I have 2 of my 3 SMP installs on Vista , running as a service as well. I have had little to no problems with it. Just to be safe though , before a planned reboot I back up my work folder , que.dat and unit info files. I have on a few occasions needed them. But all in all, running like a champ on Vista. Scott knocks on wood, just in case !
:wow2: That's an amazing increase in points Scott
I agree with the love hate relationship that SMP seems to create, but that's a small sacrifice for the points it gives. :bigggrin:
Good news, built 4 - X2 4000+ for a customer and pitched him the folding effort and he's down with it. I'll be going back in Wed or Thurs to get them working for our team.
Thanks for adding the support... I know my PS3 and Primes PS3 are folding daily when we are not gaming...
Heck, mine's folding 24/7 until MGS4's coming out unless I'm using it for media serving... and that's rare (but this weekend was pretty much devoted to it).
Also with the whole PS3 deal, I think they have to have the program running the entire time as they can't scale the system. Asd in making it so it frees up the CPU's. Making other tasks ont he system run slow... maybe they can optimize it over time like they have other things in the PS3 like being able to download things in the background.
I'm sure it would but I heard quads run at 15 to 17 minutes a frame... wouldn't it be more beneficial point wise to have 2 SMP clients running at 22 minutes a frame?
Point wise.. yes. The old days of PCs taking several days to a week to turn in a work unit, it was better for the project to turn the work units in as fast as possible instead of going for the points.
I guess since most of the SMP Work Units are turned in in less than a day, having one PC turn in two a day with dual SMP is fine.
Can SMP run with 4 cores? Wouldn't that be better for the project then running two SMP clients? Just curious.
We've done some analysis here and even created a guide and discussed it here
The short answer to your question is yes it can but it is not the optimum folding setup for the Q6600 and similar designs. It looks like it is largely because of Conroe cores being joined by the FSB. Operating 2 instances of SMP on a properly setup Q6600 looks to be FAR more effective.
As a note- my best folder (and no it's not the Q6600 right now) has had a hard drive failure. The company is advance RMA'ing it (which I'm delighted with), but it's taken the system out for the last couple of days and probably a couple of more.
I hate for FAH to be a system integrity alerter, but my first indication of a problem was a couple of FILE I/O ERRORs and EUEs- which this system has not done since I got it up and running 6 months ago. (Actually, after all the service and places this system has seen in this period- I'm amazed that something hasn't gone out much sooner).
I also thought how ironic it was when it started shortly after I bragged about how errorlessly my systems folded SMPs . So don't feel so bad, Q!!
hey any amount of points helps the overall goal...
Also to note.. if you know Linux at all you can piece together a AMD dual core rig for about $275 shipped right now... and a intel dual core rig for $340 range.. up that to a quad core for another $120
Reading through this thread reminded me that I will be adding an Intel core 2 duo system to my little farm quite soon.
I built the system for a client of mine about 6 months ago. Unfortunately he recently passed away and his widow didn't want to keep the rig. When I offered to buy it and told her I wanted it to fold for research, she was so intrigued by the concept she gave me the computer for nothing. So I'm picking up about $900 worth of computer next week-end
All it needs is a decent graphics card and I'm good to go.
Another SMP client should add extra 800 odd points per day
0
LeonardoWake up and smell the glaciersEagle River, AlaskaIcrontian
edited October 2007
Outstanding. You should print out information explaining (with pictures, too) the Folding@Home program and give it to the computer donor. From time to time let her know what the computer's productivity is.
Comments
I have 2 of my 3 SMP installs on Vista , running as a service as well. I have had little to no problems with it. Just to be safe though , before a planned reboot I back up my work folder , que.dat and unit info files. I have on a few occasions needed them. But all in all, running like a champ on Vista.
Scott knocks on wood, just in case !
Scott
I agree with the love hate relationship that SMP seems to create, but that's a small sacrifice for the points it gives. :bigggrin:
24 hour Average: 139,484 - +13,894 -60516 for total goal
Active Folders: 190 - +1
Average PPD per user: 734.1 - +69.6
Current Stats:
24 hour Average: 142,367 = +2,883 -57,633 for total goal
Active Folders: 202 = +12
Average PPD per user: 704.8 = -29.3
The numbers are not huge but they are growing. Our # of active users went up while our points per user has gone down.
If you have a Dual Core CPU make sure your running the SMP client is is worth the points to switch
Thanks for adding the support... I know my PS3 and Primes PS3 are folding daily when we are not gaming...
Heck, mine's folding 24/7 until MGS4's coming out unless I'm using it for media serving... and that's rare (but this weekend was pretty much devoted to it).
Right... and that's the dumbest thing in the world to me. I don't need to see the pretty pictures, just run the thing all the time. :/
Also with the whole PS3 deal, I think they have to have the program running the entire time as they can't scale the system. Asd in making it so it frees up the CPU's. Making other tasks ont he system run slow... maybe they can optimize it over time like they have other things in the PS3 like being able to download things in the background.
I guess since most of the SMP Work Units are turned in in less than a day, having one PC turn in two a day with dual SMP is fine.
We've done some analysis here and even created a guide and discussed it here
The short answer to your question is yes it can but it is not the optimum folding setup for the Q6600 and similar designs. It looks like it is largely because of Conroe cores being joined by the FSB. Operating 2 instances of SMP on a properly setup Q6600 looks to be FAR more effective.
As a note- my best folder (and no it's not the Q6600 right now) has had a hard drive failure. The company is advance RMA'ing it (which I'm delighted with), but it's taken the system out for the last couple of days and probably a couple of more.
I hate for FAH to be a system integrity alerter, but my first indication of a problem was a couple of FILE I/O ERRORs and EUEs- which this system has not done since I got it up and running 6 months ago. (Actually, after all the service and places this system has seen in this period- I'm amazed that something hasn't gone out much sooner).
I also thought how ironic it was when it started shortly after I bragged about how errorlessly my systems folded SMPs
Also to note.. if you know Linux at all you can piece together a AMD dual core rig for about $275 shipped right now... and a intel dual core rig for $340 range.. up that to a quad core for another $120
Apex Case & PSU - $49.99
WD 40GB HD 7200RPM - $37.99
OCZ Gold DDR2 PC6400 512MB - $21.99 - can get other brands for $17.99
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ 3.0Ghz AM2 - $169.99 - 4200+ or 4400+ under $90 - 3800+ is $60
MSI K9VGM AM2- $45.99
mobo has onboard graphics
I built the system for a client of mine about 6 months ago. Unfortunately he recently passed away and his widow didn't want to keep the rig. When I offered to buy it and told her I wanted it to fold for research, she was so intrigued by the concept she gave me the computer for nothing. So I'm picking up about $900 worth of computer next week-end
All it needs is a decent graphics card and I'm good to go.
Another SMP client should add extra 800 odd points per day