How long does it take to complete one WU from folding@home?

[dakarm]

I'm running a Xeon 1.8GHz with nearly 1GB of ram on 15KRPM SCSI drives.

I started a WU from folding@home last night around 10PM and now it's nearly 9:30pm next day and it's only at 80%?

How long does it usually take? Also my cpu utilization is at around 50%, is that normal?

I'm running Windows XP Pro. Will it help if I install the second CPU? I read that you can run differnt WU for each cpu so I'm guessing it wont help.

I'm using the graphical client version.

 

[dakarm]

screw it i'm bailing out after this WU is finished.

 

[BD231]

Dont ball out dude we need you!! My first work unit took 17hr's and I have a 1.6ghz athlon XP on an OC'ed frost side bus!!. They go much faster now though(3 to 5 hours a WU now). I think your CPU utilization is at 50% because you have a dual board, so if you put in another CPU you'll REALLY be crunching(seti makes use of 2 processors). Seti works the FPU of CPU's and the CPU you have is not the best when it comes to FPU, the speed of your memory also plays a roll, your SCSI drive has no effect on the speed of Seti. If you have a second CPU it will help GREATLY.

 

[Strawa]

F@H WUs are not same as seti's WU, some units take just 2-3 h to complete and some even 15h (on my xp 1800+), it depends of protein complexity, they are changing proteins often so dont worry its normal and its great project!
for more complex units which need more time u get more credit points- thats point!

 

[r0tt3n1]

Using the graphical client does make for longer WU's completion times. If you would care to switch to the console client, the WU times would drop quite a bit. Sorry we didnt respond sooner. I do not frequent the forums as often anymore..... Dont be discouraged, even if you continue with the graphical client, your help is appreciated.


For a list of protiens, how many points and max time to complete for each you can look here

 

[mgpaulus]

Here's a Folding CPU/Speed page that might give some insights. Please don't despair about long times. Some proteins take a while, but they get additional point values for the extra time......

Here's a link to Protein Values.

 

[dakarm]

Originally posted by: Strawa
F@H WUs are not same as seti's WU, some units take just 2-3 h to complete and some even 15h (on my xp 1800+), it depends of protein complexity, they are changing proteins often so dont worry its normal and its great project!
for more complex units which need more time u get more credit points- thats point!

okay that makes sense. It took nearly 18 hours to complete. I was down for about an hour while I moved the system to a larger room and cranked up the AC, etc.

I'm going to install the second cpu, to see if it helps any. If not then I'll try to set it up to run two WU at once.


I'm also doing SETI on a different system, which is less powerful (1.13GHz P3T). That one is coming along nicely.

I was planning on swithing to SETI for both since it seemed like my system wasn't powerful enough to help much on the protein folding.

 

[mgpaulus]

Run 2 WU at the same time.... Create a second directory, put a copy of FAH3Console.exe in there and run
FAH3Console with the '-config -local' options...... During the config options, select the 'Advanced' options and tell it you are
running on CPU 2. Also, make sure that every time you run this FAH3Console you use the -local option, otherwise I believe both copies of
the Folding client will try to use the registry, and will wind up stepping on each other. I'm not sure, but you might want to put the -local flag on both instances.

I know that we will be anxiously awaiting the addition of that second processor, and the much needed horsepower it will bring to the team....

Thanks for sticking it out.

And "Welcome to the Fold".....