Joining Team Anandtech Folding@Home

[Schadenfroh]

Hey,

I have been a member of the Team Anandtech SETI for a while now and I will probably still continue to run SETI / BOINC on my PCs, but I just setup Folding@Home on the PS3 (Since it does not have an option for SETI without linux). I told it to credit "Schadenfroh" (It did not prompt me to create an account, just to type a name in) and I entered in team #198 (Team Anandtech?) into the slots. I am not sure how folding works, it did not require me to register my email address like SETI. How does it ensure that I am infact Schadenfroh and that I did not just force someone who might have already had that name to join Team Anandtech when I typed that stuff into the PS3? (I checked on F@H's website, so I know that Schadenfroh is not taken, therefore I am asking "without the email / password, how does it keep people from switching me over without my knowledge?")

Pardon my ignorance, but I am used to BOINC / SETI and F@H is new to me.

 

[GLeeM]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
Hey,

I have been a member of the Team Anandtech SETI for a while now and I will probably still continue to run SETI / BOINC on my PCs, but I just setup Folding@Home on the PS3 (Since it does not have an option for SETI without linux). I told it to credit "Schadenfroh" (It did not prompt me to create an account, just to type a name in) and I entered in team #198 (Team Anandtech?) into the slots. I am not sure how folding works, it did not require me to register my email address like SETI. How does it ensure that I am infact Schadenfroh and that I did not just force someone who might have already had that name to join Team Anandtech when I typed that stuff into the PS3? (I checked on F@H's website, so I know that Schadenfroh is not taken, therefore I am asking "without the email / password, how does it keep people from switching me over without my knowledge?")

Pardon my ignorance, but I am used to BOINC / SETI and F@H is new to me.

Good questions, Schadenfroh and Welcome!

Same names can be a problem.

I can fold with your name if I want to give you some points. As you can't move your points to another team, I would still be helping the TeAm without danger of those points moving to another team.

The new V6 client (no V6 for PS3 yet) can give some protection with a protected ID that only you can access. It would protect from someone doing malicious stuff, I guess.

Someone would have to have access to your computer/PS3 to change your User Name/ Team.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: GLeeM

Someone would have to have access to your computer/PS3 to change your User Name/ Team.

Thanks for the reply!

If I chose to switch over my ATI based desktop to folding@home (I assume that it will not let me limit it to the GPU and use my CPU for SETI?), will I be able to contribute work units under the same profile as my PS3 or will each new install require a new identity?

 

[GLeeM]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh

Originally posted by: GLeeM

Someone would have to have access to your computer/PS3 to change your User Name/ Team.

Thanks for the reply!

If I chose to switch over my ATI based desktop to folding@home (I assume that it will not let me limit it to the GPU and use my CPU for SETI?), will I be able to contribute work units under the same profile as my PS3 or will each new install require a new identity?

Use the exact same name and TeAm #198 for any and all clients you want to run to keep building points for yourself. If you accidently use, say, Schaadenfroh, that would start another new member. You can see quite a bit of that over the years. So watch for typos.

I used to think that the GPU client needed one whole CPU to feed it, but Assimilator1 says otherwise, maybe he will help here.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Thanks again GLeeM!

I am testing out the latest console version of the F@H GUI client on my 512mb x1950 pro. It appears to use < 20% of my single core Athlon64 4000. I assume that running boinc (SETI) and F@H will not yield much of a performance hit for F@H? (since F@H is on the GPU and BOINC (SETI) uses the CPU?)

Also, will disabling Aero in Vista help F@H's GPU client much by freeing the GPU from the 3D desktop?

It looks like I setup my console F@H GPU client to use my proper user name (says Schadenfroh team 198 in the command line and there is only one schadenfroh like name on the team roster).

 

[bryanW1995]

I had a significant drop in my seti RAC when I installed the gpu client on my x1950xt 256mb a few weeks ago. It was in the neighborhood of 25%. More importantly, my computer was nearly unusable, even for web browsing, when seti and f@h were running together.

 

[GLeeM]

Couple of things:

F@H WUs have deadlines. Looks like most of the GPU deadlines are six days. After that you get no points. There is also a Preferred deadline after which your WU will be sent to someone else to crunch. The WUs that have a six day deadline have a three day Preferred deadline. WU Deadline information.

I think that some cards with only 256 MB are known to cause slow downs on computer use when F@H GPU is running.

 

[Assimilator1]

Problems with 256MB cards only applie to the 1950XTs ,the Pros don't have this issue IIRC ,and mine was fine .

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh

Originally posted by: GLeeM

Someone would have to have access to your computer/PS3 to change your User Name/ Team.

Thanks for the reply!

If I chose to switch over my ATI based desktop to folding@home (I assume that it will not let me limit it to the GPU and use my CPU for SETI?), will I be able to contribute work units under the same profile as my PS3 or will each new install require a new identity?

Welcome to TA F@H

In the short time I tried SETI & F@H GPU on one rig (then dual core) ,SETI totally sucked up the CPU power of both cores & stalled F@H! ,possibly this could be fixed by altering S@Hs priority.
DPAD @ F@H GPU seem to share a core much better.I had 2xDPAD clients ,1 of the clients shared 1 of the cores with F@H GPU (which still needs some CPU power to run the GPU client).IIRC F@H used about 2/3 of one core ,the rest going to one of the DPAD clients.

Bryanw
Don't forget to mention that the problem of F@H GPU stalling the windows GUI etc is mainly (only?) suffered by X1950XTs with 256MB RAM ,1950 Pros & 1950XTs 512MB don't have this problem ,IIRC

 

[VirtualLarry]

What about X1950GT 256MB vs. 512MB versions. Do they have the "stall" problem as well? If I were in the market for a new video card, would it be worthwhile for F@H sake to buy a 512MB version of the X1950GT? It's only about $20 more than a 256MB X1950GT (=$117).

 

[Iron Chef]

256MB PCIe cards based on the RV570 gpu are not affected by the "pause" problem. These would include x1950Pro, x1950GT, and x1650XT cards.

 

[Assimilator1]

Can't you get the Pro version? it's a tad faster & no more expensive IIRC.