There have been some misunderstandings on how the GPU2 core works. In particular, for small proteins like villin on GPU's with large number of stream processors (SP's) like the 3850 or 3870, the protein is too small to use a larger number of SP's unless the CPU is very fast. Some people have guessed that there is some internal SP limit. This is incorrect; the problem is that small proteins can't be parallelized amongst a large number of SP's.
We are working to release larger proteins (about 2x the number of atoms) as they are more interesting scientifically and use the GPU's (even the high end ones) much closer to 100%. The exciting part for us is that the larger proteins run at almost the same speed as the slower ones on GPU's (whereas on CPU's, they're 4x slower); this is where the GPU2 code should shine. In parallel, Mike Houston at AMD is working to optimize CAL such that it has lower CPU overhead.
For now, we're pushing out villin WU's as a test (good to know that the code is working well), but we expect the larger WU's to be going out soon (say a week or two, pending internal testing).
Ahd then, this current heaven with getting 2000 ppd on a single 3850 will definitely end. :)))
Need to hurry. :)
Posted by: Hil | April 13, 2008 at 12:49 PM
when for GPU client in LINUX ?
a day or not ?
Posted by: Einstein-Rosen-Podolsky | April 13, 2008 at 02:26 PM
Video card overheat ?!?!
Sapphire 3850 , 512 meg PCI-E
CPU INTEL E6750,
Vista ultimate 64 bit
4 Gb RAM
when A put the CPU usage % at 100% , the tempeture is 90 to 96 degre Celcius.... waw ..
and when a put at 60% = the tempeture is 76 to 82 degre Celcius
So, the video card at this tempeture is not to high ?!?!?! My video card I think can't work often like this without broke ?!?
Posted by: Philippe | April 13, 2008 at 07:44 PM
Registering on average 82% usage of one core on my 3870 X2, my videocard reaches no higher than 78 degrees celsius. Is your computer in a warm room? Do you have any case fans?
Posted by: Team PD 86565 | April 13, 2008 at 11:10 PM
Does this new client check for the type of GPU type in the system ?
How could it otherwise tell the server when to send large proteins or small ones ?
Posted by: noorman | April 14, 2008 at 05:20 AM
@ GPU temps:
It 's always better (for the card's health) to install a 3rd party cooling setup that has a better cooling performance (capacity) than the OEM cooling setup/assembly !
.
Posted by: noorman | April 14, 2008 at 05:23 AM
I can't wait til i get my quad-core system.. i will definitely install a GPU-client compatible graphics card! For the science!!!
Posted by: smASHer88 | April 14, 2008 at 07:28 AM
At last those 320 stream processors have something to do besides gaming!
It's a shame such power is underused.
Posted by: Julius | April 14, 2008 at 10:24 AM
So how fast of a CPU do you need to keep a 3850 100% busy? 3.0, 3.5, 4.0? And Im pretty sure more cores wont help, its all about the CPU speeds.
Posted by: Chris | April 14, 2008 at 03:20 PM
In reply to Chris's comment. I have a HD3850 running at 864mhz for the core.
An E8400 @ 3.0ghz keeps the gpu core about ~74% loaded. This yields ~1611PPD.
An E8400 @ 4.05ghz keeps the gpu core ~95% loaded. This yields ~2095PPD.
Load was measured over time using rivatuner.
Posted by: ghost101 | April 14, 2008 at 06:06 PM
WTF? I only get around 1k ppd with an Athlon x2 5000+ and hd 2900, which is basically a 3850 but with twice the power consumption (and twice as fast RAM, but that's pretty pointless). Probably ridiculously CPU limited, though. Onward, for science!
Posted by: Ibrahim | April 14, 2008 at 06:12 PM
There is a problem with the 3850 and 3870 over heating due to the fans not ramping up properly. If you have a 3850 here is a link for the firmware patch that will fix this issue. This keeps my card at about 70 under 100% load.
http://www.visiontek.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3778&sid=68ad473a587ab3fe23ee6442d6d1751c
For those of you with 3870 use the RivaTuner and speed up your fan. No need to burn up you new card. The firmware patch for the 3870 should be released soon.
Posted by: Kornnugget | April 14, 2008 at 08:51 PM
Hello! I have two questions:
What is the fastest GPU card without an active cooling system that can be used for Folding@Home?
What's the lowest-cost GPU card that can be used and still be faster than a CPU?
Posted by: CopperKettle | April 15, 2008 at 12:59 AM
For CopperKettle - That would be the Radeon 2400Pro, 2400XT, 3450 and 3470 cards.
Most of these come with passive cooling, but they only have 40 stream processors each. I even have a severely castrated 2400Pro that GPU-Z showed as having 20 stream processors!
I just got a 3850 today for the sake of Folding! At the end of this month I'm planning to get a motherboard with two PCI-E x16 slots to drop in another card later for double the folding goodness.
For the science!
Posted by: WJS | April 15, 2008 at 08:24 AM
I have a passively cooled Club 3D HD2600pro 512MB running the GPU2 client. But at least Sapphire has a passively cooled model of the HD3850 512MB as well.
Posted by: Ivoshiee | April 15, 2008 at 09:08 AM
Oh yeah, I've seen those. But they cost much more than those with active cooling, and the passive cooling systems still get kinda toasty.
As for CopperKettle's other question.. From what I can see, even a low-end 2400Pro running the GPU2 core outperforms my Centrino notebook running the standard F@H client..
Posted by: WJS | April 15, 2008 at 11:05 AM
Hello everyone! I have 2x 3870X2's and I know about heat and ATI graphics cards! :)
I advise those who are worried about GPU temps to download and install Riva Tuner 2.08. This will allow you to simply and easily manually change the fan speed in order to cool the GPUS Down! One of my 3870x2's at 60% fan speed remains at 48C idle and 65C load!
Run it on 40% for FAH GPU2 client!
Posted by: RVC | April 15, 2008 at 03:28 PM
oh and I have maxed out my OC in ATI overdrive Core running at 878 and mem at 955.. still low temps! :)
Posted by: RVC | April 15, 2008 at 03:30 PM
Yes, there IS a bug with ATI's new cards and their fans being capped at less-than-maximum. However, for all of you who are concerned about temperatures of the cards rising. Rest assured that ATI has made mention numerous times that 90-95 degree temps are not unreasonable and are perfectly within operable ranges for the cards.
Posted by: Tyler | April 16, 2008 at 07:50 AM
@copperkettle
The fastest passive card for folding would be a passively-cooled 3870. Make sure your case has good airflow ;)
Posted by: TexasLabRat | April 21, 2008 at 03:09 PM
Any word on the points modification or the larger WU's yet? Excited to put this 3870x2 and Q6600 to even more use with GPU2 and SMP.
Posted by: Slappy | April 22, 2008 at 02:21 AM
Hi !
I find the solution for my graphic Sapphire 3850 card overheat
before:
when A put the CPU( GPU ) usage % at 100% , the tempeture is 90 to 96 degre Celcius.... waw ..
and when a put at 60% = the tempeture is 76 to 82 degre Celcius
Now,I put this Heatpipes
http://www.arctic-cooling.com/vga2.php?idx=147
the tempeture is: 47-54 degre Celcius
I have only 2 fans 80mm in my case
Posted by: Philippe | April 22, 2008 at 06:22 PM