# Setting up GPU2 on ATI cards!



## BUCK NASTY (Dec 10, 2009)

*(Credit for revision/changes goes to Nastyhabits....Thanks Gary!)*

You can only fold on ATI 3xxx, 4xxx, and 5xxx and these instructions apply to only those cards. *If you have previously attempted to run GPU2 with no success, uninstall/delete all previous installations. *


*1)*Download and install the client from the link(s) below.

XP GPU2 Console Client

VISTA/Win7 GPU2 Console Client

*2)*Create a shortcut for the executable to add to your desktop. *The shortcut is necessary for flag placement in the target field.*

*3)**(This step applies to only 5xxx cards)* Edit the shortcut properties and add to the existing target exactly as shown, *-gpu 0 -forcegpu ati_r700* . There should be a space in-between the existing target and the argument(flags) that you are adding. Reference screen shot below.







*4)*Set up the clients with the following parameters in the screen shot below(enter your user name, of course). Just hit return(default) for the last 2 parameters. Client will download the latest core and you will be folding if your GPU is stable. Use Fahmon or FHM.net to track your progress.






5) Environmental variables:

Add these environment variables. They will minimize your CPU usage.

BROOK_YIELD 2
CAL_NO_FLUSH 1
CAL_PRE_FLUSH 1
FLUSH_INTERVAL 128

FLUSH_INTERVAL can be set anywhere from 128 to 256. Lower number for stability, higher for greater PPD output.
Forum members have had success with settings betweeen 128 and 200.

Please post in this thread if still experiencing issues. Good Luck and Good Folding!


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## erocker (Dec 10, 2009)

Do you possibly know what kind of PPD to expect?


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## crazyeyesreaper (Dec 10, 2009)

i would expect similar ppd compared to the ati 4870/4890  in that gpu2 dosent use all the shaders of the 4x series and that means it certainly wont use all of them on the 5x series so as far as full potential we have to wait for GPU client 3  but for a rough performance idea look up the 4870/4890 ppd and u will get a rough idea its common fact nvidia offers more ppd then any ati card and with far less power needed even now

still thanks BUCK for writing this up for us ill just focus on CPU F@H for now


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## BUCK NASTY (Dec 10, 2009)

erocker said:


> Do you possibly know what kind of PPD to expect?



5870 - 4500+ ppd
5850 - 3600+ ppd

Looking for more data right now.



crazyeyesreaper said:


> i would expect similar ppd compared to the ati 4870/4890  in that gpu2 dosent use all the shaders of the 4x series and that means it certainly wont use all of them on the 5x series so as far as full potential we have to wait for GPU client 3  but for a rough performance idea look up the 4870/4890 ppd and u will get a rough idea its common fact nvidia offers more ppd then any ati card and with far less power needed even now
> 
> still thanks BUCK for writing this up for us ill just focus on CPU F@H for now



HD5xxx benefit from the increased bandwidth of the card even though GPU2 still only uses approx 320 shaders(it was designed in the hd3xxx era), thus some improvement over hd4xxx series.


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## [Ion] (Dec 10, 2009)

erocker said:


> Do you possibly know what kind of PPD to expect?



I think I saw on OCN it's ~5k for the 5870 and ~2.5k for the 5770.  Pretty sad IMO, my 8800GT gets over 5K PPD


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## crazyeyesreaper (Dec 10, 2009)

yea i think GPU2 client only uses some 300shaders  

so for Nvidia cards thats full power for ati cards thats a huge hit to ppd ability


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## KainXS (Dec 10, 2009)

I would guess as its to whether the app itself is biased towards complex shaders vs simple shaders


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## crazyeyesreaper (Dec 10, 2009)

all i know is here in the ATi  realm we are limited to 300 or so shaders out of the 1440-1600 of the 5850 and 5870

still imagine if F@H scaled linear with shaders that would mean at 320 shaders getting 4500ppd that would mean 22500 ppd if it scaled in a linear fashion granted its unlikely but id really like to see what these cards can do if allowed to stretch there legs


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## BraveSoul (Dec 10, 2009)

true that,,,  how about running a few gpu2 clients  on a single card, naturally i am assuming it will use some more shaders but thats not the case isn't it


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## crazyeyesreaper (Dec 10, 2009)

u can only run 1 client per gpu sadly so no that wont work we have to sit here and wait for GPU3 client which wont be here anytime soon


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## BraveSoul (Dec 12, 2009)

crazyeyesreaper said:


> GPU3 client which wont be here anytime soon


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## ULJarad (Dec 16, 2009)

Hey BuckNasty, thanks for the tutorial. Is there a way to utilize the second GPU on a 5970? I'm guessing -gpu 1 would do the trick but I don't want to mess up the one running now.

Btw, for step 2 the "-" is missing before "forcegpu". I was copying/pasting for a few minutes before I realized the screenshot had it.


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## BUCK NASTY (Dec 17, 2009)

ULJarad said:


> Hey BuckNasty, thanks for the tutorial. Is there a way to utilize the second GPU on a 5970? I'm guessing -gpu 1 would do the trick but I don't want to mess up the one running now.
> 
> Btw, for step 2 the "-" is missing before "forcegpu". I was copying/pasting for a few minutes before I realized the screenshot had it.


Fixed now and thanks for correcting my post. Dual core GPU's are a little funny as far as identifying the cores. Try -gpu 0 / -gpu 1 and see what happens. You would be our first 5970 experiment.


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## ULJarad (Dec 17, 2009)

I tried it earlier and it gave me an error, but I just tried it and it's working. I think I might've copied the shortcut without creating a new one, so it linked back to the original folder. One core has been running since my first post at ~3400, so I'll let you know if this one's running on its own core and not cutting into the other.

edit- Nevermind, I forgot about GPU-Z's load meter. I checked it and both cores are maxed. -gpu 1 did the trick. Thanks.


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## JayliN (Dec 18, 2009)

just tested this on my 5770.
~3400ppd on a 384pt wu.


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## dies900 (Jan 21, 2010)

I have hd5850 but I have hd4870 in the closet so can I put it in the second slot and dedicate it to folding@home or thats not possible?


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## r9 (Feb 2, 2010)

OK i have installed both clients for CPU and GPU folding. I`m very very new at this I`m sorry if I ask noob questions . This is what I`m getting with fahmon. Isn`t it low ?
E5200@4.0GHz and ATI 5750@stock clocks


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## NastyHabits (Feb 3, 2010)

r9 said:


> OK i have installed both clients for CPU and GPU folding. I`m very very new at this I`m sorry if I ask noob questions . This is what I`m getting with fahmon. Isn`t it low ?
> E5200@4.0GHz and ATI 5750@stock clocks
> 
> http://forums.techpowerup.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=32746&stc=1&d=1265150372



It looks like you have them reversed.  A 384 is a typical (indeed smallest and fastest) ATI job.  Alas, your PPD is not atypical.  The ATI client does not use anywhere near the full capacity of the card.  It probably uses 1/3 of the shaders available on a 5750.  You're getting about 500 to 600 more PPD than I do on my 4850.

Don't be discouraged.  When the GPU3 client comes out for ATI cards you'll win the PPD per watt race hands down with your 5000 series card.  I estimate that you'll at least get 8000 PPD from that card while burning half the electricity that a similar performance Nvidia card will.


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## [Ion] (Feb 11, 2010)

NastyHabits said:


> It looks like you have them reversed.  A 384 is a typical (indeed smallest and fastest) ATI job.  Alas, your PPD is not atypical.  The ATI client does not use anywhere near the full capacity of the card.  It probably uses 1/3 of the shaders available on a 5750.  You're getting about 500 to 600 more PPD than I do on my 4850.
> 
> Don't be discouraged.  When the GPU3 client comes out for ATI cards you'll win the PPD per watt race hands down with your 5000 series card.  I estimate that you'll at least get 8000 PPD from that card while burning half the electricity that a similar performance Nvidia card will.



What sort would I get from my HD 5670? 4000?


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## t_ski (Feb 11, 2010)

I'm interested to see if someone can figure this out for the 5970.  I tried to install F@H with my new card, but I was told it was not supported on my card.


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## NastyHabits (Feb 12, 2010)

[Ion] said:


> What sort would I get from my HD 5670? 4000?



We can only guess what would happen with the GPU3 client.  We can, however, get a good idea what we can get if ATI and Nvidia cards of roughly equal power would get if they could fold equally well in GPU2.

For example a 4850 and a GTS 250 are roughly equivalent.  One similar easy F@H jobs - 353 for Nvidia, 384 for ATI - the 250 gets @7000 PPD, the 4850 gets @2400.  That's roughly a 3 to 1 ratio.  

According to a TPU review of the 5670, it's roughly equivalent to a 9600 GSO.  Rig number 4 in my sig has been down for a while now, but if memory serves me well (and it sometimes doesn't), my best 9600 GSO would just about hit 4000 PPD on a 353 on a good day with a tail wind.  

Therefore, when the GPU3 client comes out, (alas the Nvidia version will be first), just apply that 3 to 1 ratio to what people are getting on their Nvidia G92 based cards, and I would hope that you would do as well with your 5670.  

I've got my fingers and toes crossed that the GPU3 client for ATI will give it similar performance to the Nvidia version.  The 5xxx series ATI cards have moved the power usage meter in a more economic (and green) direction.  Also, it seems to me that we have a heck of a lot more ATI users on TPU.  That way we can have some sort of contest to lure huge numbers of TPU's ATI using members to our cause, and finally kick some Canadian butt!


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## BUCK NASTY (Feb 14, 2010)

OP has been revised. Thanks to Nastyhabits for the revision material and Bluebumblebee for "prodding" him into writing it. Now lets get some more ATI cards folding!


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## cauby (Apr 9, 2010)

thanks for the tutorial!now my 5770 can finally do some heavy folding!!


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## thebluebumblebee (Apr 10, 2010)

If you don't know WHERE to enter the Environmental Variables in step 5 of the OP:
XP: Computer=>Properties=>Advanced=>Environmental Variables
Vista: I don't have/know, but should be in a similar location
Win7: Computer=>Properties=>Advanced System Settings=>Environmental Variables

As to whether to enter them under the user or system heading, I don't think it matters unless you intend to log into the computer under a different user name and still intend to Fold.


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## Mussels (May 2, 2010)

does this work with crossfire yet?


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## thebluebumblebee (May 2, 2010)

Mussels said:


> does this work with crossfire yet?



As far as I know.  I think you have to turn crossfire off before F@H.  You don't have to remove the bridge.


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## crazyeyesreaper (May 2, 2010)

just have 2 montiors hook each card to a seperate 1 then disable crossfire in CCC start folding at home unplugg the second montior good to go. you can also get one of those active things bucknasty makes them on occasion lol.  eitherway i have the 2 5850s and after bucks help i can fold with both no issue


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## Mussels (May 3, 2010)

thebluebumblebee said:


> As far as I know.  I think you have to turn crossfire off before F@H.  You don't have to remove the bridge.



that means it doesnt work with crossfire then


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## crazyeyesreaper (May 3, 2010)

actually it kind of does work ive used F@H with crossfire on and both gpus get loaded but.. make the same PPD as a single card lol


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## Athlonite (Jun 7, 2010)

turning CF off is what you used to have to do with the 6.20 GPU2 client that issue has been resolved in client version 6.24 

to the OP you only need the -GPU switch when running more than one GPU client and as far as i know the second core on an HD5970 is not yet fully supported for use yet 

my PPD for my HD5770
511pt = 2880ppd
384pt = 3665ppd 

and just for shits and giggles
SMP2 on an athlon x2 7750BE @ 3000MHz = 1,026ppd A3 481pt WU


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## Thermoelectric (Jul 4, 2010)

Hey, One of my friends is trying to do this via the instructions provided in this forum, but he can't get past the installer. (see attached screenshot)


He's got the 5770, which this forum supports. He is running Win XP, with the Win XP installer. He is also sure he has the drivers up to date.

Any ideas?


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## thebluebumblebee (Jul 5, 2010)

Thermoelectric said:


> Hey, One of my friends is trying to do this via the instructions provided in this forum, but he can't get past the installer. (see attached screenshot)
> http://www.thegeekgroup.org/bb/download/file.php?id=710.JPEG
> 
> He's got the 5770, which this forum supports. He is running Win XP, with the Win XP installer. He is also sure he has the drivers up to date.
> ...



I can't see the screen shot.  XP is normally the easiest OS to install F@H on.  If you're having problems with our directions, try Stanford's, here (scroll down to "Installation (Console version)".


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## Thermoelectric (Jul 5, 2010)

The screenshot is now attached to my first post. I shall refer him to that link, Thanks.


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## Athlonite (Jul 5, 2010)

Thermoelectric said:


> The screenshot is here. I shall refer him to that link, Thanks.



msg when try to view screenie "You are not authorised to download this attachment." please use an public image hosting site or make your own copy and upload it directly to here Via the manage attachments section


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## Thermoelectric (Jul 5, 2010)

Ugh. That'll be what it is then. Sorry, I did not know that it needed authorisation. One sec, I'll upload it.


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## Thermoelectric (Jul 5, 2010)

Okay. Here is the screenshot. 

Sorry for double posting.


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## NastyHabits (Jul 5, 2010)

Try having him add *-forcegpu -ati_R700* to the command line on the desktop shortcut.


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## thebluebumblebee (Jul 5, 2010)

dies900 said:


> I have hd5850 but I have hd4870 in the closet so can I put it in the second slot and dedicate it to folding@home or thats not possible?



ATI's drivers do not allow for different generations in the same system.


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## Athlonite (Jul 6, 2010)

thebluebumblebee said:


> ATI's drivers do not allow for different generations in the same system.




Ah yes they do You just wont be able to use them in an Crossfire setup 

you'll need a monitor to connect it to though and a descent PSU to power both

back to the OPs Q? just use the GPU3 systray client less frigging round as ATI HD5xxx cards are supported under it without having to use the -forcegpu -ati_R700 switch


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## thebluebumblebee (Jul 6, 2010)

Athlonite said:


> Ah yes they do You just wont be able to use them in an Crossfire setup
> 
> you'll need a monitor to connect it to though and a descent PSU to power both
> 
> back to the OPs Q? just use the GPU3 systray client less frigging round as ATI HD5xxx cards are supported under it without having to use the -forcegpu -ati_R700 switch



I guess AMD/ATI is wrong then when they wrote me:



> Response and Service Request History:
> 
> Thank you for providing us with an update. From the information provided, we understand that you want to configure a Radeon HD 4830 and Radeon HD 3870 in a standard configuration without  ATI CrossFire activated.
> 
> ...




What I saw was that the 3870 was at 100% even though it wasn't doing anything.

Also, Stanford said the following about GPU3:


> We do not recommend that you use this client with an ATI GPU at the moment since there is no advantage and you are potentially exposing yourself to new bugs.


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## Athlonite (Jul 7, 2010)

well I'll tell that to my mate who's got an 4670 + 5770 both running happily together in one system using windows 7 x64 

as for what Stanford say and what is actually going on can quite often be two different things 
I have had the GPU3 systray client v6.32 running since they put it up for public consumption it downloaded core_11 and associated WU's and has been happily crunching 24/7 for the last 2 months and completed over 200 WU's without error


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## xvi (Oct 13, 2010)

Woh! Necro, but I think this might be useful. Environment variables seem to help! I hope I'm not missing something.

4870 W/O environment variables
2860.14 ppd - P5741

4870 w/ environment variables, no restart
3129.96 ppd - P5741


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## DRDNA (Oct 22, 2010)

thebluebumblebee said:


> As far as I know.  I think you have to turn crossfire off before F@H.  You don't have to remove the bridge.



That killed folding on my GPU :shadedshu...lol CF stays enabled always no matter what...lol...oh well cpu is good enough for me  on the rig in the sig.

EDIT: Actually I didn't have to disable CF to get it folding on one of 4 GPU's...unfortunately its the main GPU. I would Of rather it was on one of the slave GPU's but it doesn't affect HD but I bet F@H is affected by the HD.


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## tuktuk1984 (Nov 2, 2010)

Have anny user an Idea the beta or release Termin For Folding with OpenCL on ATI 5870 Cards?


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## Athlonite (Nov 4, 2010)

sometime between "now" and the next 5 years


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## dark2099 (Dec 5, 2010)

BUCK NASTY said:


> 5) Environmental variables:
> 
> Add these environment variables. They will minimize your CPU usage.
> 
> ...




Where do I put these in, haven't messed with stuff like this in the past when GPU folding.


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## oily_17 (Dec 5, 2010)

dark2099 said:


> Where do I put these in, haven't messed with stuff like this in the past when GPU folding.



   1. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
   2. Click the Advanced tab.
   3. Click Environment variables.
   4. Click one the following options, for either a user or a system variable:
          * Click New to add a new variable name and value.
          * Click an existing variable, and then click Edit to change its name or value.


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## dark2099 (Dec 5, 2010)

Is doing it as system or user better, or is that a non factor?


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## oily_17 (Dec 5, 2010)

Well if you have alot of user accounts on the PC, just do it for your own user.

Or if you are the sole account then just do it for System and be finished.


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## dark2099 (Dec 5, 2010)

Interesting, in Win 7 I just had to add the BROOK_YIELD variable.


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## oily_17 (Dec 5, 2010)

Haven't tried it with W7.

Were the rest of the variables set to the correct value, if so, pretty easy then.

Hope it helps your cards gain a few extra PPD, although I have given up on AMD GPU's for folding.

Still waiting for a new client to release the full potential of these cards.


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## dark2099 (Dec 5, 2010)

Yea, I need to get back to NVidia, wasn't folding at the time I got this card.


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## Error 404 (Dec 15, 2010)

I've been out of the loop for a while, do the GPU clients still utilise only a fraction of the power of ATI cards?


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## thebluebumblebee (Dec 15, 2010)

No change.


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## NastyHabits (Dec 15, 2010)

oily_17 said:


> Haven't tried it with W7.
> 
> Were the rest of the variables set to the correct value, if so, pretty easy then.
> 
> ...



Amen brother.


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## MAGMADIVER (Jan 14, 2011)

Please forgive my ignorance, I'm not new to F@H but I don't know how to install it to utilize both cores of the 5970.  Is there a tutorial for that?


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## bogmali (Jan 14, 2011)

MAGMADIVER said:


> Please forgive my ignorance, I'm not new to F@H but I don't know how to install it to utilize both cores of the 5970.  Is there a tutorial for that?



Here:  How to Setup ATI "X2" cards folding dual GPU

If you're using Windows 7/Vista there is no way around not using a "dummy plug" in order to get the 2nd GPU to work.

What unit in Ft. Lewis?


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## MAGMADIVER (Jan 14, 2011)

1-14 CAV 3-2 SBCT

Dummy plug...how does one go about making one?

I have a dual monitor set-up does that throw a wrench in anything?


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## bogmali (Jan 14, 2011)

MAGMADIVER said:


> 1-14 CAV 3-2 SBCT
> 
> Dummy plug...how does one go about making one?
> 
> I have a dual monitor set-up does that throw a wrench in anything?



Here is how's to make one:  How to make a Dummy VGA Dongle

If you plan on connecting 2 monitors to the card then you do not need a dummy plug. 


1-14 CAV huh.......Used to be in 5-20 IN


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## MAGMADIVER (Jan 14, 2011)

bogmali said:


> Here is how's to make one:  How to make a Dummy VGA Dongle
> 
> If you plan on connecting 2 monitors to the card then you do not need a dummy plug.
> 
> ...



Ahh right next door.  Just got back from Iraq in August.  It smelled like someone farted into an armpit there.


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## bogmali (Jan 14, 2011)

MAGMADIVER said:


> Just got back from Iraq in August



Welcome back

I was there in 2003-2004 and again from 2006-2007.


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## MAGMADIVER (Jan 14, 2011)

bogmali said:


> Welcome back
> 
> I was there in 2003-2004 and again from 2006-2007.



I'm glad you returned home safe.  I attended too many vigils for fallen Soldiers.


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## Athlonite (Jan 14, 2011)

Actually if you hold tight for a bit Stamford are putting out V7 of F@H which is supposed to fix all the problems of running multiple GPU's and CPU's with just one program it's due out Q1 2011


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## MAGMADIVER (Jan 17, 2011)

Athlonite said:


> Actually if you hold tight for a bit Stamford are putting out V7 of F@H which is supposed to fix all the problems of running multiple GPU's and CPU's with just one program it's due out Q1 2011



well holy crap that is awesome.


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## mcloughj (Jan 17, 2011)

I would like to see that happen... been waiting wayyy to long for that.


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## Athlonite (Jan 17, 2011)

yes Haven't we all I got so sick n tired of the fiddling round I stopped folding but once V.7 comes out I'll be right back on it with smp + 2x HD5770's

although I did find a proggy that purported itself as being able to do it, called FAH GPU Tracker V2 but it was a shit to use and only managed to get smp and 1xHD5770 at a time to actually work


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