Folding@home catchall

Started by bommel, December 28, 2010, 07:19:24 PM

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Ikxeru

Oh, by the way, talking about GPU extra points...

Yesterday I needed my machine for some exclusive DirectX use and switched off the f@h-GPU-client. After one hour my work was finished and I forgot to switch the client on again. Now, after 24hrs I became aware of that. And guess what: I missed WUs worth of 4.000 points. So, even with my wimpy GeForce GT230 HP-OEM-GPU a lot of extra points can be achieved in addition to the SMP-client.
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bommel

Quote from: Ikxeru on September 28, 2012, 12:33:43 PM
Of course they are no gaming cards and I guess they run best without any monitor attached to it.
For viewing the results of the computations there are always some cheap standard GPUs either in the machine or on another machine.
I would never buy one for gaming, because I guess there will be driver issues all the time and they are optimized for either Linux/Unix or Windows Server OSs, which will cause that you cannot run most games on it.

But I was just curious how the use of Tesla cards would increase production (as there are high-performance servers with 8 Tesla boards per machine available off-the-shelf for around $40,000) and I just wanted to know how fast they really are...

And: Stanford runs server farms - and the various faculties must have machines with Tesla cards... did they never test f@h on that? Hmmmm.... strange...
We have a blade server rack with 1x 6-core Xeon + 2x Tesla-cards per blade at our university. They have a lot of power (unfortunately I can't try FAH on those...) and make a freaking loud noise at full load. As I mentioned before, the Tesla cards have unlocked double precision performance and if FAH makes use of double precision computations they will have a noticeable advantage. But if you want to get most points/buck you should go to a 2P or even 4P SMP system. I've seen people making almost 500,000 points per day with those machines.

Tìtstewan

Quote from: bommel on September 29, 2012, 04:27:58 AM
Quote from: Ikxeru on September 28, 2012, 12:33:43 PM
Of course they are no gaming cards and I guess they run best without any monitor attached to it.
For viewing the results of the computations there are always some cheap standard GPUs either in the machine or on another machine.
I would never buy one for gaming, because I guess there will be driver issues all the time and they are optimized for either Linux/Unix or Windows Server OSs, which will cause that you cannot run most games on it.

But I was just curious how the use of Tesla cards would increase production (as there are high-performance servers with 8 Tesla boards per machine available off-the-shelf for around $40,000) and I just wanted to know how fast they really are...

And: Stanford runs server farms - and the various faculties must have machines with Tesla cards... did they never test f@h on that? Hmmmm.... strange...
We have a blade server rack with 1x 6-core Xeon + 2x Tesla-cards per blade at our university. They have a lot of power (unfortunately I can't try FAH on those...) and make a freaking loud noise at full load. As I mentioned before, the Tesla cards have unlocked double precision performance and if FAH makes use of double precision computations they will have a noticeable advantage. But if you want to get most points/buck you should go to a 2P or even 4P SMP system. I've seen people making almost 500,000 points per day with those machines.
But it it is very expensive to buy that systems...

X8QB6-LF four socket system with 4x E7-8870 (4 CPUs - 40 Cores/80 Threads)
It will costs over 20000 €...
:o
OR

ASUS KGPE-D16/IKVM with four AMD Opteron 6282SE (4CPUs - 32 Moduls/64 Cores)
500 € for Mainboard and 4x 1000 € for the CPUs...

I think the AMD option will rock with f@h ;D ;D

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Ikxeru

Well, for a few unforeseeable reasons, I didn't make it to get my HP workstation as planned until now. It is still on the list...
The project is halted for a year now, due to the tensed order situation. :(
I wanted to have a Z800 [which is replaced by the Z820 recently] with dual octo-core Intel Xeons in it. I scaled it down a little to try this machine with one of the processors installed first, but to be honest, I don't think that the project will be realized anyway - even if I can get these machines quite cheap via the HP leasing-return program, completly overhauled and with full warranty. But they are seldomly available, because they aren't sold often and there are not many machines that return after leasing contracts expire.
Most companies run their machines longer than until a few years before and don't give back machines to re-invest in faster and newer technology.

In the meantime I will get another i7 machine soon for my private use - it will be another HP Elite because they run solid as a rock and have next-day maintanence or next-day spare-part delivery.
That will at least double my production. Not too bad to go on with.
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Krro tsayun oe 'ivefu nìftxavang nìmun.
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Krro layu...

bommel

Yeah those multi socket systems are very expensive. To buy one just for fah would be crazy IMHO. But I wouldn't mind having one ;-)

Tìtstewan

I get a folding project, that have a duration of 2,8 days.
If it's finish, I will get 3200 points for this. :)
12% done...

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Tsmuktengan

Great news!

My machine is finally back on the track for this! (got issues running the calculating software.) :D


bommel

#867
I've got some bad news. My main server is down, it appears that the PSU is dead. I don't know when it will be online again, I'll have to wait for the weekend until I have physical access to it - and I need to buy a new PSU, though I'm not sure if that will fix it. From the error description it sounds like it is the PSU, which will make a 140€ hole in my wallet. Oh am I happy right now :(
I really hope it's just the PSU. I googled my PSU model and found out that it had some design flaws although it was a good brand (be quiet).

Tsmuktengan

Quote from: bommel on October 15, 2012, 04:40:54 PM
I've got some bad news. My main server is down, it appears that the PSU is dead. I don't know when it will be online again, I'll have to wait for the weekend until I have physical access to it - and I need to buy a new PSU, though I'm not sure if that will fix it. From the error description it sounds like it is the PSU, which will make a 140€ hole in my wallet. Oh am I happy right now :(
I really hope it's just the PSU. I googled my PSU model and found out that it had some design flaws although it was a good brand (be quiet).

Ouch. What Be Quiet was it? I guess you can get a good and reliable one for 140€ or a bit less perhaps... perhaps you can use the warranty if it is a design fault.

I can let my machine run longer then the following days. :)


bommel

It was a BeQuiet! E5-450W and it's about 5 years old now (so no more warranty). The reviews from that time were rather positive for this PSU but they didn't cover long term usage. I've ordered a Seasonic 80+ gold PSU now, according to some reviews it is a very good PSU. I must admit I'm not the average user cause 24/7 at full load is tough for any component. I can be happy if only the PSU broke and not something else like the mainboard. Replacing this would be in the 300€ to 400€ range because it is a dual socket server board.

Tsmuktengan

Aha, I was not expecting such a use, I am less surprised that your PSU decided to pass away then (although it could have lasted a few years more I believe).

I would suggest you Forton PSUs (FSP) as they are often rated as very reliable and great quality for the prices you mention (my overclocked computer-for-everything, including folding) uses one Aurum Gold 600. Friends around me who know a bit of this stuff also tend to select Fortron since the ratings are usually very good. I've read a bit more deception in the price/render balance concerning Be Quiet.

... but I guess you know this stuff better than me. In any case, a PSU is an investment. ;)


bommel

Yes, the PSU is very important. I've seen a lot of people spending lots of $ on their hardware but buy a cheap PSU like those you can find on ebay. If you're lucky enough it won't kill the rest of your PC when it dies during the first days but often the protection mechanisms are badly designed or even non-existant.

BeQuiet isn't a bad company but the Straight Power E5 series had some issues I didn't know of when I bought it. And they didn't build it either, AFAIK it was made by FSP. Some Corsair PSUs are made by Seasonic for example (if i remember correctly Fortron is a manufacturer too).

Tsmuktengan

#872
Wow, they must have underpaid FSP for such a thing. At least you didn't have that PSU  :D : PSU "Noname" = Danger

If bad PSU do not blow up in a blast of fire, they can, indeed, ruin all of your electrical installation, not just the PC, like this Chinese PSU. If you want to be horrored by NoName PSUs, I strongly recommend this very serious testing of two of them that will definitely make you love investing in expensive and good brands : Read Canard PC's googleish translated article (yes, it is a bit weirdly translated, but it is still understandable except some parts that aren't translated (???)).

I can't imagine folding with such cheap PSUs...


bommel

This is exactly what I was talking about (I think I've seen this video before too ^^)! I can't understand why people spend 800€ on ther PC but just like 20€ on their PSU. I wouldn't even dare powering a light bulb with such a PSU.

Tìtstewan

The same happend to my old laptop...
The PSU and mainboard died... :'(

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bommel

I have installed my new PSU and the system booted fine. So far, everything seems normal again. No data loss or other components damaged. That's the good news because if I had to buy a new mainboard, new CPUs and new RAM it would have made me mad like nothing else. And I've lost the big WU I was folding on because the system was offline for almost five days now.

However, I've no clue what has actually happend. The old PSU didn't explode or so but it just turned itself off. And it doesn't smell strange either. I'm suspecting an overload situation, either thermal or due to a too high current. It is a dual rail PSU providing 360W combined power on 12V1 and 12V2 but according to the datasheets my CPUs have both a thermal design power (TDP) of approx. 115W. So that would make approx. 230W just for the CPU + mainboard, RAM and other onboard stuff on top from just a single rail. On the other hand it ran fine for half a year or so.

Tìtstewan

Quote from: bommel on October 19, 2012, 02:10:27 PM
However, I've no clue what has actually happend.
Maybe aged capacitors? :-\ ...after 5 years in use.

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Swoka Ikran

Quote from: bommel on October 19, 2012, 02:10:27 PM
The old PSU didn't explode or so but it just turned itself off. And it doesn't smell strange either.
I've seen a lot of PSUs that fail that way...ones that were used in normal conditions (weren't run in extreme temps and weren't overloaded).

Most common failure for a unit that wasn't abused is a dead fuse. Second most common cause of a random silent failure: bad caps.

Most of the other parts tend to announce their failure by emitting light, exploding or otherwise ceasing to exist, or producing large quantities of smoke.
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bommel

Bad caps may be a reason for the failure. I will test it with some old hardware because I still suspect a shutdown due to excessive load. Maybe I just received a new WU that was more demanding than the WUs I got before. My main PC's PSU has multiple rails which support dynamic load distribution but I doubt this old PSU supported it.

Ikxeru

+++ BREAKING NEWS +++

Our team is ranked #300....
* (based on the database at extremeoverclocking.com)

seykxel sì nitram, ma frapo!
Compute for a greater good! Join LN's folding@home-team!



Krro tsayun oe 'ivefu nìftxavang nìmun.
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Krro fra'u lasyatem.
Krro a lu pxiye'rìn, pxiswaway, pxiset, set.
Krro lu krrpe? Ke omum nìno, tì'eyngmungwrr a'aw a lu oer.
Krro layu...