It's time again, what folds for you?

kma · Post by **kma** » Sat Jan 29, 2005 4:10 pm

Michael_qrt wrote: On another note I tried running 3D mark2k1 on the slow 1700+ and it scored less than I remember when the comp was last updated. And 3D mark is reporting that the cpu has no L2 cache, which is weird. Anyone have any thoughts?

Well, if it somehow lost the L2 cache it would explain the poor performance.
Did you check the L2 cache with some other program?
I know of CPU-Z (www.cpuid.com) that includes a tiny cache latency calculating tool. Looks like this for my system:

Code: Select all

Cache latency computation, ver 1.0 www.cpuid.com Computing ...

stride  4       8       16      32      64      128     256     512       
size (Kb)
1       3       3       3       3       3       3       3       3       
2       3       3       3       3       3       3       3       3       
4       3       3       3       3       3       3       3       3       
8       3       3       3       3       3       3       3       3       
16      3       3       3       3       3       3       3       3       
32      3       3       3       3       3       3       3       3       
64      3       3       3       3       3       3       3       3       
128     4       6       9       18      20      20      20      20       
256     4       6       9       18      20      20      20      20       
512     13      21      50      89      156     157     161     164       
1024    13      28      51      89      157     158     161     164       
2048    13      28      51      91      158     158     163     168       
4096    13      28      51      91      160     159     164     169       
8192    13      28      51      91      160     161     164     169       
16384   13      28      51      91      160     164     164     170       
32768   13      28      51      91      161     161     164     170       

2 cache levels detected
Level 1		size = 64Kb    latency = 3 cycles
Level 2		size = 256Kb   latency = 20 cycles

Michael_qrt · Post by **Michael_qrt** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 4:58 pm

Yes, I'll definatly check up on that next time I have access to the machine in question.

I'm not familiar with that sort of diagnostic tool. I usually just run stability tests and games benchmarks and have never had a problem that required more careful investigation before.

petemg · Post by **petemg** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 7:09 pm

Good question! Now, can I actually think of all of them..

Athlon 64 3000+, Windows XP (this is the main PC at home, so it gets pulled away for games from time to time)
P3/700, Gentoo (coppermine? can't remember. To be replaced with an XP2100, as soon as I can get it quiet.)
Dell GX300: dual P3/800 with RDRAM, Gentoo

Dell Poweredge, Pentium 4 3.2 ghz, Windows 2003
Pentium 4, 2.? ghz with HT, windows XP
Pentium 4, 2.4 ghz, Windows XP
Pentium 4, 2.2 ghz, Gentoo

Is that it? I think so.

Someday I'll make one of those multi-mega-machines with just a stack of motherboards bound together by rods and standoffs, with a common DC power supply, all networked together and running off a network boot, running some crazy cluster OS like openmosix, and it will live in a garage somewhere making a quiet purr and oodles upon oodles of WU. Someday.

Michael_qrt · Post by **Michael_qrt** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 4:17 pm

Right, well I ran that utility kma and from the looks of things the L2 cache on this cpu really is deactivated.

Code: Select all

Cache latency computation, ver 1.0
www.cpuid.com

Computing ...


stride	4	8	16	32	64	128	256	512	
size (Kb)
1	3	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	
2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	
4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	
8	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	
16	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	
32	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	
64	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	
128	17	33	61	111	204	204	205	209	
256	17	33	61	112	205	205	207	213	
512	17	34	61	112	206	207	207	212	
1024	17	34	63	112	205	213	208	214	
2048	17	34	63	115	208	210	220	234	
4096	17	34	63	115	208	212	221	239	
8192	17	34	70	116	209	212	222	241	
16384	17	34	63	115	209	213	222	241	
32768	17	34	63	115	209	213	223	242	

1 cache levels detected
Level 1		size = 64Kb	latency = 3 cycles

Does anyone have any idea how this might have happened or how I can fix it. I mean at some stage in the cpu's life the L2 cache has been turned off. The decrease in 3dmark01 seems to say this.

The processor is a palomino 1700+ on a gigabyte 7VTXE+ motherboard with via KT266A chipset. This is very weird and is costing me and the team a fair amount of folding power!!

BTW petemg, that's a nice collection of folders, you can't even remember all of them. Speaking of folding farms, what hardware would be the way to go for building a farm these days. I mean the market has moved on in the past year, but has the price/performance leader shifted from the old socket A platform, and if so then where?

kma · Post by **kma** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 1:27 pm

Michael_qrt wrote: Does anyone have any idea how this might have happened or how I can fix it. I mean at some stage in the cpu's life the L2 cache has been turned off. The decrease in 3dmark01 seems to say this.

My only guess is that the cache broke down, and the pocessor is clever enough to detect that and disable it. Maby you should ask AMD what happened.
They have some tools over at http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/Tec ... 64,00.html
but it's probably nothing more than what other system information tools does.

(I've never heard of a tool to activate/deactivate CPU cache. Only reason to wanting to do that would be to debug the CPU itsel?)

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 4:14 pm

Hello:

In the past I have seen some BIOS's that have a toggle for the L2 cache -- it's worth a look anyway! (Though I can't think *why* you would ever turn it off on purpose?!) The only other thing I can think of is that somehow you got a "gray" market CPU?

burcakb · Post by **burcakb** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 11:53 pm

Some of those BIOSes disable CPU cache if "load fail-safe defaults" is pressed. That might be a reason.

Just checked my PPDs.

Folding the same P1475_tet1_03_1 (364 pointer Gromacs)

Athlon64 3000+ (@ 2104 MHz) is doing 329 PPD (and I'm browsing on it too)
AthlonXP 2000+ (@ 1663 MHz) is doing 119 PPD

Discounting for MHz difference, the A64 is folding more than twice as fast as the Palomino

Michael_qrt · Post by **Michael_qrt** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 3:53 pm

OK, I have checked the bios previously and found no option to toggle L2 cache. Now I'm not sure but I may have loaded fail-safe defaults at one stage in the past. Unfortunatly I'm away from the machine again so I can't do any more checking just now. Do you think that if you loaded fail-safe defaults and then went back to the bios and manually changed to the settings you wanted (remembering that there is no L2 cache option) that it would leave L2 cache disabled and that loading optimised defaults would switch it back on?

Anyway I'm sure the CPU is legit. As I say, the performance has degraded since it was first installed at some undetermined time. The benchmark score from 3Dmark01 has definatly decreased from when the machine was first built.

Thanks for the help again. I'm glad that there is so much knowledge here to draw on.

On another note my stock speed barton 2500+ generated about 200-220 PPD on the p1475 it had about a week ago. Perhaps it is the SSE2 that gives the A64 the edge or it could be that these new work units are affected by memory performance.

Michael_qrt · Post by **Michael_qrt** » Fri Feb 11, 2005 8:45 pm

OK, just an update to say that I've managed to re-enable the L2 cache. It turned out that I must have loaded the fail safe defaults at some stage, cause simply loading the optimised defaults fixed the problem.

I think it's a bit unfortunate that there really is no indication in the bios as to what loading the fail safe defaults does. Especially considering it changes things that there is no option for elsewhere in the bios. I guess I'll just chalk that one up to experience but it's been really chocking the folding output of this machine for a year now. It's now working about 3 times faster than before.

petemg · Post by **petemg** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 1:46 pm

Michael_qrt wrote:Speaking of folding farms, what hardware would be the way to go for building a farm these days. I mean the market has moved on in the past year, but has the price/performance leader shifted from the old socket A platform, and if so then where?

Here's something I just priced out at Newegg:
MicroATX Socket 754 mobo: $60
Athlon 64 2800: $122
512 MB RAM: $60
MicroATX Case with PS: $40

Seems like it could be fast and quiet, with no HD (network boot) and nothing except the CPU and PS fans spinning. Plus, it would waste less space than a full ATX case sitting there empty.

As far as price/performance goes, PC Perspective seems to think - at least as of last april - that the 2800 was a solid leader.

Michael_qrt · Post by **Michael_qrt** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 4:08 pm

Yeah, that dosn't look bad. Especially if that board will support some overclocking.

I wonder if going for one of the new 90nm semprons and overclocking would be a better cost/performance ratio though.

Anyway, it's not like I'm in a position to afford either the time or money to setup a folding farm, nor do I have a good place to host one. I was just interested in what gives the best cost/ performance ratio these days.

Aleksi · Post by **Aleksi** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 4:19 am

Hi,

I got my main rig (Barton 3000+ @ 1.8GHz) folding at full almost 24/7. I also hooked up my PC at work (2,66GHz P4) to the folding crew, on for ~8 hours 5 days a week. I also plan to have my HTPC (athlon 2000+ @ 1.4GHz) folding 24/7.

Semm · Post by **Semm** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 2:37 pm

One p4-m 2.4, one p4-2.6C, one p4-2.53, one dual p3-800, two AXP 2200+s, one A64 2800+, one P-M 715, one celeron 1.8, and whatever computers pass through my office as I work on them (currently one p3-1000). All pretty much 24/7. I'm tempted to add the two p2-233 laptops and one K6-2 450 laptop I have lying around, but I think that would just be a waste of power

ilh · Post by **ilh** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 12:09 pm

At home: one 3500+ running at 240x10, one P3-933.

At work: two dual Xeon-2.4, eight Prescott 640 3.2, when nothing work-related is running. I'll try to add a bunch more later.

Vihta · Post by **Vihta** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 12:42 pm

I have only my PIV 2400@3GHz folding 24/7

My laptop (A64 3000+) folds every now and then and in the coming days I'll get one MacMini folding 24/7. Dunno if it's any good, though.

So, not all that much firepower here.

http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/ ... =&u=103363

cansan · Post by **cansan** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 2:01 pm

Thunderbird 1.3 w/ 512MB (SDRAM

)
Max: 55 PPD (24/7 idle)
Normal: 40-45 PPD (24/7 on but used)

I need an Athlon 64 rig badly... Hopefully in the winter...

peteamer · Post by **peteamer** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 8:24 am

Ladies, Gentlemen ... and those inbetween .. (and also unregistered

)

There is no 'only' in F@H.

Remember... 'only is much much more than nothing'.

You can't give more than 100%, no matter the size.

We donate what we can, that is what makes the amount appreciated and worthwhile .

Fold on Mighty Brothers and Sisters.

JanW · Post by **JanW** » Thu May 19, 2005 9:32 am

Vihta wrote:I have only my PIV 2400@3GHz folding 24/7 ...
So, not all that much firepower here.

Huh? With your one processor, you're outputting a 450-point unit a day!!! I just added my laptop, and I might just manage to stay ahead of you having 3 processors folding now (AthlonXP 2500+, AthlonXP 3200+ and a Centrino 1.6GHz).

tay · Post by **tay** » Thu May 19, 2005 9:39 am

I added a dual P3-866 (used to be a P3-750) for folding. In the summer I'll only be using one cpu for folding, in the winter I'll most likely use both. After switching from a single processor box to a dual I love the low latency and dont know if i want to load both CPUs down and lose that. BTW, linux owns, I changed the MB (intel to via), single to dual CPU, video, nics etc. and I didnt even have to reinstall anything.
This is in addition to the XP2500+ which is folding 24/7 running winxp. Not a lot of PPD but I'm past 10000 points!!!! WOOOT!!!

peteamer · Post by **peteamer** » Thu May 19, 2005 9:51 am

tay wrote:I'm past 10000 points!!!! WOOOT!!!

Aleksi · Post by **Aleksi** » Thu May 19, 2005 9:54 am

Finally added my HTPC fulltime to folding. Although I was pretty tempted to putting it work for FightingAIDS@Home.

Probably shouldn't be saying that here...

But hey, it's a good cause also!

peteamer · Post by **peteamer** » Thu May 19, 2005 10:03 am

Aleksi wrote:...

Whatever the 'flavour' of Folding ... It's

(Glad your with SPCR though...)

unregistered · Post by **unregistered** » Thu May 19, 2005 3:06 pm

There are quite a few great distributed folding projects now. I believe that the common problem that they all share is......not enough cpu's. This IMHO is because of limited publicity and even more limited results. If one distributed computing project came up with a breakthrough it would create a flood of new contributors and a wave of breakthroughs. I believe that Stanford is on the right track and will be the first.

I have checked out quite a few other worthy projects.

StarfishChris · Post by **StarfishChris** » Thu May 19, 2005 3:17 pm

Maybe it would get more farms and servers running these... but remember people, Folding begins at Home

SignoDX · Post by **SignoDX** » Sun May 22, 2005 10:27 pm

So far, this is what I have for folding:

P4 2.8C w/ 1 instance folding 24/7, used ocassionally during the day.
AthlonXP 2800+ folding ocassionally (probably less than 50% I guess)
AthlonXP 2400+ folding ocassionally (~50% or less)
Sempron 2600+ around 50% as well

I've been lucky for now, being pretty productive with the P4 consistently getting a 450 point 191x project each day for atleast the last month, and Tinkers for the AMD procs which seem to work the best for them.

Hopefully, I'll be able to add an AMD64 3000+ or better sometime in June.

hwsboss · Post by **hwsboss** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 5:14 pm

Deorby - AMD Athlon 2500+ running at 2Ghz
Orburg - Mini Itx Nehemiah 1.2Ghz
both running 24/7

I am also trying to get my grandad's pc folding, but it is not on very often...I need to get a vnc client on it so I can turn it off before I go to bed...

Negril - AMD Athlon 2400+

Memran · Post by **Memran** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 4:42 am

Very very new to folding, no clue how many points I'm getting.

#1 XP-M 2500+ (stock speeds), 2GB
#2 Celeron 2.8 GHz, 1GB
#3 Celeron 2.8 GHz, 512MB
#4 Celeron D 325, 265MB (work)
#5 Celeron 1.2 GHz, 128MB (work)
#6 Celeron 1.2 GHz, 128MB (work)
#7 TBird 1000 GHz, 265MB

None on 24/7 but I'm doing my bit

Edit: Forgot the TBird

Edit2: Added #3 in list

Michael_qrt · Post by **Michael_qrt** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 2:02 am

Memran wrote:Very very new to folding, no clue how many points I'm getting.

#1 XP-M 2500+ (stock speeds), 2GB
#2 Celeron 2.8 GHz, 1GB
#3 Celeron 2.8 GHz, 512MB
#4 Celeron D 325, 265MB (work)
#5 Celeron 1.2 GHz, 128MB (work)
#6 Celeron 1.2 GHz, 128MB (work)
#7 TBird 1000 GHz, 265MB

None on 24/7 but I'm doing my bit

Edit: Forgot the TBird
Edit2: Added #3 in list

That's quite a bit of folding firepower you've got there. Even if it isn't on all of the time. It's great that you could join our team, I think we're going to be seeing a bit more action soon, than we have recently since we have some threats and potential overtakes on the radar.

dedogs · Post by **dedogs** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 1:28 pm

AMD 64 3200+ @ 2Ghz 65C 24/7
AMD TBird @ 1Ghz 48C Once in a blue moon! (mums pc)

mr_plow_king · Post by **mr_plow_king** » Sun Sep 18, 2005 7:11 pm

Only 1 computer but it's an Athlon X2 3800+ folding 24/7 in my room. Thank good it's quiet so I can sleep !

dedogs, how did you add that folding stats image to your signature ?