Folding Tools - All you need is here

[Prof. Dr. Silver]

Folding Tools - All you need is in here

In order to beat team TPU as soon as possible, err..... to make Folding@Home tools and programs easily accessible, easy to find and easy to setup, I want to make one list here, where you'll find everything you'll need, in order to get as many PPD from your computer as possible.

Let's get started with the basics shall we?

First, make sure you are using the latest drivers for your video card(s)! Here are the links for them:

ATI / AMD GPU Drivers

NVIDIA GPU Drivers



Hardware Canucks Folding @ Home Team # 54196



The actual Folding@Home software:

Regular CPU Clients - Windows XP/2003/Vista/W7 -System tray client installer with viewer, the console client can be found underneath it. There is also a Linux, Macintosh and PS3 version on that same page.

^^This setup is for the no-nonsense guy out there who just wants to fold, and not be bothered by anything. Mind you, you will not gain a lot of points from this either. Check the VMware section out first!

High Performance Clients - Windows XP/2003/Vista/W7 GPU System tray client.

^^Disclaimer: Almost all these clients are in the beta(testing) period and might not be the most stable programs. If you have issues with them, make a thread in our forums; a lot of people are always ready to help you out! These clients are most commonly used for folding on your video card. Use this for your ATI / nVidia cards and gain a lot of points quickly! Don't use the viewer part as it eats up a lot of processing power that can be used for folding. If you have several video cards, it gets a little tougher to set it all up. For a great multiple GPU setup guide, click here.

Some people prefer the XP/2003/Vista/W7 console clients, that runs quietly in the background. They can be found on the same page below the Systray client.

There are also high performance CPU clients for XP/2003/Vista/2008/W7 and they are called SMP/CPU clients. They are the perfect client for you if you have a dual core or quad core processor and your wish is to make it scream for PPD! You can find those at the bottom of this page.

VMware. Zlojack made a great guide on how to set it all up.

^^This folding setup works only on your CPU and kicks some serious PPD *ss! A dual core CPU can do 2000PPD where as the quad core CPU could do 4000PPD. Now that comes into the lower GPU territories. You'll need two things:

The VMware Player (Latest Version 2.5.3)

The Folding Client

UPDATE: You can now sign-up and download the new (beta) VMware Player version 3.0. The new player will allow you to run the vmware-vmx.exe on 4 processor cores. Only if you own a quad core or an Intel i7 series(8 cores) processors, you can run 1 or 2 instances of VMware. Early reports have shown increased PPD levels. Install the new version of the player over the old one. After the install of the new player, here are some other adjustments you need to make:

- Delete all the WU files and the NotFred's VMware Virtual diskfile. Leave the VMware Virtual Machine Configuration File intact as you'll need to change it.
- Insert a new NotFred's VMware Virtual diskfile into your work folder.
- Open the VMware Virtual Machine Configuration File with Notepad and do the following: Change numvcpus = "2" to "4"
- Reconfigure the NotFred Client with your information: "Folding Name:" "Team Number:# 54196" etc, etc. Don't forget to set one instance per 4 cores! Also, I've set my mem usage to 1024Mb(1 Gb) just to test it out and I have yet to see any issues.

Now restart your client and see your PPD grow!


SETUP of the SOFTWARE:

How to set it all up? Stanford University has developed a great page with nearly all installation schemes there. The three main guides:

Check here for processor(CPU) installation guides

Check here for videocard(GPU) installation guides.

Check here how to set up a multi GPU computer.


So when you're folding away, you'll want to keep an eye on your progress. See how many PPD you're getting in real-time. This you can do by downloading either one of the following two clients:

FahMon (Latest Version 2.3.99.1)

Fahspy (Latest Version 1.50)

You can also follow your statistics from the great big interweb. Most stat sites get updated every three hours:

Official Stanford Statistics

Kakaostats.com

ExtremeOverclocking.com



There are a few other programs 'Folders' use to assist them:

WinAFC (Latest Version 0.9.2) - A utility to set CPU Affinity and Priority of executable files manually or automatically. Look here for a great guide made by somecanadianguy.

PriFinitty (Latest Version 2.17) - A utility to set CPU Affinity and Priority of executable files manually or automatically. Use this when folding on both VMware and other GPU clients. Set the vmware-vmx.exe to 'low' and FahCore_XX.exe to 'normal'.

Trayit! (Latest Version 4.6.5.5) - Keep your screen clean. Hide all your running programs in this little app.



Overclocking / Monitoring

Then as all Folders know; It is of utmost importance that your computer runs as fast as possible. The faster your CPU/GPU(s) are, the more PPD you pump out! The CPU overclock is straight forward, the GPU usually benefits only from a shader overclock. Here is a slew of overclocking and/or information tools. Overclock at your own risk.

EVGA Precision: Perfect tool for NVIDIA cards to overclock and monitor them.
CPU-Z: Info on your processor, memory, motherboard, etc.
GPU-Z: Info on your video cards. Clocks, voltages, temperatures, etc
HWMonitor: Info on your processor, memory, motherboard, etc.
Core Temp: To watch the temperatures of your CPU
Real Temp: To watch the temperatures of your Intel Processor
Speedfan: Monitor temperatures, fan speeds, etc.
Everest: Very informative program. Diagnostic & Benchmarking.
Rivatuner: Overclocking program for NVIDIA and ATI cards
AtiTool: Overclocking program for NVIDIA and ATI cards
ExperTool: Gainward Fan Control Tool for ATI and NVIDIA cards

WTF! (WayToFold) Team! Go Team HWC! Go #54196! Hardware Canucks FTW! WTF! (WayToFold) Team! Go Team HWC! Go #54196! Hardware Canucks FTW!

 

[Prof. Dr. Silver]

Reserved... Mwuhahaha!

Oh yeah.... add your comments guys! Make sure I didn't forget anything. Let's make this one easy but comprehensive!

 

[Perineum]

You missed Prifinnity and Trayit!, absolute necessities.....

Trayit! throws those VMs into the system tray and out of your way, and Prifinnity allows you to throw the VMs on "low" processor affinity so it doesn't kill your GPU clients. I also put my GPU clients at "above normal" using Prifinitty.

 

[Prof. Dr. Silver]

You missed Prifinnity and Trayit!, absolute necessities.....

Trayit! throws those VMs into the system tray and out of your way, and Prifinnity allows you to throw the VMs on "low" processor affinity so it doesn't kill your GPU clients. I also put my GPU clients at "above normal" using Prifinitty.

Added!

 

[Kilauea]

Thanks a lot. I needed just that to start folding in a month or 2, but I couldn't figure out how it works and I couldn't find simple info which was quite recent.

 

[Perineum]

Just to make it clear, for each GPU you have to add them to the "favorites" in Prifinnity.

So in "Stoanee" my Tri SLI farm I have 3 "fahcore_11.exe"'s listed and 3 "fahcore_14.exe"'s listed. I also list the main executable which is "folding @ home.exe" (minus spaces before and after @) and they are all set to "above normal". I do this on my main as well (the machine I'm typing on now) and there are no usability problems and it ensures my GPU clients get all the processor time they want. The GPU clients never use more than 10% cpu so they'll never lock down your machine.... but they'll get the time whenever they want it.

Likewise, I add both "VMPlayer.exe" and "vmware-vmx.exe" to prifinnity and as "low"

I make sure that all the executables in Prifinnity have "0123" for affinity and then control the VMs affinity properly using the config of the VM itself.

NOTE: for some reason, in some of the machines, vmware-vmx.exe does not show up as addable for Prifinnity. I'm not sure why that is.

 

[somecanadianguy]

Is it necessary to update the VMware player?

 

[Zero82z]

Is it necessary to update the VMware player?

Not if the version you're currently using is working fine.

 

[bissa]

For the SMP/CPU client, how do you know which one to use? I have an E7400 and an E5200 in the two main rigs I am folding with.

 

[Zero82z]

For the SMP/CPU client, how do you know which one to use? I have an E7400 and an E5200 in the two main rigs I am folding with.

If you have more than one core, you use the SMP client. And the ideal method is to use the Linux SMP client, either natively or through a VM (if your CPU supports VT-x). Your E7400 might support VT-x if it's a newer chip, but your E5200 definitely doesn't.