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Minimum cores for a7

Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2020 1:25 pm
by Kebast
I have a 16 thread Ryzen 3800x that's been running fine on the a7 WUs. I need to remove a few threads from FAH though for other work. What's the minimum number of threads/cores that a7 WUs need? I think it used to be 8, is that still the case?

Re: Minimum cores for a7

Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2020 1:29 pm
by JimboPalmer
You need at least 1. I have a Core Duo with a GPU, so 2 CPUs but one reserved for the GPU.
Most of my desktops use 3

Re: Minimum cores for a7

Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2020 4:30 pm
by Joe_H
The 8-core minimum was for the now defunct Bigadv projects using the A5 folding core. At this point all CPU folding cores older than A7 have been retired.

Re: Minimum cores for a7

Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2020 4:49 pm
by JimF
Kebast wrote:I have a 16 thread Ryzen 3800x that's been running fine on the a7 WUs.
The last time I checked, there was a disproportionate drop in output as you remove cores.
I like to keep all of the cores of my Ryzen 3700x on FAH, and use other machines for other work.

Re: Minimum cores for a7

Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2020 6:00 pm
by JimboPalmer
Correct, the aptly named Quick Return Bonus gives you more points the quicker you return the Work Unit. This is separate from how many threads you need to fold. More is always better, (at least to 128 threads) but the minimum is 1. Over 128 threads you may need Linux or Windows Enterprise.

Re: Minimum cores for a7

Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2020 12:18 am
by Kebast
JimF wrote:
Kebast wrote:I have a 16 thread Ryzen 3800x that's been running fine on the a7 WUs.
The last time I checked, there was a disproportionate drop in output as you remove cores.
I like to keep all of the cores of my Ryzen 3700x on FAH, and use other machines for other work.
Sure, but I need a few free for other things. I've still got the GPU churning out 500k per day anyway.

Re: Minimum cores for a7

Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2020 3:51 am
by Athlonite
The min cores is 1 but I find 12 on my R7 3700X is a good base for throughput vs being able to do other things without interfering with folding

Re: Minimum cores for a7

Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2020 4:52 am
by bruce
I don't know what you are reserving the cores for so my comment may not apply to you but FAHCore_a7 should be using N cores at a very low OS priority so that foreground activities will automatically receive preferential execution. Task Manager says the base priority for FAHCore* is "low"