# Ion's WCG Essentials Thread



## [Ion] (Oct 22, 2009)

In an attempt to make it easier for new members to find all of the resources they need for WCG, I'm consolidating them all into one place.

*WCG Stats (From Fitseries3's post)*:
Official WCG site ---> https://secure.worldcommunitygrid.org/team/viewTeamMemberDetail.do?sort=points&teamId=S8TLJ6TFV1

Free-DC stats ---> http://stats.free-dc.org/stats.php?page=team&proj=bwcg&team=22175

Stats-N-Stones ---> http://statsnstones.tswb.org/TeamUser.aspx?projid=38&teamid=22175

Boinc Synergy ---> http://www.boincsynergy.com/stats/teams.php?team=22175&project=wcg

Boinc Stats ---> http://boincstats.com/

All Project Stats ---> http://www.allprojectstats.com/

*Crunching Tips (from RAMMIE's post) (Edited by Ion to reflect changes)*:
1 A dedicated cruncher doesn't need more than 2GB or 4GB 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 personal rule is to go with at least X/3 GB of RAM, where X is the number of threads the CPU(s) in your rig has.  While you can go lower, it isn't recommended.  2GB of RAM is fine for a four-thread cruncher (Pentium, i3, Phenom II X4, etc) but 4GB is better suited for 8-thread machines (AMD FX-8, Intel Core i7)
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 (generally about 10%).
4 Human Proteome Folding creates a lot of problems on a lot of machines.  Avoid this project if you see errors in it.  We've also been seeing a lot of errors stemming from the Clean Energy Project - Phase 2.  If it works fine for you, obviously feel free to run it, but drop it if there are issues.  The most common problem thus far has been WUs that "run in circles" and keep the CPU @ load while not actually accomplishing anything.


*TPU's WCG/BOINC team*:  TPU's WCG/BOINC Team

*WCG Daily Numbers*:  WCG Daily Numbers

*Have you Got Pie Today?*:  Have you got pie today?

*Configuring BOINCView*:  GUIDE:  How to configure BOINCview

*HowTo:  Getting BOINC set up for WCG*:  How To: Getting BOINC setup for WCG <- *New Users, go here!*  This will show you how to register and get BOINC set up for WCG 

*Interested in a WCG avatar?  Have one of our experts make you one here*:  WCG Avatar Request Thread

*MindWeaver's Easy WCG Auto-Report Guide*:  Easy WCG_config
*Show off your WCG Badges*:  Show Off Your WCG Badges

*Work Buffer*:
By default, BOINC has a work buffer (stored tasks) set to .25 days.  This means that your computer has at least enough work to keep running for .25 days without downloading more WUs.  It is recommended to set this to anywhere from 2-5 days so that in case there is a network outage the computer will still have work to do.  If the computer is not on much, setting the work buffer to anything higher than 2 days is not advised because the system may not be able to finish the tasks by the deadlines.  *My personal preference is three days, that way there is generally enough work to last the computer through any project outage, but if something happens to the system, you can still usually complete all of the tasks by their deadlines*
(All credit for the work buffer mention goes to dustyshiv, thanks!)

*WCG FAQ*: http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/forums/wcg/viewthread_thread,21501

*BOINC Live CD*:  The BOINC live CD is a useful tool for people building dedicated WCG computers who are looking to avoid purchasing Windows or the sometimes-complex set up of Linux.   BOINC Live CD

*WCG on Ubuntu*:  For a dedicated WCG setup, it is cheaper to use a USB flash drive running Linux than to purchase a HDD and a copy of Windows.  Download the latest version of Ubuntu here and the Linux Universal USB installer here.  Then, create an Ubuntu flash drive with the following steps:


Spoiler



1. Format your 4GB-or-larger USB Flash Drive.
2. Launch the Universal USB Installer, and select "Ubuntu 12.10 Desktop" from the drop-down menu.  Point the Installer to your USB Flash Drive.  *You will need to make a persistence file, otherwise everything is lost when the computer is shut down*.  I recommend using the rest of the flash drive.





3. Click Create, and wait for up to half an hour (creating the persistence file takes a while).
4. Once the flash drive is created, boot Ubuntu and launch the Ubuntu Software Center:




5. Search for BOINC in the box in the upper right-hand corner.  There will be only one result, click on it.  About a third of the way down the window will be a button that says "Use Source".  Click on it, and wait while the source was added.  Then click on "Install" and wait while BOINC is installed.
6. Once BOINC is installed, it will be in the list of applications on the left side of the screen.  Click on it, and add the World Community Grid project in the box that pops up.  You may choose to configure it as shown above.


*Overclocking:  To overclock or not to overclock* In WCG, points production scales linearly with the CPU speed.  Thus, for example, a 4ghz CPU would get 50% more points per day (and work done) than the same CPU running at 2.66ghz.  However, overclocking is not always a good thing.  If your overclock is unstable, errors will be generated and the work returned will not be scientifically useful.  If you plan on OCing, make sure your OC is stable, if it is it can pass 2+ hrs of OCCT and 12/16 hours of Prime95.  Remember, if errors are produced the results will not be scientifically useful, and crunching time will have been wasted.  This is an enthusiast forum, so we do tend to overclock here.  Overclocking can bring considerable benefits, with 25-40% overclock not being uncommon on enthusiast CPUs.  Remember, points scale with clock speed, so this does help.

*Crunchers Helping Crunchers:* Do you need a specific part to get a new cruncher up and running?  Or do you have spare parts to donate to someone to help them get a cruncher up and running?  If so, post visit  Crunchers Helping Crunchers and post what you need/have to offer

*Show off your WCG farm:* Do you enjoy looking at other people's systems?  Do you want to share pics of your WCG rig or rigs?  If so, post pics in the WCG rig showcase here:  Show off your WCG farm

*TPU'S WCG Challenges Thread:*  TPU WCG Challenges Thread

*Want an estimate of the PPD your computer could produce?*  If so, check out this thread where I wrote a simple app that does just that: give an estimate what sort of PPD a variety of Core 2/Core iX and Athlon/Phenom systems will give.  Simple WCG PPD Estimator

By default, BOINC comes configured to use no more than 60% of the processor.  To fix this, go to Advanced-->Preferences, and locate the box that says "Use at most ___% CPU Time", and enter 100%.  On newer versions of BOINC it also has a box that says "While processor usage is less than ___ percent"  Enter 0 here for best performance

*WCG on GPUs* _(New!) -- No longer applicable, as the HCC project has finished!_



Spoiler



World Community Grid has recently added support for computations on video cards (GPUs).  Because GPUs are architecturally very different from CPUs, there is less that they can do, but they are extremely fast at a limited set of things.  Consequently, if you have a modern GPU, consider running WCG on it.  A Geforce GTX470 will complete a GPU WU approximately every three minutes, for a total of about 16k PPD (by comparison, an overclocked i7 quad may be ~6k PPD).  *Please note, running GPU WUs will slow down your computer*.  In order to get around this, on computers that are also used for other things, I suggest setting BOINC to only use the GPU while the computer is not in use (BOINC Manager -> Advanced View -> Tools -> Computing Preferences -> Processor Usage -> make sure that "Use GPU while computer is in use" is unchecked).  For a dedicated WCG system, you generally want the GPU to crunch all of the time, so leave this box checked.  In order to get GPU tasks, you must have selected the Help Conquer Cancer project here or checked the box "If there is no work available for my computer for the projects I have selected above, please send me work from another project."  Of course, you must also check "If my computer can process work on my graphics card, then please send me work to run on my graphics card for the projects that I have selected above."
Here is a list of video cards that will *not* run the WCG GPU tasks:


Spoiler



AMD/ATI:

    ATI Radeon HD 2300/2400/3200 (RV610)
    ATI Radeon HD 2600 (RV630)
    ATI Radeon HD 3800 (RV670)
    ATI Radeon HD 4350/4550 (R710)
    ATI Radeon HD 4600 series (R730)
    ATI Radeon HD 4700/4800 (RV740/RV770)


NVIDIA:

    GeForce 210
    GeForce 310
    GeForce 310M
    GeForce 405
    GeForce 610M
    GeForce 8400
    GeForce 8400 GS
    GeForce 8500 GT
    GeForce 8600 GS
    GeForce 8600 GT
    GeForce 8700M GT
    GeForce 8800 GT
    GeForce 8800 GTS 512
    GeForce 8800M GTS
    GeForce 9300 GE
    GeForce 9400 GT
    GeForce 9500 GT
    GeForce 9600 GSO
    GeForce 9600 GSO 512
    GeForce 9600 GT
    GeForce 9800 GT
    GeForce 9800 GTX+
    GeForce 9800 GTX/9800 GTX+
    GeForce 9800 S
    GeForce G210
    GeForce GT 120
    GeForce GT 130
    GeForce GT 130M
    GeForce GT 230M
    GeForce GT 330M
    GeForce GT 420
    GeForce GT 520
    GeForce GT 520M
    GeForce GT 630
    GeForce GTS 240
    GeForce GTS 250
    GeForce GTX 260M
    GeForce GTX 280M
    GeForce GTX 660M
    NVS 3100M
    NVS 4200M
    NVS 5100M
    Quadro 400
    Quadro FX 1600M
    Quadro FX 1800
    Quadro FX 2700M
    Quadro FX 2800M
    Quadro FX 3700
    Quadro FX 380
    Quadro FX 570M
    Quadro FX 580
    Quadro FX 770M
    Quadro FX 880M
    Quadro NVS 290


If your card is one of these, sorry, you're out of luck, but you can at least crunch on the CPU 

It is possible to run multiple tasks on each GPU at once in order to increase output on certain cards.  On most mid-range video cards, a single WU will load the card to ~90-95% utilization.  For more powerful cards, however, WCG isn't able to fully saturate the card, so running multiple tasks on it at once can increase output.  For more information on setting this up, see KieX's thread here.  This requires some configuration to get working properly, so be forewarned.  This is best suited for cards like the Radeon HD7950/HD7970 and Geforce GTX670/GTX680.


More info on GPU crunching here 



*Badges!*
If you're proud to crunch for Team TechPowerUp! and want to show it off to the forum, we have signature badges to let the world know!  Here are the requirements:
badge - 100,000 points total and activity on your WCG account
badge + 1 star - 500 points per day (7 day average)
badge + 2 stars - 2,000 points per day (7 day average)
badge + 3 stars - 4,500 points per day (7 day average)
badge + 4 stars - 8,000 points per day (7 day average)
badge + 5 stars - 12,000 or greater points per day (7 day average)

How do you get these badges?  Go to your UserCP, click on Edit Options, and scroll all the way down to the bottom.  Then, enter your WCG username (whatever name you chose when you registered on the World Community Grid website) and click Save.




You will receive whatever badge your output qualifies you for 

If I'm missing any other threads/info, PM me and I'll update this post.


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## King Wookie (Oct 22, 2009)

Great! 

Now to get one for folding. (hint hint)

EDIT: Can we ask that this gets stickied.


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## ERazer (Oct 22, 2009)

Thx alot bud


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## [Ion] (Oct 26, 2009)

Updated!


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## Mindweaver (Oct 28, 2009)

Very nice thread bro!


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## hat (Oct 28, 2009)

I personally give a 3 day work buffer.


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## [Ion] (Nov 7, 2009)

updated again


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## [Ion] (Nov 24, 2009)

updated (OCing section)


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## Chicken Patty (Dec 3, 2009)

Hey ION,

you should add my crunchers helping crunchers thread to the list of essentials 

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=101191


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## [Ion] (Dec 3, 2009)

Done, thanks!  I don't know why I didn't think of that earlier


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## Chicken Patty (Dec 3, 2009)

Thanks dude.  Better late than never


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## DreamSeller (Jan 6, 2010)

thanks really useful 

still a n00b tho my second day of crunching congrats for me


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## [Ion] (Feb 15, 2010)

Updated with info on my PPD estimator


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## BazookaJoe (Apr 19, 2010)

Just a note on my CPU 60% -> 100% thing from the other thread?

I'd reckon that would also make a great tip here, as it nearly doubled my output without affecting my machines performance one bit 

(For anyone who didn't read the other one) By default WCG/BOINC limits itself to only use 60% of CPU time.


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## [Ion] (Apr 19, 2010)

BazookaJoe said:


> Just a note on my CPU 60% -> 100% thing from the other thread?
> 
> I'd reckon that would also make a great tip here, as it nearly doubled my output without affecting my machines performance one bit
> 
> (For anyone who didn't read the other one) By default WCG/BOINC limits itself to only use 60% of CPU time.



I'll add this right now!  Thanks!


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## mjkmike (Jul 4, 2010)

Always go to this thread when I start a new rig.

Thanks ION


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## [Ion] (Jul 4, 2010)

mjkmike said:


> Always go to this thread when I start a new rig.
> 
> Thanks ION



You're welcome


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## twilyth (Sep 8, 2010)

I'm not sure this is the best place to put this since it's really stats related, but mod, feel free to mover and/or repost elsewhere.

I've been corresponding with Bok (Phil) at Free-DC about the upcoming TPU WCG team ad and he gave me some information about the mechanics behind gathering and calculating the stats for BOINC projects and some specific info on WCG.  It's not stuff you really need to know as a user, but I think it's really interesting.  It also makes you appreciate the dedication of guys like Phil.



> I had a quick look over at your forum and thought I might share some other links with you regarding the stats updates
> 
> The way I do the stats is actually a little different to most of the other sites but we all struggle with the sheer amount of data we are given when you combine all the boinc projects together. I also additionally do stats on most of the non BOINC projects too which adds to the complexity.
> 
> ...


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## [Ion] (Sep 8, 2010)

Thanks twylith!


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## scaminatrix (Oct 26, 2010)

Thanks [Ion], just got an estimate of 12617 PPD (WCG); 1802.43 (BOINC) from your program.
I'll do all the tips in the first post and see what else happens


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## [Ion] (Oct 26, 2010)

Excellent, let me know if you have _any_ questions or issues.  There are no stupid questions


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## Chicken Patty (Oct 26, 2010)

I'm here to help as well if you need any bro   this thread is awesome!


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## [Ion] (Oct 26, 2010)

Absolutely, CP is also great with questions of all sorts


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## scaminatrix (Oct 26, 2010)

Thanks guys, just one question: does 12,000 PPD sound about right for a PhII X2 555BE (unlocked to three cores and O.C.'ed to 3.8GHz)?
I'm pretty adventurous, and information is addictive so I'll have a good old read before asking questions


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## [Ion] (Oct 26, 2010)

scaminatrix said:


> Thanks guys, just one question: does 12,000 PPD sound about right for a PhII X2 555BE (unlocked to three cores and O.C.'ed to 3.8GHz)?
> I'm pretty adventous, and information is addictive so I'll have a good old read first



Yep, that sounds pretty good, that's about what my X4 955 got ~ 3ghz (when I was experimenting with underclocking/undervolting)


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## Chicken Patty (Oct 26, 2010)

Yep, sounds about right to me as well.


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## scaminatrix (Oct 26, 2010)

Fantastic, I've registered with WCG under Team TPU!, I'll chuck the dongle in Benny (my AMD rig) and download the client and start tonight (it's 7 p.m. here)


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## [Ion] (Oct 26, 2010)

Awesome! 

What's 'Cassy' going to be?  And do you have access to any other systems that could crunch?


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## Chicken Patty (Oct 26, 2010)

Heck yeah  let it rip!!!!!!!


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## scaminatrix (Oct 26, 2010)

Cassy's going to be my Son's rig; Cassy's named after my late Auntie, and Benny's named after my late Grandad.
I've only got a dongle, which brings another question; can you crunch while disconnected from the net?

EDIT: Yup, seems you can


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## Chicken Patty (Oct 26, 2010)

As long as you have downloaded WU's not an issue.  That's why we like to set the work buffer to "2" days.  If the server goes down you have about two days of work to crunch before sitting idle.


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## [Ion] (Oct 26, 2010)

Yep, just as CP said, as long as there are WUs downloaded, you can.  So just set a decent cache (~2-4 days) and then make sure you can get it internet access before it runs completely dry


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## scaminatrix (Oct 26, 2010)

I can only crunch about 8 hours a day so for now I've left it at 1 day
What would you guys recommend as a good, free stability tester for crunching (maybe add it to the OP, too)?


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## [Ion] (Oct 26, 2010)

TBH?  I just crunch to test stability 

But LinX or Prime95 are also good if you want to do some pre-crunching testing....from what I've found, unstable systems just tend to lock up or reboot, and not harm the WUs in progress


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## scaminatrix (Oct 26, 2010)

[Ion] said:


> TBH?  I just crunch to test stability
> 
> But LinX or Prime95 are also good if you want to do some pre-crunching testing....from what I've found, unstable systems just tend to lock up or reboot, and not harm the WUs in progress



Sweet, I'll just crack on with the crunching then


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## [Ion] (Oct 26, 2010)

Sounds good...when I pushed my i7 too far, it would just reboot for no apparent reason, that was a clue to me to back off the clocks a bit


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## Chicken Patty (Oct 26, 2010)

I let WCG tell me my stability, however prime 95 tells you rather quickly.


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## VulkanBros (Nov 15, 2010)

Where do you get this:??


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## [Ion] (Nov 15, 2010)

See this


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## twilyth (Dec 13, 2010)

To see your host stats in Free-DC, boinc stats, etc., your hosts have to be exposed.  To do this

1.  Log in to WCG

2.  go to the bottom of this page

3.  check the box where it says 'show hosts'

4.  click save

From there, you can view your host stats from most of the stats sites.

For boinc stats:

1.  go to your personal stats page

2.  find the entry labeled 'Number of hosts (active hosts)'

3.  click on the second number in parenthesis.  The first number will show you every host you have ever registered.

It works the same way for the team page but you will only see exposed hosts.  Even though there is no way to identify the user from this information, you can only see stats for hosts where the user has chosen to expose them.

I think all of the boinc stats sites give you access to this info, you just have to know to look for it.


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## [Ion] (Dec 13, 2010)

Good knowledge there


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## Chicken Patty (Dec 13, 2010)

Good stuff


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## [Ion] (Dec 13, 2010)

Yep, I'll add it to the OP once I'm on a device with copy/paste support


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## twilyth (Jan 12, 2011)

Here is a sneaky way to limit the activity of WCG programs while you're on the computer.  I have to do this with the CEP2 jobs because they are such pigs, and they still slow things down at times.

In the third preferences tab, if you set "Use at most x% when computer is in use" to a very low number, like 5%, it will have the effect of throttling jobs that are running.

You can do something similar with Process Lasso, but the problem there is that throttling is 24/7 and not just while the machine is in use.  Also, for the CEP2 jobs I've found that even on the lowest setting, it really chokes these programs which is n/g for your ppd.


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## [Ion] (Jan 12, 2011)

Really?  I've never had that issue.  And I'm sure that if it was doing that on the school computers I'd get a lot of shit about it.

Wouldn't you want to say "Use at most ~80% when computer is in use"?  Wouldn't "Use at most 5% while computer is in use" almost effectively suspend computation while in use?


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## twilyth (Jan 12, 2011)

[Ion] said:


> Really?  I've never had that issue.  And I'm sure that if it was doing that on the school computers I'd get a lot of shit about it.
> 
> Wouldn't you want to say "Use at most ~80% when computer is in use"?  Wouldn't "Use at most 5% while computer is in use" almost effectively suspend computation while in use?



That was the plan.  Otherwise I have to suspend completely.  It goes back to 100 after 5 min. though.  I don't know why I have such an issue.  I've got 8gig but it still hits the pagefile like a rented mule.  Even with process lasso, I continuously get short freeze ups.  Maybe it's possessed.


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## [Ion] (Jan 12, 2011)

Ahhh.  What OS?  I've done not quite 2,000 CEP2 WUs with no issues....well, non confined to CEP2 in particular.  I had issues in general w/ T400 w/ only 2GB, but that was across all projects.

Can you not set it to like 50% or 80% or something?  Or does that still slow things up..?


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## twilyth (Jan 12, 2011)

[Ion] said:


> Ahhh.  What OS?  I've done not quite 2,000 CEP2 WUs with no issues....well, non confined to CEP2 in particular.  I had issues in general w/ T400 w/ only 2GB, but that was across all projects.
> 
> Can you not set it to like 50% or 80% or something?  Or does that still slow things up..?



I did try that and no.  The only way to make it tolerable was to put it so low that half the jobs were waiting for memory and even then I had problems.  Most of the time I have to snooze it anyway.

I'm running W7-64 with a 120gig SSD and 8 gig of DDR3-1600, cas 9.


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## [Ion] (Jan 12, 2011)

That's very bizarre.  My main setup (that presumably I would notice issues on the soonest) has a 2.8ghz C2D, at the time 2GB of DDR3-1066, and a 160gb WD HDD.

I'm going to have to see if I can replicate this, now I'm curious.


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## twilyth (Jan 12, 2011)

I don't know.  It's one of my 2 main rigs so I have a lot of apps open with at least 2 or firefox windows and a dozen or more tabs in each.  Plus, FF leaks and can run up to 1.3gig before it freezes completely so I'm always restarting it.  But give it a shot.  I'm not screwing with it any more since I have at least 3 rigs that are dedicated.  If I don't make as many points but also can avoid pulling my hair out, it's all good.


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## [Ion] (Jan 12, 2011)

Absolutely.  FF can be a huge memory hog, I'm very familiar with that.  _Very_ familiar.  Still, it'll be interesting to see if I can reproduce it on the dedicated rig (since no one ever actually uses it)


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## Chicken Patty (Oct 25, 2011)

Just wanted to bump this thread for all those new members who might not have came across this, some great info in here!


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## [Ion] (Oct 11, 2012)

I've updated a few things and added a quickie about WCG on GPUs


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## Chicken Patty (Oct 12, 2012)

Thank you for continuing to update this even though it's been a while.


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## [Ion] (Oct 12, 2012)

Chicken Patty said:


> Thank you for continuing to update this even though it's been a while.



It was time.  GPU WUs are a gamechanger and some of the info was out-of-date.  Now to re-learn C++ so I can update my PPD Estimator


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## [Ion] (Oct 20, 2012)

Updated the OP with information about badges


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## Jhelms (Nov 10, 2012)

Joined  Little confused it seems on getting the GPU to run. Currently working a lot of tasks but no gpu usage? Do some tasks use the GPU and others not? I checked to use GPU while computer is in use and checked to use GPU always. But no activity. Just CPU rocking away!


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## the54thvoid (Nov 10, 2012)

Garage1217 said:


> Joined  Little confused it seems on getting the GPU to run. Currently working a lot of tasks but no gpu usage? Do some tasks use the GPU and others not? I checked to use GPU while computer is in use and checked to use GPU always. But no activity. Just CPU rocking away!



I'm new to this myself but there's a tonne of hoops to jump through for it to work smoothly.

I see you have a 7970, so you could easily get 4 WU's on your gpu.  Do you know there is an xml file you can use to make your gpu do more work?

If not see this thread:

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=174138&page=11

There was an update from the WCG folks that made the original app_info file from the OP of that thread not work as well.

If you get probs, post on that thread and the guys will all help out.


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## Jhelms (Nov 10, 2012)

Yeah very irritating, no time to set it up today so leaving it run on my cpu. Hate sounding like an arse but people this smart, doing this much awesome stuff should have software in which I can click a few check boxes and walk away lol All good, happy Saturday!


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## KieX (Nov 10, 2012)

Garage1217 said:


> Yeah very irritating, no time to set it up today so leaving it run on my cpu. Hate sounding like an arse but people this smart, doing this much awesome stuff should have software in which I can click a few check boxes and walk away lol All good, happy Saturday!



If you're running default there's no reason why it shouldn't be supplying the WU. You can quickly help diagnose the problem if you go to Advanced> Run CPU Benchmarks. And check the Event Log (Ctrl+Shift+E) for something like this:

10/11/2012 13:24:51 |  | *ATI GPU 0*: Capeverde (CAL version 1.4.1741, 1024MB, 984MB available, 3200 GFLOPS peak)
10/11/2012 13:24:51 |  | *OpenCL: ATI GPU* 1: Capeverde (driver version CAL 1.4.1741 (VM), device version OpenCL 1.2 AMD-APP (938.2), 1024MB, 984MB available)

If you get any errors let us know. Otherwise if you are not seeing your version of that, then either you need to check that you've installed all the Catalyst driver options or that your "default" profile in the WCG site is set to:





(Under Device Manager, click on the profile next to  your computer and Make sure both the HCC project and that option are ticked).


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## [Ion] (Nov 10, 2012)

Garage1217 said:


> Joined  Little confused it seems on getting the GPU to run. Currently working a lot of tasks but no gpu usage? Do some tasks use the GPU and others not? I checked to use GPU while computer is in use and checked to use GPU always. But no activity. Just CPU rocking away!



Welcome aboard!  As KieX said, you need to make sure that WCG is set to allow GPU computing 

What are you crunching on ATM?


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## Jhelms (Nov 10, 2012)

Pretty much crunching ALL the things right now  Are there set things the team is crunching specifically - to focus on?


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## Norton (Nov 10, 2012)

Garage1217 said:


> Pretty much crunching ALL the things right now  Are there set things the team is crunching specifically - to focus on?



As long as your crunching on World Community grid it is fine to crunch on all projects. We are currently participating in a challenge for the Help Conquer Cancer project so a lot of us have opted to only crunch that project until the end of the challenge (options are availble on the WCG website to select the project and setup a different profile with different work)

Welcome Aboard!


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## Jhelms (Nov 10, 2012)

KieX said:


> If you're running default there's no reason why it shouldn't be supplying the WU. You can quickly help diagnose the problem if you go to Advanced> Run CPU Benchmarks. And check the Event Log (Ctrl+Shift+E) for something like this:
> 
> 10/11/2012 13:24:51 |  | *ATI GPU 0*: Capeverde (CAL version 1.4.1741, 1024MB, 984MB available, 3200 GFLOPS peak)
> 10/11/2012 13:24:51 |  | *OpenCL: ATI GPU* 1: Capeverde (driver version CAL 1.4.1741 (VM), device version OpenCL 1.2 AMD-APP (938.2), 1024MB, 984MB available)
> ...



Awesome thanks! That was the dealio. Was not checked in my profile. I now show things crunching on all 8 cores and a +1 ATI GPU Bouncing around crunching random things. Need to have the card crunch more so will have to figure that out. never passes 67%.

But wow... things crunch FAST with the GPU running now.


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## Jhelms (Nov 10, 2012)

Norton said:


> As long as your crunching on World Community grid it is fine to crunch on all projects. We are currently participating in a challenge for the Help Conquer Cancer project so a lot of us have opted to only crunch that project until the end of the challenge (options are availble on the WCG website to select the project and setup a different profile with different work)
> 
> Welcome Aboard!




Got it, thanks. Checked to focus on childhood cancer and conquer cancer for right now. Pretty cool! Brings me back to early seti stuff I did back in early 2000's lol


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## KieX (Nov 11, 2012)

Garage1217 said:


> Awesome thanks! That was the dealio. Was not checked in my profile. I now show things crunching on all 8 cores and a +1 ATI GPU Bouncing around crunching random things. Need to have the card crunch more so will have to figure that out. never passes 67%.
> 
> But wow... things crunch FAST with the GPU running now.



Awesome! Great to have another member and  powerhouse onboard


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## [Ion] (Nov 11, 2012)

Garage1217 said:


> Got it, thanks. Checked to focus on childhood cancer and conquer cancer for right now. Pretty cool! Brings me back to early seti stuff I did back in early 2000's lol



BOINC Manager -> Advanced View -> Tools -> Computing Preferences -> Max CPU Usage: 100%

That will get you running on all eight cores 

You can also probably check "Use GPU while computer is in use"


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## [Ion] (Nov 19, 2012)

I've added a bit more information on BOINC on Ubuntu 


Any more topics you guys want added/expanded?


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## TRWOV (Feb 6, 2013)

I've tried to install the client but I'm getting an error: "failed to add user to the "boinc_admins" group" and the installation fails.


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## [Ion] (Feb 6, 2013)

TRWOV said:


> I've tried to install the client but I'm getting an error: "failed to add user to the "boinc_admins" group" and the installation fails.



You need to install it from an Administrator account, or run the program as Administrator.  What install options have you selected?


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## TRWOV (Feb 6, 2013)

I ran it as admin (right clic, Run as administrator). I selected the default install options.


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## [Ion] (Feb 6, 2013)

TRWOV said:


> I ran it as admin (right clic, Run as administrator). I selected the default install options.



What version of Windows are you running?  x64 or x86?  Is UAC enabled or disabled?  What version of BOINC are you trying?


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## TRWOV (Feb 6, 2013)

I'm using W8 Pro 64bit and the client is 6.10.58. UAC is enabled I think.


EDIT: NVM, I found this: https://secure.worldcommunitygrid.org/forums/wcg/viewthread?thread=33527


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## [Ion] (Feb 6, 2013)

TRWOV said:


> I'm using W8 Pro 64bit and the client is 6.10.58. UAC is enabled I think.
> 
> 
> EDIT: NVM, I found this: https://secure.worldcommunitygrid.org/forums/wcg/viewthread?thread=33527



OK, so you've solved it?


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## Norton (Feb 6, 2013)

TRWOV said:


> I'm using W8 Pro 64bit and the client is 6.10.58. UAC is enabled I think.
> 
> 
> EDIT: NVM, I found this: https://secure.worldcommunitygrid.org/forums/wcg/viewthread?thread=33527



Unfortunately as you found out- the software on WCG's website isn't compatible with Win8. You can use the 7.0.44 Beta version from the  BOINC website, it runs 100% fine for just about everyone. Also, use latest the Cat. graphics drivers if you want to run more than one gpu wu at a time under Win8


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## TRWOV (Feb 8, 2013)

Is there an estimate of how many points could a 6450 net? I'm going to upgrade the CCTV unit in a couple of months and I think I could put a 6450 in there and leave it crunching all day. Maybe even a 6570 if I get one cheap. 

It would have to be an XP machine (darn capture program won't work on W7) so it'll be limited to the 32bit client. Is there any impediment for this?


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## Norton (Feb 8, 2013)

TRWOV said:


> Is there an estimate of how many points could a 6450 net? I'm going to upgrade the CCTV unit in a couple of months and I think I could put a 6450 in there and leave it crunching all day. Maybe even a 6570 if I get one cheap.
> 
> It would have to be an XP machine (darn capture program won't work on W7) so it'll be limited to the 32bit client. Is there any impediment for this?



64 bit crunching runs about 10% more output than 32 bit.

as far as 6450's/6570's output will be lower but you may be able to get 3-4k BOINC ppd out of them.... best I can say is give them a try and see how they do- the gpu in AMD APU's can crunch gpu wu's so no reason why those cards can't


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## [Ion] (Feb 8, 2013)

TRWOV said:


> Is there an estimate of how many points could a 6450 net? I'm going to upgrade the CCTV unit in a couple of months and I think I could put a 6450 in there and leave it crunching all day. Maybe even a 6570 if I get one cheap.
> 
> It would have to be an XP machine (darn capture program won't work on W7) so it'll be limited to the 32bit client. Is there any impediment for this?



Impediment is slight at worst (maybe 10%).  You may be able to get 2k-3k PPD from a HD6450, but it wouldn't make for an impressive card, unfortunately


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## TRWOV (Feb 8, 2013)

The capture program just requires DX9  and 32bit color so even the IGP of the new board will be able to run it but I thought I'd trow a GPU in there and do some crunching since that PC is on 24/7 anyway. 

So a 6450 could crunch then? The 6450's 18w TDP won't make a huge impact on the power bill and even if it just nets 2K that's more than 0. I just was concerned that it wouldn't crunch.


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## [Ion] (Feb 8, 2013)

The WCG website doesn't say it can't crunch, so I'd assume it can 
And 2 or 3K is still very much worthwhile


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## TRWOV (Mar 2, 2013)

I'm going to setup two crunchers with the USB ubuntu install. If using 8GB sticks, how big should I make the persistent file? I tried setting the slider all the way but the installation failed, I then set 6GB but if I plug the USB stick it says that there are 2GB free? 

I just want to maximize the amount of space available to BOINC. Or in other words, how much space does Ubuntu uses on the USB stick?

EDIT: answered my own question by installing Ubuntu without a persistent file. 762MB.


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## [Ion] (Mar 3, 2013)

You  need a persistence file or will lose BOINC/work if it reboots.  I've found that a 3-4GB persistence file works well for a system that only crunches


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## TRWOV (Mar 3, 2013)

I set a 6.5GB persistence file and installed fine. Now I just have to wait for the 1090T.

WTB, can the linux client do work on the GPU too? What about multiple WUs? With the CPUs coming my way I can setup 3 dedicated crunchers, 2 PII X6 and a G620 driving 2 GPUs in a H61 Xfire board. I was thinking about getting a cheap 32GB SSD for running windows on the GPU cruncher but if the linux client can run multiple WUs I might avoid that expense.


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## [Ion] (Mar 3, 2013)

It can run GPU WUs (and multiple at that).  I've never done it, but I think that Jstn7477 has.  I'd send him a PM


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## TRWOV (Mar 5, 2013)

Ok I got the Phenom and I'm setting the Ubuntu client. Question: is there any way to configure the USB Ubuntu to skip the "Install Ubuntu" screen and start BOINC automatically once loaded?


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## [Ion] (Mar 5, 2013)

TRWOV said:


> Ok I got the Phenom and I'm setting the Ubuntu client. Question: is there any way to configure the USB Ubuntu to skip the "Install Ubuntu" screen and start BOINC automatically once loaded?



I think that it actually starts crunching (at least based on how warm the heatsink is there versus once the system has fully booted and BOINC is up) but I'm not sure if there's a way to skip it


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## TRWOV (Mar 5, 2013)

ok, seems to be working. I just can't edit the cc_config file. I can open it but the "Save" option is grayed out. Is this normal for the USB install?


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## [Ion] (Mar 5, 2013)

TRWOV said:


> ok, seems to be working. I just can't edit the cc_config file. I can open it but the "Save" option is grayed out. Is this normal for the USB install?



Probably because you aren't root.  Use the terminal, browse to it using the 'cd' command and then when you're there, do 'vi cc_config.xml'.  VI is a bit tricky, but works well enough.


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## TRWOV (Mar 5, 2013)

mmm... I let the PC run all night but it seems stuck??? It says "running" in the task manager but the timer doesn't move. The PC isn't frozen, I can minimize, open other apps and such. I saw the result status and it didn't turn any in 

EDIT:
Is there a way to install Ubuntu to the USB key? Not a Live version but a regular installation. Maybe my board doesn't like the live mode. I just lost the mouse and can't seem to get it back, not even re-starting.

EDIT2: Installed to USB stick. Boots fine but still no mouse  Remembered why I gave up on linux. Can't seem to find my way around with just the keyboard. You'd expect Tab to move you from clickable to clickable but it doesn't always.

EDIT3: I guess it'll be wayyyyyy easier to install W7 to the USB key. Using Alt I can enter to the options I want to but since Tab doesn't move me to the next button it's no use. The arrow keys seem to work on some screens and in some don't. I want to set the client to not download more tasks in order to clean the queue on the Live USB but can't select the project or activate the option. Maybe it doesn't like my mouse for being a MS one?  I'll get another mouse just in case. On the bright side Boinc is running fine again.


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## KieX (Mar 5, 2013)

TRWOV said:


> mmm... I let the PC run all night but it seems stuck??? It says "running" in the task manager but the timer doesn't move. The PC isn't frozen, I can minimize, open other apps and such. I saw the result status and it didn't turn any in
> 
> EDIT:
> Is there a way to install Ubuntu to the USB key? Not a Live version but a regular installation. Maybe my board doesn't like the live mode. I just lost the mouse and can't seem to get it back, not even re-starting.
> ...



Might be a long shot.. but I had that problem when running off USB 3.0 port. Try switching ports see if you can get it to not crash. If you want to have a "installed" version you might as well use something like PenDriveLinux installer and create a permanently accesible storage area with the live distro.


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## TRWOV (Mar 5, 2013)

The board only has USB 2.0 ports. I used the PenDriveLinux to install the Live CD into a USB stick with a 6GB persistence file. With that stick I installed Ubuntu onto another USB stick (full install, not Live install) but neither one is picking up my mouse now  for some reason. It just stopped working while I was settiing up the boinc client.

I could get by with the keyboard and in fact I can go to any tab I want but once in the correct tab I can't do anything. Pressing TAB doesn't take me to the next clickable button and the arrow keys don't do anything either. 

I suppose that the client is at fault and not Ubuntu (I can go into Calc and move around with the KB just fine), I guess the client doesn't have provisions for computers without a mouse.


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## Peter1986C (Mar 5, 2013)

Is your mouse plugged in a USB hub or so? How well are the chipset components cooled? Does the stick work on a different system?


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## TRWOV (Mar 5, 2013)

The stick is fine, it boot ups normally. I'm not having problems with Ubuntu per se, what isn't working is my mouse. It's a MS basic optical mouse (http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/en-us/p/basic-optical-mouse/P58-00061). It was working fine but suddenly it didn't work anymore. I re-started the PC but no dice.

Ubuntu Live boots and works fine; the install I did on the other USB stick also works fine but neither seem to be able to pick up my mouse anymore. I plugged the mouse in another PC and it works fine. It's like the mouse interface is being disabled or something. Or maybe it is working but is freezed since I can see the mouse pointer on the screen.


In short Ubuntu works fine, Boinc is working fine, I just can't get my mouse to work. This wouldn't be that much of a problem if the Boinc client was manageable with the keyboard. I can use Alt to go to the desired tab but then I can't select anything with the keyboard, TAB and the arrow keys don't do a thing.

The mouse is plugged directly into the USB port.


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## Peter1986C (Mar 5, 2013)

Does the mouse work with the same mouse and the same stick in another PC? Also: USB/mouse drivers are generic (inside the kernel) so brand should not matter.


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## TRWOV (Mar 6, 2013)

Got me another mouse, a Genius this time and I'm pahhy to report that it's working fine. I don't know why it won't pickup my MS mouse.


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## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Jun 13, 2014)

Hello to everyone,
I,m Ger i live in coastal West Wales
im thinking about folding, cant really think of a reason not to.

But it seems none of my pcs are ideal or are they?
Can anyone send me a link to the CPU chart so i can work out which components to build into it
combinations of the following are possible


CPU
Athlon ii x 4 630   (@ 3.0ghz and unlocked l3 cache) 
Athlon ii x 4 640   (@ 3.3 ghz)
Core 2 duo e 3200 (i think)

GPU

HD 5770    (o/c)
HD 5750    (o/c)
Nvidia 9500 gt

MOBO

Gigabyte    ga 880
Gigabyte    ga 970
Gigabyte    G41m combo
Gigabyte   H 61mds2

RAM

about 30 gb in a variety of combinations


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## Peter1986C (Jun 15, 2014)

WCG should work on those machines, folding not so much.


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## TRWOV (Jun 15, 2014)

CAPSLOCKSTUCK said:


> Hello to everyone,
> I,m Ger i live in coastal West Wales
> im thinking about folding, cant really think of a reason not to.
> 
> ...



You can crunch on any CPU. For folding you'll need a GPU with OpenCL support (>DX11). The preferred GPUs for folding are >HD7770, >GT650Ti mainly for their updated microarchitectures. A 7770 will do about the same work as a 6950 and consume way less power.


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## Arjai (Dec 6, 2014)

Speaking of microarchitectures....LOL

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/easy-setup-for-folding-home.200520/


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