Affinity Settings for SMP Folding?

RyanFodderRyanFodder Detroit, MI Icrontian
edited March 2009 in Folding@Home
What is an affinity changer (I assume it allows FAH to run in 64 bit) and how do I get one? My SMP client isn't putting out nearly as well as my GPU client... in fact its downright slow... Any help here would be appreciated!

Comments

  • SnarkasmSnarkasm Madison, WI Icrontian
    edited March 2009
    Affinity Changer has nothing to do with 64-bit, and your SMP client will always be slower than your GPU client.

    Affinity Changer is a program that automatically rearranges which cores your Folding projects are running on to very slightly improve productivity by preventing, essentially, traffic jams among your cores. It's primarily useful for situations where you're running dual SMP clients on a quad-core processor, and is never useful if you're running only one SMP client.

    GPU clients are just fast compared to SMP clients due to the project composition and architecture differences. I have an SMP client running on all four cores, and a single GPU client outclasses it with double the production. We probably need numbers to know for sure, but your rig sounds like it's running just fine.

    For reference, my SMP client on a Q9550 overclocked is putting out around 2500-3000ppd; my GPU client fluctuates between 5500 and 7500ppd on a GTX260 overclocked.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited March 2009
    your SMP client will always be slower than your GPU client.
    Not necessarily. A Q6600 and newer quad Intel CPU running two SMP clients will outperform many of the *ATI GPUs and sometimes the low-end Nvidias, like the 9600. If the GPU in question is an 8800GT or better, then yes, the GPU will outperform the CPU. But then, some of the overclocked I7 quads are turning in amazing Folding production, rivaling mid-range Nvidia GPUs.

    Affinity changers/managers may be needed, depending on the mix and number of GPU CPU Folding clients running simultaneously in a single machine. At least with Intel/Nvidia CPU/GPU Folding boxes, a single CPU client (any core configuration) running simultaneously with multiple GPU clients does not need affinity extra affinity management if you use Nvidia drivers 180.60 or newer. Those drivers put less than 1% load on the CPU for the GPU processing.

    My rigs run dual SMP clients on the Q6600s and each have two or four GPU clients running simultaneously. I use the program Folding@Home SMP Affinity Changer" to manage the CPU cores efficiently between the two CPU SMP clients. I would use the Affinity Changer program whether or not there were GPU clients running.

    If you use drivers older than 180.60 and have CPU SMP and Nvidia GPU clients running simultaneously, then you really do a CPU affinity and CPU core priority management software for good production.

    My comments concern systems running Windows XP with CPU SMP clients and Nvidia GPU clients. I don't know about Windows Vista platforms or ATI GPU clients.

    *ATI has made advances in their drivers and Pande Group has released some newer work units that see ATI GPUs performing better than before, but in general, ATI GPUs are 30-40% less productive than the Nvidia GPUs in [EMAIL="Folding@Home"]Folding@Home[/EMAIL]. Don't blink, it could be just the opposite next time we look! :D
  • SnarkasmSnarkasm Madison, WI Icrontian
    edited March 2009
    Mmmmmm i7 goodness. My apologies yet again for underestimating it, good King Intel. Talk about your outliers... :D
  • RyanFodderRyanFodder Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited March 2009
    So I'm updating my mobo and video drivers now. But I'm running a 8800GTS and a Core 2 Duo E6850. I haven't been running long enough to calculate myself (and I don't have the FahSpy software yet) to know what I'm making... I'll work on getting those.

    Is there any way to run the SMP clients in 64 bit?
  • _k_k P-Town, Texas Icrontian
    edited March 2009
    yes, you just need to download the MPICH version of SMP
  • RyanFodderRyanFodder Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited March 2009
    i see. so why does it still run all the cores in 32 bit?? (I am running the MPICH version of SMP)
  • _k_k P-Town, Texas Icrontian
    edited March 2009
    cause
  • RyanFodderRyanFodder Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited March 2009
    lulz. also, new drivers, and overclocked GPU ftw.
  • _k_k P-Town, Texas Icrontian
    edited March 2009
    Its the same 32-bit client running but has been repacked so that it will work in a 64-bit environment. This was done to help make the software more universal on user and server end. Remember for uniprocessor, SMP, ATi, and NVidia they generate different WUs thus need resources to handle them. The major problem Stanford runs into currently is keeping up with server side loads.
  • RyanFodderRyanFodder Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited March 2009
    I see. I think this would be a major improvement - support 64 bit processors. Also, overclocking fail.
  • DonutDonut Maine New
    edited March 2009
    Are you talking about 64 bit processors or operating systems?

    @ DanG You could try 4 VM's. I had pretty good luck when I tried 2 on a q6600 (Ubuntu on the VM's) I just set cpu affinity for the VM's in Window's task manager.

    It was only a 1 week test (rig was sold) I'm not back folding.:)
  • RyanFodderRyanFodder Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited March 2009
    So, just an update for those who were curious. My E6850 puts out 1128 ppd, and my 8800GTS puts out ~3523ppd.

    I've also been thinking about getting a GTX 285... but my mobo is only PCI-E 1.0 so I wonder what type of loss I would get if I didn't upgrade mobo's at the same time....
  • _k_k P-Town, Texas Icrontian
    edited March 2009
    you should not really see any, with folding the speed of the slot is not mission critical. You can run stuff at 4x and it is suppose to get the same values as it would at 16x.
  • RyanFodderRyanFodder Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited March 2009
    What about for gaming?
  • _k_k P-Town, Texas Icrontian
    edited March 2009
    you still should be fine. I put a G92 88GT in my 4200+ x2 with 1.0 PCI-e slots and had to overclock the ram and CPU about 25% to get it to run well so what I mean is you should be fine with your current set up. It would be better with a more current board but not really necessary, that GTS should still run everything really well. I game with the GT at defaults usually and maxed settings.
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