koala

Is anyone else using the new beta GPU2 client for nvidia cards?

I've gone from an AMD dual-core completing a WU in about 48 hours at 100% CPU usage to an Intel dual-core completing in about 30 hours.

Now with GPU2 on an 8800GT it takes less than 3 hours and only uses 50% of the CPU. No problems yet, but I haven't tested it while running a game or 3D app yet.

For anyone interested, you'll need to replace your existing nvidia graphics driver with the 177.35 CUDA driver, then reboot and install the Windows V6 Beta GPU2 client. The files are installed to C:\Documents and Settings\ProfileName\Application Data\Folding@home-gpu (hidden folder).

Glaswegian

Sounds interesting. I have a C2D and an 8600GT. No issues with the driver?

koala

Everything looks ok so far. Completed 4 WUs, each taking 3 hours and earning 480 points (GPUv2 Gromacs).

Only Core2 is used, so that's 50% of a dual-core, making multitasking better than with the SMP client, which is good because I leave it running 24 hours a day and use the computer for other things as well.

No problems with the driver. I tried playing RaceDriver GRID and Mass Effect at maximum settings with F@H running in the background and didn't notice any difference in framerates or quality.

If you right-click the systray icon and select Display it show a hi-res spinning molecule thing, but this pushes CPU usage up to 100%, so it's best to leave it hidden.

Glaswegian

Downloading the bits and bobs just now - I'll report back later.

Glaswegian

Up and running. I have a Gromacs SMP wu that's at 92% so I'm now running both that and the SysTray version. Played a DVD for good measure - no issues at the moment.

koala

Phew! I just got an email notification for this thread and thought, "Oh no, he's stuck and needs help."

One thing I have noticed is that if I run a demanding game while F@H is running in the background, the graphics fan speeds up to maximum. Temperatures are still ok though.

Glaswegian

I'm not that much of a novice... but thanks for your help anyway...

Are you still running the Gromacs WUs as well as the GPU version?

koala

Just the new nvidia one for now. My CPU could do with a break after running at 100% 24/7 for the last few weeks. I might run another if you start to catch me up on the score board though.

Glaswegian

Somehow I don't think there's much chance of that - I'll be on holiday soon anyway.

ebackhus

I'd like to get the ATi version running on my room mate's new 4870. *drools*

mattlock

Looks good Koala. I'm on vacation next week so hopefully I can find the time to make the move to the GPU client.

Glaswegian

Just an update here. My last WU finished last night and I noticed today that a new one had not started. Checked the log and found that it was taking a 24 hour break! This message was in the log

EUE limit exceeded. Pausing 24 hours.

A quick check around found this thread

http://foldingforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=3297

The last post worked fine for me.

koala

If you mean the last post on page 1 ('delete the work folder'), I've used that method a few times. You lose some work, but it means you can get started again quicker. I've never seen that log error message though.

eb: kick your friend off Warcraft and get some number crunching done!

Matt, I see from the scoreboard that you've started using the GPU2 client. How long is it taking you for each WU?

Glaswegian

I was looking at the log - it takes me about 4-5 minutes for 1% - about 6 - 7 hours.

koala

Is that a big improvement over the SMP client?

If I leave it running overnight with no other programs running, it takes 2hr30min per WU plus another 5 minutes to send and receive the data.

If I'm running other programs at the same time it can take up to 3 hours to complete a WU.

Glaswegian

I'm not totally convinced at the moment. It is certainly only using one core but I think the points will work out slightly lower for the same amount of time (at least for me). I'll leave it just now and decide when I come back from holiday.

Actually, what settings are you using koala? I'm wondering if I need to do some tweaking.

koala

Default settings, except for the checkpoint which I've changed from 30 minutes to 10, but that doesn't affect the speed at all.

This is my client.cfg
It's probably different for everyone, depending on their system specs, config and spare CPU cycles. My 8800GT will be quicker than your 8600GT, but I don't know by how much.

On my PC using the GPU2 client, 2.5 hours per WU = 480 points, so it takes about 9 hours to earn 1760 points (standard SMP client score). Using the SMP this would take me about 30 hours, so it's quite a substantial increase.

The estimated 'points per day' listed in FaHMon has risen from about 1200 to over 4500.

Glaswegian

Thanks for the info. I can understand your card being a bit faster but not 3 times faster. Your config file looks the same as mine, although with the server issues last night I couldn't report back - I'll double check tonight. The SMP was taking me about 33 hours so it appears I'm losing points at the moment.

stressfreesoul

Ive just tried this GPU client, unfortunately it seems to use waaaay too much of the CPU time, to the point I had all four cores at 100% (for the first time ever).
Any thoughts on why? Im thinking its just cos of the lower level card I run. Fair enough though, it was folding very fast!! I also installed the beta folder for MP systems and it seems a lot faster than the other one.

Glaswegian

Hi stress

koala and mattlock are the experts on that side of things.

As for me, I'm going back to the SMP client. The GPU client shutdown again with the same message as before. I'm not going to keep deleting folders every couple of days. That and the fact that I was losing points...