# Crunching tips



## RAMMIE (May 28, 2009)

1  A dedicated cruncher doesn't need more than 1 gig of RAM.1 stick is best.The single       channel  penalty is easy to make up with increased CPU clocks.CPU speed rules in these projects.
2 Timings and RAM speed don't matter much.Again go for CPU speed.
3  x64 OS and 64 BOINC client will get more points than 32
4  Human Proteome Folding creates a lot of problems on a lot of machines.Avoid this project if  you see errors in it.

Feel free to add any tips!


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## mike047 (May 28, 2009)

RAMMIE said:


> 1  A dedicated cruncher doesn't need more than 1 gig of RAM.1 stick is best.The single       channel  penalty is easy to make up with increased CPU clocks.CPU speed rules in these projects.
> 2 Timings and RAM speed don't matter much.Again go for *CPU speed*.
> 3  x64 OS and 64 BOINC client will get more points than 32
> 4  Human Proteome Folding creates a lot of problems on a lot of machines.Avoid this project if  you see errors in it.
> ...




*GHZ* RULE


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## PaulieG (May 28, 2009)

This is a great thread to sticky...I think I will.


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## Amdguy (May 29, 2009)

Does anyone know what operating system will yield the best results?


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## FordGT90Concept (May 29, 2009)

RAMMIE said:


> 1  A dedicated cruncher doesn't need more than 1 gig of RAM.1 stick is best.The single       channel  penalty is easy to make up with increased CPU clocks.CPU speed rules in these projects.


My server is running 8 x ~100 MiB projects now.  I'd say 2 x 1 GiB sticks are ideal.  You get the added benefit of dual channel and have room for the OS too.




RAMMIE said:


> 4  Human Proteome Folding creates a lot of problems on a lot of machines.Avoid this project if  you see errors in it.


I've done 207 results on Human Proteome Folding Phase 2 with zero errors.  If you get any errors at all, you pushed the computer too far.  That particular project might be harder on machines than the other ones.




Amdguy said:


> Does anyone know what operating system will yield the best results?


My guess is XP x64 or Server 2003 x64.  Vista usually only sees gains in gaming because of DirectX 10 and a loss in pretty much every thing else.  Windows 7 might be on par with XP x64/Server 2003 x64.


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## RAMMIE (May 29, 2009)

FordGT90Concept said:


> My server is running 8 x ~100 MiB projects now.  I'd say 2 x 1 GiB sticks are ideal.  You get the added benefit of dual channel and have room for the OS too.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



For a i7 with HT enabled or a dual CPU setup 2gigs would be needed.For a dedicated cruncher with a Quad or less 1 gig is more than enough.

I run server 2008 x64 on most of my  machines.


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## mrhuggles (May 30, 2009)

i see WCG using about 100mb per project at any given time? are you sure you really need more than what you use + maybe 512mb or so?


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## 123bob (Jun 1, 2009)

Control laptop temps (or your desktop if you're having temp problems) by using the profile parameter "On multiprocessors, use: XXX % of processors". 

 I used to run my lappy at 60% to keep it running cool.  It ran for over a year 24/7 doing this...  This puts a sawtooth looking pattern in taskmgr's performance tab, as the processor is turned on and off.  

Also, one of the common new person questions we get is why the processors are not loaded 100%.  The default setting of this can be 60% when you're just starting out...crank it up to 100% is you want max production.

Shown below is what it looks like on your WCG profile page. 






Bob


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## 123bob (Jun 1, 2009)

Here's a good one....


*Check to make sure the bios time and date is set correctly on your rig!!*

If you don't, you may not be able to connect to the servers since they use time sensitive certificates for authentication.  It will drive you nuts to figure out why you can't get work!!  A few here found this out the hard way....

Bob


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## Naekuh (Jun 4, 2009)

# of cores + endurance rules..  

not GHZ...

Avoid high end ocing unless you have a large budget for hardware replacements.

(the story of the tortes vs hare)

A lot of XS WCG people (me expecially) did a lot of hardware replacements to hold up high overclocking while being loaded. If your not the type that can RMA stuff fast, or its your main machine, down the overclock so she's not tiptoed all the time.

Oh and when your cruncher does suffer from down time.. (unfortunate event but will happen)

1. most likely its your RAM
2. it then falls on the board.
3. the cpu is usually the last to die, unless your pushing 1.5vcore + on WCG.


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## mike047 (Jun 4, 2009)

Naekuh said:


> # of cores + endurance rules..
> 
> not GHZ...
> 
> ...



There is a balance between extreme overclock and durability.   The Ghz is what does the work, so more Ghz= more work.  the combination of more cores and higher clocks yield more work.  Myself and many others have the experience to know.  I have had a very durable long running farm using this premise.


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## RAMMIE (Jun 4, 2009)

mike047 said:


> There is a balance between extreme overclock and durability.   The Ghz is what does the work, so more Ghz= more work.  the combination of more cores and higher clocks yield more work.  Myself and many others have the experience to know.  I have had a very durable long running farm using this premise.



Fast CPU 
medium-slow RAM
That's the recipe


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## Naekuh (Jun 4, 2009)

mike047 said:


> There is a balance between extreme overclock and durability.   The Ghz is what does the work, so more Ghz= more work.  the combination of more cores and higher clocks yield more work.  Myself and many others have the experience to know.  I have had a very durable long running farm using this premise.



yeah its true that ghz does matter.

but XS has histories of enterprise machines outlasting any overclocked machines.  

And most of the enterprise machines are only bsel moded.


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## RAMMIE (Jun 4, 2009)

Naekuh said:


> yeah its true that ghz does matter.
> 
> but XS has histories of enterprise machines outlasting any overclocked machines.
> 
> And most of the enterprise machines are only bsel moded.



Because people want to run their RAM at 1000  4-4-4 and you need volts for that.I did it for a long time.Now I run loose timings and keep it stock speed.My output hasn't declined and I haven't killed any more DDR2.


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## mike047 (Jun 4, 2009)

Naekuh said:


> yeah its true that ghz does matter.
> 
> but* XS *has histories of enterprise machines outlasting any overclocked machines.
> 
> And most of the enterprise machines are only bsel moded.




I know XS and I know who you are, and I was the #12 or #13 *XS* WCG team member. 

I have made my bon*e*s and know what I talk about concerning crunching.

All my machine*s* are overclocked and ran 24/7 overclocked.



> Because people want to run their RAM at 1000 4-4-4 and you need volts for that.I did it for a long time.Now I run loose timings and keep it stock speed.My output hasn't declined and I haven't killed any more DDR2.



I always have run my ram at default or less without issue, except for a bad run of Crucial Ballistix many years ago.[I have a whole box of dead Crucial]


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## RAMMIE (Jun 4, 2009)

Naekuh said:


> yeah its true that ghz does matter.
> 
> but XS has histories of enterprise machines outlasting any overclocked machines.
> 
> And most of the enterprise machines are only bsel moded.



And most of us cannot afford enterprise machines.Most that run them can't out perform Mike and Mike.


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## mike047 (Jun 5, 2009)

RAMMIE said:


> And most of us cannot afford enterprise machines.Most that run them can't out perform Mike and Mike.



What do we have together 60-70 million Boinc???


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## RAMMIE (Jun 5, 2009)

mike047 said:


> What do we have together 60-70 million Boinc???



I got 20.You must be kickin' something serious!


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## mike047 (Jun 5, 2009)

RAMMIE said:


> I got 20.You must be kickin' something serious!



I think we have about 62m between us....all good science


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## Naekuh (Jun 5, 2009)

Dude... im leaving this thread because i got a  very rude PM from someone id care not to disclose. 

Anyhow... its really sad because i crunched with a lot of ya for a while and to be treated like shark meat really hurt. 

I wish your team the best... as for me... i hope the guy reflects on what he just did and not repeats it to anyone else.


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## stanhemi (Jun 5, 2009)

well i don't know your storie (about the p.m) but if people on tpu wcg treat us like that .......:shadedshu it sad i fold since november 08 and never had problem.but i'm new to wcg tpu.


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## RAMMIE (Jun 5, 2009)

Naekuh said:


> Dude... im leaving this thread because i got a  very rude PM from someone id care not to disclose.
> 
> Anyhow... its really sad because i crunched with a lot of ya for a while and to be treated like shark meat really hurt.
> 
> I wish your team the best... as for me... i hope the guy reflects on what he just did and not repeats it to anyone else.



I am the guilty party.
Didn't think it was rude to suggest that he crunch with such high end CPUs instead of  just giving advice to buy high end platforms.Sorry if I ruffled your feathers.


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## Laurijan (Nov 2, 2009)

Should i limit my crunching to the project that has given me the most points so far? And if yes how do i select the projects to run?


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## [Ion] (Nov 2, 2009)

Laurijan said:


> Should i limit my crunching to the project that has given me the most points so far? And if yes how do i select the projects to run?



My Projects --> Select any you want --> Save
I'm currently running HFCC and RICE (both of which get pretty good points, HPF2 and HCC didn't give the best PPD, and, at least in the case of HPF2, errored a lot for me so I don't run it anymore)


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## vaiopup (Nov 2, 2009)

Laurijan said:


> Should i limit my crunching to the project that has given me the most points so far? And if yes how do i select the projects to run?



Select the projects you BELIEVE IN


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## Laurijan (Nov 3, 2009)

I changed in "Device Manager" - "Device Profiles" - the setting to "Maximum Output"... has this big impact on the PPD and do i have to restart the client to get this maximum output?

Edit: Ok i see in Task Manager that my CPU is on 100% load all the time now.. hope this will get me more PPD


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