SMP - Symmetric Multi-Processor jobs:

McRat

Diesel Hotrodder
Aug 2, 2006
11,249
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Norco CA
www.mcratracing.com
With FAH, there is a kind of job you can run on your computer if you have 2 or more cores, it's referred to as an SMP job. While you can run one normal client for each core of your computer, the SMP's yield Bonus Points based on how fast you finish the job. The bonus can be very large, a 1400 point job can net 9000 points or more on a fast multicore machine.

Now, the basics: These are more hassle, less stable, and require babysitting. These have tight return date on them. If you don't hit it, you get nothing. These are intended for computers that run 24/7. I'd avoid using anything less than a 2-core @ 2.8ghz, or 4-core @ 1.4, but there is nothing wrong with experimenting.

All Mac jobs are SMP. I haven't used the Linux client, so this is about Windows. You need XP, Vista, or Win7. You should be familiar with working from the Command Line, as this is 100% console controlled through the DOS Prompt.

Read this first and follow directions carefully:
http://folding.stanford.edu/English/WinSMPGuide

The download link is on that page.

You also need a Passkey or you won't get bonuses. Passkey can be found at http://folding.stanford.edu/English/FAQ-passkey and they email it to you. It will often end up in your Junk Mail folder, so if you see it in 10 minutes, look there.

When you first start and you have followed the instructions, you will type in:

Fah6 -configonly (if you renamed the executable like the instructions suggest).

The important options are:

Username has to be exact. Uppercase/Lowercase.
Team is 195247
Passkey must be exact. There are no letter "O" and all the letter (a,b,c,d,e,f) are all lower case. You can cut and paste to play it safe.

It will ask you for file size, the answer MUST be big. No - sign, just big.

Hit enter for everything you aren't sure of, DON'T hit the spacebar on one, that will delete the value.

It will ask you if you want to change advanced settings, and the answer is yes, then go all the way through list until you find Additional Options. You want to put -smp here, but you don't have to as long as when you want to run the program, you always type fah6 -smp, either way is OK, and if you're going to type it out every time you launch, then you don't have to do the advanced settings.

To start the program, type fah6 or fah6 -smp if you didn't put it in the config.

To stop the program, hit CNTL C.

To change the settings, type fah6 -configonly again. You only have to change what you want, the rest stays the same.

To stop at the end of the job, first CNTL C, then type fah6 -oneunit and it will halt after sending in the results.

If you type fah6 -help it will list these options.

You must complete 10 SMP jobs under the same user and passkey in under the time limit before the bonus starts. You can have multiple computers with the same user and passkey to get there faster. You must keep a success record of 80% to get bonus, so don't experiment with overclocking on a username you want to keep.

You can also run the GPU client at the same time, but be warned, ATI cards will slow down the SMP a LOT, and usually aren't worth it, you need to test this. nVidia slows down much less.

I'm new at this myself, but feel free to ask questions in this thread and I'll do my best to help.
 

Poltergeist

Ghost in the Machine
Aug 1, 2006
29,563
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36
Ontario, Calif.
www.poltergeist.us
I started the SMP client on my new system. Its a 6 core AMD, right now it seems to be saying that the job is going to take about 8 hours to run. I did notice that the cores are not running at full load so I could have a config issue. Just an FYI for anyone looking at SMP jobs.
 

Poltergeist

Ghost in the Machine
Aug 1, 2006
29,563
1
36
Ontario, Calif.
www.poltergeist.us
Does your turbo mode utilize higher speed by disable means of cores?

Apparently yes. On Newegg it says: AMD Turbo CORE technology is a performance boosting technology that automatically switches from six cores to three turbocharged core for applications that just need raw speed over multiple cores.

Wasn't aware of that or even knew what Turbo mode was on an AMD. :rofl: This is the one I bought: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103851
 

jmaz268

Lead from the Front
May 20, 2010
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Springfield IL
Pat I think you can explain shit so easily that anyone can learn be able to do just about anything.

:thumb::hug:
 

fishsmith

Active member
May 14, 2008
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Monroe, LA
Thanks for this Pat I finally decided to take the step up. I have a quad core amd that pretty well sits here all day, all we us it for is surfing the internet.
 

Mike

hmmm....
Feb 17, 2007
2,184
0
36
San Angelo, TX
Apparently yes. On Newegg it says: AMD Turbo CORE technology is a performance boosting technology that automatically switches from six cores to three turbocharged core for applications that just need raw speed over multiple cores.

Wasn't aware of that or even knew what Turbo mode was on an AMD. :rofl: This is the one I bought: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103851

Hey Rob, could you look at this link again to do a price check? Just curious if the price has changed. Thanks
 

McRat

Diesel Hotrodder
Aug 2, 2006
11,249
26
38
64
Norco CA
www.mcratracing.com
If you have the extra $50 and are going to overclock, get the X6 1090T model, because it has an unlocked multiplier. You can turn it up to 3.6ghz by just using the AMD Overdrive utility (free on AMD's site). A couple of BIOS switches later, Hello 4ghz!

What that means, is it's easier to overclock without running into problems with RAM and bus speed, like malfunctioning sound, onboard video, or network chip. But people have turned Rob's chip up to 4ghz also, it just requires more work.
 

Mike

hmmm....
Feb 17, 2007
2,184
0
36
San Angelo, TX
If you have the extra $50 and are going to overclock, get the X6 1090T model, because it has an unlocked multiplier. You can turn it up to 3.6ghz by just using the AMD Overdrive utility (free on AMD's site). A couple of BIOS switches later, Hello 4ghz!

What that means, is it's easier to overclock without running into problems with RAM and bus speed, like malfunctioning sound, onboard video, or network chip. But people have turned Rob's chip up to 4ghz also, it just requires more work.

Does any motherboard for this CPU have the extra BIOS options you are referring to?