL make a nice gaming rig

CPU: 2500 Barton - $83

Memory: 512MB stick of CorsiarPC3200 Valueram - $80


So, those three things cost me $224. Not bad for a rig that booted right up at 2.20GHz with only adjusting the FSB to 200MHz, and no voltage changes.

I need to finish loading and patching WinXP...then we'll see how high we can crank the FSB...w/the stock HSF, which isn't bad!