GPU Folding Guide

This is all about the pixel shaders, you want a lot of them and really fast ones.

Make sure you Fold for Team # 33!!!

Here is a link to the Folding NVidia GPU FAQ

You'll need a CUDA enabled card and the 177.35 or 174.55 drivers.

Here is the ATI Folding FAQ.

for ATI GPUs you'll need
a 2xxx or 3xxx or newer GPU
ATI Driver v8.1+, v8.3 or newer recommended
AGP GPU aperture size in the BIOS must be set to 128 MB or larger
Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0, with updates recommended
Windows operating system, XP or newer
Processor with SSE2 support to feed the GPU

All Video cards: Do not use RDP for remote access, it is incompatable with the GPU2 client. Use VNC or other remote access software.
UltraVNC server software is a free download that works with Vista and is compatable with other VNC softwares.

EDIT: GTX280s may require 100 ohm resistors for the dummy plug. (used for multi-GPU setups) At least one [H] DCer had to switch from 75 to 100 ohm parts to get them to work. YMMV

A quick quide to the nVidia GPU2 single client folding.

The best drivers so far are the 177.35 ones.

Download the client from Stanford.
It gets installed into two places.
The client files go in C:\Program Files (x86)\Folding@home\Folding@home-gpu <- for XP64 OS.
The data files go in "C:\Documents and Settings\<your name>\Application Data\Folding@home-gpu\" <- Again XP64 OS.
The data file is in a hidden folder so use the new shortcut "Folding@home data files - expert only" thats in the start menu to find it.
To monitor the client with either FahMon or FahSpy, you must point the FahMon/Spy at the data folder, not at the client folder.

Overclocking the card.
I use RivaTuner to overclock the card and the scan for artifacts test in ATITools to test for stability and find out how hot the card will run under load.
GPU2 folding relies on shader speed then core speed then finally memory speed.
So thats the order to raise the clocks in.

First each card needs an output for Windoze to see it before you can start to fold on it.
So it needs to be attached to a monitor, kvm switch, VGA dummy plug, etc, etc.
This is a Windoze drivers thing, not a folding client thing.
You need to extend the desktop to the new outputs for the clients to work.

The 177.35 drivers are still the best.

Download the standard GPU2 client from stanford.
Now download the new FahCore_11.exe v1.07 fromhttp://www.stanford.edu/~friedrim/FahCore_11.exe.
Now replace the FahCore_11.exe v1.06 with the FahCore_11.exe v1.07 in the data folder.

Now make a copy of both the client folder and data folder and rename them.
Make a new shortcuts to start them.
In the first shortcuts target line add the -gpu 0 switch, in the second shortcuts target line add the -gpu 1 switch.
Make sure the start in line points to the correct data folder.
Mine would look like .....
Targets .....
C:\Program Files (x86)\Folding@home\Folding@home-gpu -gpu 0
C:\Program Files (x86)\Folding@home\Folding@home-gpu2 -gpu 1
Start in.......
C:\Documents and Settings\Nigel\Application Data\Folding@home-gpu
C:\Documents and Settings\Nigel\Application Data\Folding@home-gpu2
The first GPU2 client starts with a Machine ID of 2.
So the second clients needs to be set at 3 or higher.
Its easiest to use Windoze notepad to edit the client.cfg file if needed but don't add any spaces, etc or it wont work.

Short cut to a proper Over Clocking Progy from evga. So simple even I figured it out and it's pretty:

http://www.evga.com/articles/405.asp

You can unlink the Pixel Shader from the main so this is very tweakable. In my short experience the Pixel shader makes the most difference.

You can also adjust fan speed with this progy, I run at 100% on my 8800 GTS.

Tip, peeking at the graphical screen may (usually?) causes the client to slow down. Looking at the log file seems to have no effect. If you peek, reboot. I have yet to lose a wu with a reboot never touching the client.

Can someone come up with an estimated PPD shedule for different cards.

Looks like maybe 4000+- PPD for 8800GT's
and nearly 10,000 PPD For GTX 280's

edit: my 8800GT did 4,888 points yesterday.
see: http://www.hardfolding.com/?go=38&tnum=33&id=6904

I geared this toward new GPU folders. I figured it was better to have too much info than to little.


ATI GPU Folding Tutorial

The ATI GPU folding client is very easy to setup, quite stable, and takes very little maintenance.

The first thing you will need is an ATI GPU and the proper drivers. The ATI HD 2000 and 3000 and now the 4000 series are all supported. You will need the ATI Catalyst Drivers of 8.3 or newer. The newest ATI drivers are version 8.6 and can be found here for both 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows XP and Vista: http://ati.amd.com/support/driver.html. I have not tested the 8.6 drivers but I have been using the 8.4’s for a couple months now with no problems whatsoever.

I would highly recommend using Rivatuner 2.09 to adjust your GPU fans before proceeding any farther. Rivatuner can be found here: http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=163 Once you install Rivatuner go to the Main tab and click on the Customize arrow. Then select Hardware Monitoring to view your GPU’s clock speeds, utilization, and temps. I try to keep my temps around 60°C when folding although a little higher is probably ok. Next go back to the main Rivatuner window and click the customize arrow and select low level system settings and the select the fan tab. Check the Enable low level fan control box, check the fixed radio button and move the slider bar to a higher fan setting. Usually 60% works well for me personally although it will vary significantly based on you card, case, and other components. After you have selected your fan speed click OK at the bottom of the window and you should hear you fan speed up!

Now that you have your ATI card installed, your drivers installed, and an app to help you keep your GPU cool, let’s get onto installing the GPU client itself. You will want to download the 6.12 beta client from the High Performance folding client page: http://folding.stanford.edu/English/DownloadWinOther. Once you have the client downloaded to your desktop, unzip the zip file and install the msi file. The client is now installed and you can go to Start | All Programs |Folding @ Home-GPU | Folding @ Home to start the client. When the client starts make sure to enter your username and your team number (TEAM 33) and then click OK to start the client. You will notice a new icon in your system tray that will display the status of the client.

Make sure to check back to your Rivatuner window and take a look at your GPU temps. Go back and adjust the fan as necessary.

This method has worked for me on both 32 bit and 64 bit windows machines.

If you wish to add this client to your fahmon point it here: C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Folding@home-gpu.
Good luck fellow folders and if you need any assistance please don’t hesitate to post in the DC sub-forum. We would be happy to help you out! Fold [H]!

Rockin!

Originally Posted by Kyle_Bennett

Rockin!

Definitely

When I get my internet back, I'll review everything and if needed, PM you for corrections or elaborations.

Here's a FAQ question that might need to be answered. Though it may change when they fix/tweak the beta client.
What type of CPU power do you need to keep a GPU like an 8800GT fed.

With Vista only using 15-20% of one core, it seems that any CPU will do even a slow single core celeron or Pentium 4.

But with XP since it maxes out one of my 3.9Ghz e8400 cores, it makes me think that with XP the more power the more PPD ?

relic's VGA dummy plug for dummies:
If you are too cheap to buy a KVM and can't solder to save your soul you can still make your own VGA dummy plug for multi GPU folding for under 5 dollars.

Look for a F-F DB15 "gender changer"
This is a connector with holes on both sides for 15 pins. (also known as DB15 "female to female" or DB15 F-F)

One side plugs onto the pins on your VGA card, the other side need to have 3 x 75-Ohm, 1/4-watt resistors inserted. (very approximately 75 ohm - anything from 50-100 Ohm will do fine and even a paper clip has been reported to work. This isn't rocket science.)

The resistors go between these pins:
1 to 6
2 to 7
3 to 8

If you need a pin-out diagram, see tigerbiten's links above.

Just push the resistors in the holes, separate between resistors with electrical tape and wrap in more tape so the bare wires can't touch any other metal and they can't fall out.

Where to find parts:
Any computer store will carry the DB15 "gender changer", it's used extend monitor cables.
Any electronics store will carry 1/4 watt resistors (any wattage will do but 1/4 watts are smaller). Just buy the closest thing to 75-ohms, and don't be too particular.

maybe $5 in parts if you avoid overpriced radioshack. No soldering required.

Is it easy to pause or turn folding off when I want to play a game?

I have a GTX 280 with a nice OC guys. Be nice and I'll join you.

Originally Posted by mentok1982

Is it easy to pause or turn folding off when I want to play a game ?

Just click on the tray icon and select either "Pause Work" or "Quit".
When you finish gaming either resume work from the tray icon or restart the client from the shortcut.
Its that easy .........

Luck ...........

Would love to throw my 800GTS into the mix - but with 100F weather here in north texas and spending an ass load to cool my place I will wait till it starts to cool down before i throw my GPU into the hoard.

By that time I should have a nVidia 280 in addition to my 3.0 Core2Quad.

Is it true that with the ATI 48X0 series that only 320 shaders (or whatever they are called) out of the 800 available are being used? Simply because they are so new the client hasn't been updated yet? Thanks! BTW, have been folding inconsistently for a few years for team 33. I just got my 4850 and love to crank out some units!

Word has it that the client doesn't benefit from that many shaders yet.
The points seem to bear that out.

In the future, who knows?
This is folding, the only certain is change.

Originally Posted by relic

This is folding, the only certain is change.

Understatement of the year.

Originally Posted by Kendrak

Understatement of the year.

7 years.
It's been a long time.

Been tinkering with Folding and have some questions:

So setting affinity for 'FahCore_11.exe' to both cores, dumps the "100% of 1 core" to "50% on both cores". Would have thought it to be slightly higher utilization with both cores available. Is this right?

"Viewing" (displaying progress) seems to hurt speed and renders my PC VERY sluggish with this Cuda/Beta 2. Is there another way to display progress wihtout incuring such high overhead? Just text of pregress/time remaining would suffice.

Two and a quarter hours~ish per unit = par for course with a stock AMD 4800x2 + 8800gtx? Need I fire up the PS3 during this cool weather snap?

thats what I'm getting... about 2hrs 15-20mins per WU with my 8800GT.