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FAH SMP Affinity Changer

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CyberRad

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Hail my brother folders. :beer: I found this little gem on Xtreme Systems and didn't know if anyone has used it yet. I havn't seen it posted here yet.

http://distributed.org.ua/forum/index.php?showtopic=1149

Supposedly you can get a major increase with this program on the Core2 line of intel procs. Reports are coming in at about a 20% - 30% increase in PPD.

I am currently trying on 2 core2s and 1 quad. I'll let you know what I come up with ASAP.
 
So far it looks like I have gained any where from 1 to 2 minutes. That almost translates to about 1000PPD by my count. These results are after 2 hours of running this program. I'll update after I finish the units.
 
Are you seeing the increase just on the quad or on both the duals as well?

Actually, someone posted this guy up months ago... but I don't think anyone here ever really put it through its paces. Please keep us updated on your findings.
 
I tried this last night just for kicks. It seems on par with running 2 SMP on native Linux or VMware.

Here's 2 WinSMP Q6600 @ 3200Mhz:
2008-02-15_150953.png

Here's 2 SMP on Linux natively (Q6600 @ 3400Mhz):
2xSMP-Linux3500Mhz-1.png

I might just stick with these... Vmware seems to slow down my rigs unless I use 4GB of RAM.
 
Wicked_Pixie,

It appears that your Ubuntu rig is running two 26xx WU's, thus not being detected as a quad by Stanford's assignment server.

You must have one of those 'stealth' motherboards that aren't recognized as running a quad...?
 
3 minute check points. Wow.

I'm a little slow. What is it I'm supposed to see in those pics?
 
ihrsetrdr said:
Wicked_Pixie,

It appears that your Ubuntu rig is running two 26xx WU's, thus not being detected as a quad by Stanford's assignment server.

You must have one of those 'stealth' motherboards that aren't recognized as running a quad...?
Click to expand...

Which motherboards would those be? When I was running Win SMP on my quad, it was not getting assigned to the quad server. Of course, it's running 2 ubuntu VMs now.
 
NedClocker said:
Which motherboards would those be? When I was running Win SMP on my quad, it was not getting assigned to the quad server. Of course, it's running 2 ubuntu VMs now.
Click to expand...


I don't know, that's what I'm trying o find out. :D

I'm thinking of grabbing a Q6600 GO and one of those 'stealth boards'. :drool:
 
Just installed on my E8400... we'll see if brings my frame times below 9:46... and they're running a little long right now since I've got Winamp cranking. :D
 
ihrsetrdr said:
Wicked_Pixie,

It appears that your Ubuntu rig is running two 26xx WU's, thus not being detected as a quad by Stanford's assignment server.

You must have one of those 'stealth' motherboards that aren't recognized as running a quad...?
Click to expand...

I don't know if it has anything to do with a particular board, but now that you have mentioned it, it could be. I have 2 GA-P965 DS3(rev. 3.3) running 2 SMPs each and all pick up either 2653 or 2605.

I also experimented a bit. :shy: First, I had a C2D in it. I let it finish a WU. Then start a new folder and let that finish a WU. Then I swap the C2D with a quad and start both SMPs. So far it's consistently picking up 26xx for about a week now.

Forgot to mention earlier, the first few percentile takes a bit longer...

I don't know if this is a fluke or not. I may try this on an Abit IP35-E in a week or so... I got tired swapping parts at the moment. Maybe someone can confirm it with a different board...


NedClocker said:
3 minute check points. Wow.

I'm a little slow. What is it I'm supposed to see in those pics?
Click to expand...

Oh, I was only pointing out that the affinity changer works, in comparison to running 2 SMP Lionux. Of course time will tell as I have yet to finish my first set of Wus. Anyway, more options for us running 2x SMPs. :attn:

But I also read that Stanford prefers having the WU's returned quickly and kinda frowns on 2x SMP on quads... :confused:

I don't know, but how different is it from someone who runs SMP but games a lot or can only run it for several hours a day?
 
Yes sir... 9:22 with Winamp running... should pick up another few seconds while the machine is idle. :D
 
Wicked_Pixie said:
I don't know if it has anything to do with a particular board, but now that you have mentioned it, it could be. I have 2 GA-P965 DS3(rev. 3.3) running 2 SMPs each and all pick up either 2653 or 2605.

I also experimented a bit. :shy: First, I had a C2D in it. I let it finish a WU. Then start a new folder and let that finish a WU. Then I swap the C2D with a quad and start both SMPs. So far it's consistently picking up 26xx for about a week now.

Forgot to mention earlier, the first few percentile takes a bit longer...

I don't know if this is a fluke or not. I may try this on an Abit IP35-E in a week or so... I got tired swapping parts at the moment. Maybe someone can confirm it with a different board...
Click to expand...

Hmmm, I have at least one, if not a couple GA-P965 DS3(rev. 3.3) motherboards running quads; I bet your boards having previously had dual core processors in them has something to do with it. Hmmm. Did you keep the original operating system, from when the dual cores were in the DS3 rev.3.3's?


Wicked_Pixie said:
But I also read that Stanford prefers having the WU's returned quickly and kinda frowns on 2x SMP on quads... :confused:
Click to expand...

Well, Stanford may frown on doing that, but they surely realize that many quad owners are buying this hardware exclusively to fold on, and as such must have an appreciation for this level of contribution.

If it weren't for folding, my electirc bill would definately be a couple hundred dollars a month less. ;)
 
Wicked_Pixie said:
But I also read that Stanford prefers having the WU's returned quickly and kinda frowns on 2x SMP on quads... :confused:
Click to expand...

My 2xVM SMP Quad returns WUs more quickly than any of my AMD dualies... so in my eyes they're getting their work done quicker. :D
 
On p2653
Based on Wicked Pixie's numbers.
2 x Win SMP with affinity changer = 1220 ppd/GHz
2 x native Linux = 1376 ppd/GHz

Wicked #s might be a little better on native Linux if checkpoints were set to 15 min.
 
Warning to those running WinSMP on AMD dualies.

The SMP Affinity Changer appears to lower the ppd on the box I tested it on (939 Opteron).

I'll test on other rigs but this is my initial result. :shrug: I would expect that it doesn't benefit like C2 because of the non-shared L2 structure. Phenom with shared L3 may be a different story.
 
I've installed the SMP Affinity Changer in my C2D (E6700), and noticed:

1) When I run other programs, the balancing of the thread cores by AC, throws production into a cocked hat - folding really slows down. However, it is not noticeably slower than it was when these same programs were run concurrent with folding, before AC was installed.

So no difference, there.

2) When I am off the computer, or just doing light stuff with it (browsing, etc.), then folding times have decreased and ppd have increased noticeably. FahMon was reporting 1585 ppd for this rig (at stock speeds), before AC, and now reports 1720 ppd.

That's a sizeable production increase for a C2D rig (note Harlam's post above on AMD's dual core problems with AC, above).

If you have a C2D folder, I recommend immediately installing Win SMP Affinity Changer. It has caused no harmful effects whatsoever, doesn't communicate to anybody/anyplace on the net, and is so small and lean on resources, it almost is undetectable.

The url for it:
http://distributed.org.ua/forum/index.php?showtopic=1149

Note:
On my browser (firefox), I had no OK button to d/l the program when I tried. I had to click a few times on the grayed out OK button in the d/l pop-up window, to get it to show the OK button, correctly, and allow the d/l to happen.
 
Last edited:
For hrsetrdr,
My boards that "avoid" the "quad only server:
ASUS Commando
ASUS P5B (vanilla)
ASUS P5K (vanilla)

Boards that dont:
Gigabyte DS3R
ASUS P5K Premium

I'll check and see what HayesK is running as all of his hit the "quad only" server. Darnold 87 has one that avoids it, so I'll check on that as well.

I have no idea why some hit the quad server exclusively and some never do. It could be bios related. The logs on all of them report 4 cores detected.

For all running Intel C2 rigs,

Affinity changer is a great little program. If you don't want to run in a vm, you can still come close in ppd output. In my experience however, the VM approach has the advantage of not stopping on the loss of the network making it more suitable for wireless networks or otherwise flakey networks
 
Last edited:
harlam357 said:
Warning to those running WinSMP on AMD dualies.

The SMP Affinity Changer appears to lower the ppd on the box I tested it on (939 Opteron).

I'll test on other rigs but this is my initial result. :shrug: I would expect that it doesn't benefit like C2 because of the non-shared L2 structure. Phenom with shared L3 may be a different story.
Click to expand...

LOL damn, I installed it yesterday. I'll get it off right away.
 
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