Using a Laptop

[Tynat]

Hi,

I was confused as to which forum to post this in and after doing some searching I didn't see what I was looking for. So, here goes.

A new laptop is arriving this week. It has an Intel core I7 720QM (1.6GHZ (turbos up to 2.80 GHz), 8GB RAM, ATI 5870 GPU and is running Windows 7 x64. Which console clients would you recommend I run on the new laptop?

The only reason I said console client is that I have been running the CPU (Intel P4) and GPU (ATI 3850) console clients for over a year now (wow, has it been that long) and like them over the windows versions. I have a Passkey if that matters.

[Wrish]

The high-performance console clients, of course. The SMP2 client is at version 6.29, and you should use the MPICH variant and follow the detailed install instructions including enabling advanced work units. The GPU2 client should work like your old one, but to optimize, set it to run at higher priority, use the ATI environment variables, and disable the CPU client's core affinity lock, or run the CPU with -smp 7.

You also have the capability of running -bigadv under VM, but I personally wouldn't because you probably won't make the deadlines and thus would get no bonus points.

[Zagen30]

Make sure to get and use a passkey with the SMP client so you can eventually qualify for bonus points (occurs after successfully completing 10 SMP WUs that use the a3 core). From my experience, the i7-720 should get around 4000-4500 PPD with bonuses, but it'd probably only do around 1000 PPD without them.

[bruce]

The most significant differences between a laptop and some other computer is not being addressed. Everything that has been said here is good, but the fundamental questions that need to be considered:

> What about the heat generated? (The cooling of most laptops is inferior to desktop machines.)
> What happens when the laptop "goes on the road?
> > Battery power is expended rapidly
> > Suspending bonus WUs can make a major reduction in your bonus
> > When the WU finishes, will you have a connection?
> > Should you adjust/disable power-savings settings?

[John_Weatherman]

As Bruce said about heat, if you're going to be running 24/7 with folding then it's smart to get a laptop cooler.

[kiore]

+1 on the heat issues with laptops. Although despite buying an expensive laptop cooler with USB fans etc I found that lifting the back of the laptop up with 2 plastic screw tops from a bottle worked pretty well too The surface it is sitting on seems to make a big difference too.
Also some of the heat issues can be avoided by not running at max.
The power issues will depend on if this is actually a portable laptop or one that is used as a desk top that you can move around with.

[jrweiss]

FWIW I have an IBM T42 and a Lenovo T500, and both Fold CPU clients full-time. I don't use the SMP client on the dual-core laptop because I travel often, and the computer gets shut down often for long periods.

When they are running, though, they stay cool enough without any additional cooling considerations. The T42 has been Folding for 4+ years without failure.

For any laptop that is used for travel, 1 CPU client per core, running as a Service, is my recommendation.

[John Naylor]

+1 to jrweiss's suggestion. I have a Dell Studio 1737 that folds constantly when running with no heat issues, but I would not recommend the SMP(2) client on a laptop. Multiple uniprocessor clients are better on machines that travel or are shut down often, imho.

[Tynat]

It has arrived. Looks like it's going to take me at least the rest of the evening trying to decide which pre-installed apps go and which stay.

I'm never quite sure how to handle multiple replies, as it can differ from forum to forum. Would you prefer that my reply be consolidated into a single reply that addresses everyone or would you prefer individual replies?

[kiore]

Don't worry about us, get that machine folding

[toTOW]

It has arrived. Looks like it's going to take me at least the rest of the evening trying to decide which pre-installed apps go and which stay.

When the manufacturer gives a CD that contains only the OS, I usually wipe everything and start with a clean install without all these application I never asked for.