2 Core vs. 4 Core Folding

I have access to "fold" on a 2 core system. (2 E6550 @ 2.33 GHz - Itel Core 2 Duo)

Reading through the documentation regarding the SMP client, I came to this statement:

We strongly suggest people run this client on 4-core boxes. While it will run on 2-core boxes, we have noticed some potential problems (we are looking into these issues now).

Does anyone "fold" on a two core system?  What are your experiences with the client on a two core system?

Thanks,
Brian

I have access to "fold" on a 2 core system. (2 E6550 @ 2.33 GHz - Itel Core 2 Duo)

Reading through the documentation regarding the SMP client, I came to this statement:

Does anyone "fold" on a two core system?  What are your experiences with the client on a two core system?

I run on duo core with my laptop and it seems very slow indeed.

My PS3 however runs at the speed of light in comparison. That is where most of my folding is done.
PS3 is using the Sony, Toshiba, IBM-designed Cell microprocessor as its CPU, which is made up of one 3.2 GHz PowerPC-based "Power Processing Element" (PPE) and eight Synergistic Processing Elements (SPEs).

Go figure.

I may try running folding on CPU 0 only ands see how it runs. Worth a look. But then I have to wonder about the fahcore_78 bit as well..... I don't know!

I'm folding on a 3.10 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core without any problems.

The SMP client will run fine on a 2 core system, but not every dual core can make the deadlines.  My E2180 in my server can't make all the deadlines, which is why I went back to dual uniprocessor clients.  Because of the problems with the Windows SMP clients as well as the deadlines, I run uniprocessor clients on my E8200 too
My E8200, which is 2.67 vs 2.33 in your case, can make the deadlines as long as it's on for at least 6 or so hours per day.  The SMP deadlines are a lot tighter (I think 2-3 days) than the uniprocessor clients, and also often require more setup and maintenance.
If this isn't a system you'll be looking at constantly, go for the easiest option - two single core clients.
If, on the other hand, this system is on long enough to make deadlines and you don't mind investing the extra time, go for the SMP client.  I find that two uniprocessor clients on my E8200 make about 900ppd (theoretical max, if it was folding the same units 24/7 uninterrupted) whereas the SMP client made around 1400.  My E2180 makes 500ppd with two uniprocessor clients and 900ppd with the SMP.  So, SMP clients do crunch quite a lot better, but require more maintenance and resources.
Hope this helps.

The two single-core clients option intrigues me.

Let me go back to the F@H main page and re-read before I start posing a bunch of questions.

Thank you for the information!

All right - I've not yet restarted the computer so I can look in the BIOS, but I've tried a couple of utilities, and looked in Device Manager.  Everything identifies the processor, and of course, Device Manager informes me about the 2 E6550 @ 2.33 GHz - Itel Core 2 Duo cores, but I don't know how to identify and "point" an assignment at each core.

Also, is one "client" type preferred over another for this?  Is the protocol the same when you engage both cores, in the sense that F@H only uses otherwise unused cycles if the settings are left to default settings?

I've been searching on the Internet, and have learned a few things about it, but not enough.

but I don't know how to identify and "point" an assignment at each core.

I think this is what you want to do. If you go into 'Task manager' then 'processes' Right click on the process you want and go to 'affinity' then a seperate box will come up allowing you to choose which CPU to assign to that process.

I hope that's what you mean mate. 

No need to change affinities.  If you want to, you can use a program to set the affinities, to save you doing it manually every time you reboot, but it's not necessary.
There's also no need to "point" the client to a certain core, each client will use 50% of the CPU, which is equivalent to one core.  Running just one client would probably result in 50% of each core being used, rather than one core maxed out and the other idle.
I'd recommend you use two copies of the console client, as that's less likely to cause conflicts.  You can run it as a service too, so it's not invasive or visible at all.  The only setup change would be to make sure that both clients have different client IDs, otherwise one will not start.
Hope this makes sense and helps.

i have read every post here and they are all very interesting BUT to me and other folders  could someone explain what you mean and what we could do

i have read every post here and they are all very interesting BUT to me and other folders  could someone explain what you mean and what we could do

For what question exactly? We are trying to make Folding run better on certain CPU's so one would say, we are trying to find the best performance on any computer be it single, duo, or quad core!

thanks mulreay i'll keep reading and wait for the result , how do i find out if mine is single , double or multi

I'm not sure what a multi core is but after over 900 posts you don't know how to check your processor?

Device Manager informs me about the 2 E6550 @ 2.33 GHz - Itel Core 2 Duo cores

Check the device manager under the system icon or section in Control Panel.  Under Processor, it should tell you what you have, Harry.

Check the device manager under the system icon or section in Control Panel.  Under Processor, it should tell you what you have, Harry.

Sorry I was being stupid and rude. My bad!

Since I just "flamed" someone in another thread, I truly appreciate the apology, as I'm sure will Harry.   

Computers are a funny business.  I once gave a really basic UNIX tip...to a system administrator!  It was some little tidbit into which I stumbled, and I was able to pass it on.

That's how I usually learn...I trip over something, pick myself up, and exclaim, "Aha!  A clue!"   

Since I just "flamed" someone in another thread, I truly appreciate the apology, as I'm sure will Harry.   

Computers are a funny business.  I once gave a really basic UNIX tip...to a system administrator!  It was some little tidbit into which I stumbled, and I was able to pass it on.

That's how I usually learn...I trip over something, pick myself up, and exclaim, "Aha!  A clue!"   

Thanks for that. Phew. Should think before I type sometimes! 

no problem at 64 the memory starts to go , haha

mulreay and aegis no mention of " core's" any where i have been through the whole system , harry

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I checked affinity, and both cpu 0 and cpu 1 are checked.  So, I'm currently running an instance of the basic console client.  This seems to use about 50% of the CPU, as Calum predicted.

I'm going to see if it will let me run another instance of the client at the same time.  I don't think it will -- I think I'll either have to mess wit affinites, or find the IP address of each core.

Aegis - I run two clients myself, with no issues.  It's an accepted configuration and there should be no problem as long as you set the client IDs properly during setup.
You shouldn't need to change affinities or do anything with IP addresses, I've not had to.

as long as you set the client IDs properly during setup.

This is probably the part I'm not performing correctly.  Let me see what else I can find on it.

You have all lost me. I'm only a beginner. What are you all saying? About clients etc? Sorry I'm not trying to hijack the thread just a thirst for knowledge.

i'm with you mulreay i'm lost to

Hang in with me.  Calum may have to smack me upside the head -- Computeruler will probably be happy to do it for him!    -- but we'll get there...

My home systems are 2 Gigaherz processors, so I'm running what I can, when I can, but I have access to a dual-core through a friend, so we want to see if we can tweak it a bit. 

When I try to run a second instance, FAH says something like, You alrady have an instance running.  Do you want to quit?

[Moderator]

Thanks for that. Phew. Should think before I type sometimes! 

Quote of the Month...

 

Kidding

You have all lost me. I'm only a beginner. What are you all saying? About clients etc? Sorry I'm not trying to hijack the thread just a thirst for knowledge.

There are different client types available, for folding@home.  For a standard CPU, there are two main options - the GUI client, which places an icon in the system tray, and the console client.  For systems with more than one processing core, there are other options - the SMP (Symmetric Multi-Processing) client, which takes advantage of additional cores, or running two or more standard clients, one for each core.  I hope this helps make it a little clearer.

When I try to run a second instance, FAH says something like, You alrady have an instance running.  Do you want to quit?

Which client are you running, exactly?  Console or GUI?  Also, does the error message mention a process ID or PID conflict?  Something like "Process ID xxxx is already running on your system, and may be another folding@home client"? (I don't remember the exact wording of that error message).

"IT IS ALIVE!  ALIVE!   AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

::: sees torches and pitchforks in the distance :::

"Igor, the peasants are revolting!"
"They certainly are, Master!"
"What's that they're chanting?"

::: both stop to listen :::

"Give us the BC_Programmer..."

"Give us the BC_Programmer..."

"Give us the BC_Programmer..."

"Why, this poor, hideous misshapen lump of flesh is not the BC_Programmer -- though I can certainly understand your confusion! -- it is merely misfolded proteins!  We are studying them so we may save your lives...or end up on 'The Jerry Springer Show'."

::: the phone rings :::

"Transylvannia 6-5000...I'm sorry, the connection is poor...did you say World Wrestling Entertainment?"


******

I finally have the two clients running!  One continues to run 'small' sized work units.  For the new, I selected 'Normal.'  I won't double my output that way, but it should be interesting to see how this works.  (Now all I have to do is figure out how to run them as services.)

Good to hear you got it working, Aegis.
To run them as a service, there's an option during the initial setup, one of the last steps.  If you'd like to run the clients as a service, you can run the "folding@home-win32-x86.exe" file with the -configonly switch to change any options you want to.

I appreciate the information.  I'd found the switch, but it's nice of you to confirm it.  I'm probably going to let them run for a day or two just to be sure, (or at least long enough to let the "new" client complete a work unit and obtain a new one) and then move them to a service configuration.

Harry:

Sorry -- I've been busy being an idiot!  (My usual state of affairs!)

I'm pretty sure your processor is a 2.4 Gigahertz Intel Pentium 4, which is perfectly respectable.  It is a single core processor, which is why there's no mention of "cores," or mutlple cores.

I was thinking of moving to the SMP client but I have a few questions. Currently I am running 4 instances of the GUI client. The only way I got that to work was to copy the entire folding folder and put it in a second directory(Folding 1, 2...) and then change the client ID of each one so that they work side by side. I made a short cut to each exe file. It sounds like you guys did not need to do anything but change the ID. I am also running one GPU client on the same computer.

The way I have things set up now works for me mainly because I when I need more of my CPU power for something I can simply pause one or two of the instances and do what I need to do then unpause them. My computer is almost always running unless I restart(every few days) it to clear out the RAM of built up data or when I install something that requires a restart.  Would the SMP client be better use of my quad core then running 4 clients? And would I be able to throttle it back easily to be able to do CPU intensive things on my PC? Finlay if I go to SMP then what is the difference between MPICH and DEINO? F@H FAQ.

Would the SMP client be better use of my quad core then running 4 clients? And would I be able to throttle it back easily to be able to do CPU intensive things on my PC?

There probably is a way to easily manage this that I'm not aware of but as far as my machines go I just end the SMP processes if I need more CPU.

Finlay if I go to SMP then what is the difference between MPICH and DEINO?

Believe the main difference is 32-bit vs. 64-bit:
You must have a 32 bit OS for DEINO to work. If you have a 64 bit OS, you must pick the MPICH version since DEINO doesn't work at all.

ComputerHope. On your F@H page it says that you use 7 CPUs (including gpus or consoles) in the last 50 days and 4 in the last 7 days.  Does the SMP not support the hyper threading in the i7 or is it using the processing power but not seeing it as a separate core like the OS would?

Just let you know that I have recently surpassed you in the 24 hour average and according to extreme overclocking folding I will surpass you in ~5.2 years.

Yes the i7 is supported on the SMP client although after installing Windows 7 on the machine I don't have any SMP clients running on that machine just processor and GPU. Guess I better work on getting that setup again so you don't pass me in five years. 

You had better hurry. It has already redused to 4.3 years. This will be interesting. We have similar GPUs so we can take them out of the equation. Other than my main system I have a socket 478 Celerons 2.5GHz pc with Ubuntu running 24/7 and will soon be adding my AMD athalon x2 2GHz system. I want to see how much of a boost the hyper threading will give you over my i5. What other systems do you have folding and how much are they folding a day?

I've got a SMP client running now on the machine. Took me a lot of work since I couldn't get the older version working since it apparently expired back in July. However, running the new panda version on it will see how that works and maybe get more going later.