Folding Forum

Hello FAH Forum,

Since participating in FAH, FAHControl reported that my machine is unstable and my GPU( NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT )
has repeatedly failed in previous logs:

*********************** Log Started 2013-02-28T05:56:25Z ***********************
05:56:25:************************* Folding@home Client *************************

06:45:08:WU01:FS00:0x11:Folding@home Core Shutdown: UNSTABLE_MACHINE
06:45:08:WARNING:WU01:FS00:FahCore returned: UNSTABLE_MACHINE (122 = 0x7a)
06:45:08:WU01:FS00:Sending unit results: id:01 state:SEND error:FAULTY project:5768 run:0 clone:179 gen:3035 core:0x11 unit:0x5f0d48a5512ef19a0bdb00b300001688
06:45:09:WU01:FS00:Uploading 4.49KiB to 171.67.108.11
06:45:09:WU01:FS00:Connecting to 171.67.108.11:8080

06:45:22:WU02:FS00:0x11:Folding@home Core Shutdown: UNSTABLE_MACHINE
06:45:22:WARNING:WU02:FS00:FahCore returned: UNSTABLE_MACHINE (122 = 0x7a)
06:45:22:WU02:FS00:Sending unit results: id:02 state:SEND error:FAULTY project:5766 run:1 clone:475 gen:2498 core:0x11 unit:0x7d9b6cc7512efcf509c201db00011686
06:45:22:WU02:FS00:Uploading 3.75KiB to 171.67.108.11
06:45:22:WU02:FS00:Connecting to 171.67.108.11:8080
06:45:23:WU01:FS00:Connecting to assign-GPU.stanford.edu:80


My question is, what is the right way to go about this problem?
Folding power is on Full most days.
Thank you

Specs:

Interl(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T6400 @ 2.00Ghz 2 CPUS
RAM: 3.00GB
Win7 64bit SP1

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT

Laptop GPU folding can be rather iffy. First is that laptops often use non-desktop video drivers. Next is that they have a limited power and heat envelope and for some folding can exceed that. Third, they often go to sleep, and disrupt the WU's that way.

I think the first thing I would try is cleaning the fans with some canned air to see if I can improve it cooling. Lifting the notebook up off the table can sometimes help. monitor temperatures carefully. Next may be trying to under-clock the GPU. I'm going to assume the drivers are ok because it got to the point of DL'ing a WU. After all those don't work, I'd play with the power settings to ensure that it does not attempt to sleep, power down, or hibernate when away.

Also, please make sure that the folding client is setup to pause on battery. I would not want it drain the battery accidentally if it ever got unplugged while folding.

The laptop is on a metal prop up thing that makes it angled, so I am not concerned with air flow.I usually let my laptop all day, about every other day. When I put my laptop on Sleep mode, the screen is black, the computer is running and it's on a low power state. My laptop is always plugged in because my battery went out a long time ago.

I've had some experience folding or attempting to fold with the 8600M GT on a older pre-Dell M17x and I can honestly say that GPU cooling is of utmost importance especially in the confines of laptop. I agree with P5-133XL and his recommendation to clean the cooling fan(s) as well as the heatsink(s) intake & exhaust grills/screens. The passages of the heatsink fins can become plugged especially after extended use. As well, ensure the fan exhaust outlet screens are cleaned. You can also install GPU temperature monitor such as GPU-Z to track your temps while folding. If you are comfortable with doing so, you can try removing the heatsink from the video card, clean and re-apply fresh thermal compound. In my case I had to replace the thermal conductive pads that were installed on the memory chips on the video card as well. Also, go to power options in your control panel and change when to put the computer to sleep to "Never" while plugged in and use the High Performance power plan option to get maximum cooling fan speed. Another option I'd try is a notebook cooling pad. Lastly, you can try down-clocking your GPU core using MSI Afterburner or EVGA Precision if your machine's bios allows.