Help me set up for summer

jimma47

New member
On the back of stevehat1's awesome contribution I decided to have a look at folding again. I ran it for around a week while I was away from my PC and it generated heaps of points but also heaps of heat. I'm not on water so I'm a little concerned about how it will affect hardware longevity.

I run a 3770k and dual 980's. I can't seem to be able to set up to fold at anything less than maximum. Whether I'm setting to Full, Medium or Light it seems to use 98-100% CPU and GPUs.

I also had an issue where it won't detect idle properly so lost three days where I thought it was running but alas it was just sitting at the desktop doing nothing.

With summer coming up in Aus and as I've now moved my rig to my apartment (the building has finally been connected to the network) I'd like some help setting things up.

I looked at the FAH guides and played with the client and it doesn't seem to make a difference. It either runs 100% load or nothing. The guides are all about flags and -np2 and things that just don't make sense to my noobishness.

I'd ideally like to be able to fold only on idle and set a maximum percentage of workload for the CPU or GPU. Say 70%

Otherwise I'm happy to let her run full tilt for a week now and then but I think running a lighter load more often would be better overall.

Long story short:

  • Is it possible to set limits for usage?
  • How does the client determine 'idle'? Do background apps (GPU TweakII, Corsair Link, NZXT CAM) prevent idle?
All and any help appreciated it's for a very good cause.

edit - Win10 Pro, latest version of the client from F@H

Cheers
 
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I believe the GPU can only run at 100% or 0%. The CPU also runs at 100% but obviously you can set how many cores (i.e. slots) you want enabled. The default priority is low (the lowest priority in the Windows O.S.). This low priority is set whether you set the slider to "full, medium, light."

For my setup I have a GTX 980 and a 6600k. Currently, I have the GPU running at full load all the time unless I am gaming. The CPU only has two slots running, which leaves one for the GPU and one empty. I found this allows me to still use my computer for things such as: YouTube, coding, browsing, music. I do have an Intel 750 series which made a noticeable difference in usability over my old 840 Evo. With my old Samsung SDD the computer was still usable, albeit rather slow for my preference.

I'm not sure how the folding client determines if you are idle or not, but it doesn't work for me either. I am running Windows 10 with only a few apps open. I think the big ones are Battle.net, Steam, sound card utility. So perhaps its an error between the operating system and the folding client. I wouldn't imagine that those programs you listed would prevent the computer from idling to sleep. It seems to me that if your screen turns off you operating system is recognizing that your computer is idle. It seems then that the client should also recognize that state and act accordingly. Perhaps you could make sure your display is turning off, or your system is otherwise indicating that it has reached an "idle state."

Frankly, I used to be a little paranoid about hardware longevity. I've done some research and I get the overall impression that folding doesn't effect longevity in any meaningful way. Moreover, if you have a 980 I would imagine you still have some warranty time left on your cards. From what I understand, cards are going to break within that period due to a manufacturing defect (not from folding). If they don't break within that period that should last for several years. Certainly they'll last to the point where they are no longer viable options. I've read forum posts of people running their systems at full load for years without any problems. Surprisingly, a guy ran his AMD card around 95C for quite some time and nothing bad happened. I'd imagine that your 980's are running at around 83C? I think that's nothing to worry about.

A little bit of rambling... :p Regardless, I hope my input helped at least a little bit :cool:

Fold on and Godspeed.
 
I believe the GPU can only run at 100% or 0%. The CPU also runs at 100% but obviously you can set how many cores (i.e. slots) you want enabled. The default priority is low (the lowest priority in the Windows O.S.). This low priority is set whether you set the slider to "full, medium, light."

For my setup I have a GTX 980 and a 6600k. Currently, I have the GPU running at full load all the time unless I am gaming. The CPU only has two slots running, which leaves one for the GPU and one empty. I found this allows me to still use my computer for things such as: YouTube, coding, browsing, music. I do have an Intel 750 series which made a noticeable difference in usability over my old 840 Evo. With my old Samsung SDD the computer was still usable, albeit rather slow for my preference.

I'm not sure how the folding client determines if you are idle or not, but it doesn't work for me either. I am running Windows 10 with only a few apps open. I think the big ones are Battle.net, Steam, sound card utility. So perhaps its an error between the operating system and the folding client. I wouldn't imagine that those programs you listed would prevent the computer from idling to sleep. It seems to me that if your screen turns off you operating system is recognizing that your computer is idle. It seems then that the client should also recognize that state and act accordingly. Perhaps you could make sure your display is turning off, or your system is otherwise indicating that it has reached an "idle state."

Frankly, I used to be a little paranoid about hardware longevity. I've done some research and I get the overall impression that folding doesn't effect longevity in any meaningful way. Moreover, if you have a 980 I would imagine you still have some warranty time left on your cards. From what I understand, cards are going to break within that period due to a manufacturing defect (not from folding). If they don't break within that period that should last for several years. Certainly they'll last to the point where they are no longer viable options. I've read forum posts of people running their systems at full load for years without any problems. Surprisingly, a guy ran his AMD card around 95C for quite some time and nothing bad happened. I'd imagine that your 980's are running at around 83C? I think that's nothing to worry about.

A little bit of rambling... :p Regardless, I hope my input helped at least a little bit :cool:

Fold on and Godspeed.

Thanks heaps for that info exactly what I was after :)

The heat output was my only concern - it warms up the room a treat which is what you don't need in summer but it's a good cause. The CPU is out of warranty being a 3770 it's a few years old but yes the GPU's are going along fine. They get to 70 degrees and stabilise thereabouts.

I'll have a look at the powersaving settings. I must admit I turned my monitors off when I left it last so not sure what was going on. Steam would have been on in the background as well to download updates overnight.

Cheers
 
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