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Should I fold with a Geforce 930MX?

Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2020 12:03 am
by Azsorlex26
I have a laptop with a dedicated Geforce 930MX, and I'm able to fold with it.

But just because I can, does it mean I should? The current job that's on it is estimated to end in 1.20 days, whereas any jobs on my main system's GTX 1060 only take a matter of hours to finish.

Re: Should I fold with a Geforce 930MX?

Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2020 1:17 am
by JimboPalmer
Welcome to Folding@Home!

https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/g ... 30mx.c2825
Your GPU both supports OpenCL 1.2 and Double Precision floating point math, so it is able to Fold.

It is an entry level card, so it won't be fast. but it is helping.

Re: Should I fold with a Geforce 930MX?

Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2020 2:24 am
by Darth_Peter_dualxeon
Just blow the dust out of the laptop and put it on a cooling pad, and watch temperatures frequently.

Re: Should I fold with a Geforce 930MX?

Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2020 4:25 am
by JimboPalmer
When I want to watch temps, I use Speccy.

https://www.ccleaner.com/speccy

there are many others, but like that one.

Re: Should I fold with a Geforce 930MX?

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2020 10:01 am
by nr415355
Are you running Windows 10? Because I am, have the same GPU and while it shows up in the web interface, it just sits at 0%.

Re: Should I fold with a Geforce 930MX?

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2020 10:48 am
by PantherX
Welcome to the F@H Forum nr415355,

Can you please post your log file. Ensure that you have copied the System configuration which is present at the start of the log file: viewtopic.php?f=16&t=26036 :)

Re: Should I fold with a Geforce 930MX?

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2020 11:41 am
by Neil-B
At 1.20 days that may be past the Timeout … which doesn't mean it won't be used, but the WU will likely be reissued to another folder who may (or may not) get it returned quicker … if you card couldn't fold the WU before Expiration then that is different and your card probably just isn't fast enough to fold.

In "normal" times Timeouts tended to be a bit longer and even then having a WU being done a bit slower than those when it otherwise wouldn't get done for a longer period due to lack of compute resource (the traditional issue) was not discouraged.

Currently where there has been a massive swell of support and there is more compute resource than the current infrastructure can service (heroics are being done by the team to catch up with this - they have already made great leaps forward !!) there is a view held by some (which I do not share) that if you kit can't fold within Timeout then it is getting in the way of potentially faster kit and you should not fold (again, repeat, I do not share this view!!) - my advice if you come across this view is to ignore it - if the team want to restrict older/slower kit from folding they will do so and until they do anything else is just individuals personal perspectives (as is this !! - it is mine !!)

You may find your laptop gets quite noisy/hot - little fans spinning fast, narrow cooling channels, needing to clear lots of heat as FAH is very compute intensive - Many of the hardware monitors will give you "better" feedback than task manager ... I use HWMonitor not Speccy - if you want to use one choose the one you like the look of :)

Re: Should I fold with a Geforce 930MX?

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2020 8:44 pm
by nr415355
Neil-B wrote:there is more compute resource than the current infrastructure can service
I keep reading that, yet nowhere does Rosetta@home get mentioned - why not direct people who can't get WUs to them?
(Although admittedly, I wasn't even able to sign up there, maybe they're struggling with similar issues, even though they haven't received as much attention and their network isn't nearly as large?)

Re: Should I fold with a Geforce 930MX?

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2020 8:48 pm
by nr415355
PantherX wrote:Welcome to the F@H Forum nr415355,
Thanks! :)
Can you please post your log file. Ensure that you have copied the System configuration which is present at the start of the log file: viewtopic.php?f=16&t=26036 :)

Code: Select all

*********************** Log Started 2020-04-12T20:44:58Z ***********************
20:44:58:************************* Folding@home Client *************************
20:44:58:        Website: https://foldingathome.org/
20:44:58:      Copyright: (c) 2009-2018 foldingathome.org
20:44:58:         Author: Joseph Coffland <joseph@cauldrondevelopment.com>
20:44:58:           Args: --open-web-control
20:44:58:         Config: C:\Users\REDACTED\AppData\Roaming\FAHClient\config.xml
20:44:58:******************************** Build ********************************
20:44:58:        Version: 7.5.1
20:44:58:           Date: May 11 2018
20:44:58:           Time: 13:06:32
20:44:58:     Repository: Git
20:44:58:       Revision: 4705bf53c635f88b8fe85af7675557e15d491ff0
20:44:58:         Branch: master
20:44:58:       Compiler: Visual C++ 2008
20:44:58:        Options: /TP /nologo /EHa /wd4297 /wd4103 /Ox /MT
20:44:58:       Platform: win32 10
20:44:58:           Bits: 32
20:44:58:           Mode: Release
20:44:58:******************************* System ********************************
20:44:58:            CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-8250U CPU @ 1.60GHz
20:44:58:         CPU ID: GenuineIntel Family 6 Model 142 Stepping 10
20:44:58:           CPUs: 8
20:44:58:         Memory: 23.89GiB
20:44:58:    Free Memory: 11.65GiB
20:44:58:        Threads: WINDOWS_THREADS
20:44:58:     OS Version: 6.2
20:44:58:    Has Battery: true
20:44:58:     On Battery: false
20:44:58:     UTC Offset: 2
20:44:58:            PID: 10908
20:44:58:            CWD: C:\Users\REDACTED\AppData\Roaming\FAHClient
20:44:58:             OS: Windows 10 Enterprise
20:44:58:        OS Arch: AMD64
20:44:58:           GPUs: 1
20:44:58:          GPU 0: Bus:1 Slot:0 Func:0 NVIDIA:4 GM108M [GeForce 930MX]
20:44:58:  CUDA Device 0: Platform:0 Device:0 Bus:1 Slot:0 Compute:5.0 Driver:10.2
20:44:58:OpenCL Device 0: Platform:0 Device:0 Bus:1 Slot:0 Compute:1.2 Driver:441.46
20:44:58:OpenCL Device 1: Platform:1 Device:0 Bus:NA Slot:NA Compute:2.1 Driver:26.20
20:44:58:  Win32 Service: false
20:44:58:***********************************************************************
20:44:58:<config>
20:44:58:  <!-- User Information -->
20:44:58:  <passkey v='********************************'/>
20:44:58:  <team v='REDACTED'/>
20:44:58:  <user v='REDACTED'/>
20:44:58:
20:44:58:  <!-- Folding Slots -->
20:44:58:  <slot id='0' type='CPU'/>
20:44:58:  <slot id='1' type='GPU'/>
20:44:58:</config>
20:44:58:Trying to access database...
20:44:58:Successfully acquired database lock
20:44:58:Enabled folding slot 00: READY cpu:3
20:44:58:Enabled folding slot 01: PAUSED gpu:0:GM108M [GeForce 930MX] (waiting for idle)
20:44:58:WU00:FS00:Connecting to 65.254.110.245:8080
20:44:59:WARNING:WU00:FS00:Failed to get assignment from '65.254.110.245:8080': No WUs available for this configuration
20:44:59:WU00:FS00:Connecting to 18.218.241.186:80
20:44:59:WARNING:WU00:FS00:Failed to get assignment from '18.218.241.186:80': No WUs available for this configuration
20:44:59:ERROR:WU00:FS00:Exception: Could not get an assignment
20:44:59:WU00:FS00:Connecting to 65.254.110.245:8080
20:44:59:WARNING:WU00:FS00:Failed to get assignment from '65.254.110.245:8080': No WUs available for this configuration
20:44:59:WU00:FS00:Connecting to 18.218.241.186:80
20:45:00:WARNING:WU00:FS00:Failed to get assignment from '18.218.241.186:80': No WUs available for this configuration
20:45:00:ERROR:WU00:FS00:Exception: Could not get an assignment

Re: Should I fold with a Geforce 930MX?

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2020 8:55 pm
by NoMoreQuarantine
nr415355 wrote:
Neil-B wrote:there is more compute resource than the current infrastructure can service
I keep reading that, yet nowhere does Rosetta@home get mentioned - why not direct people who can't get WUs to them?
(Although admittedly, I wasn't even able to sign up there, maybe they're struggling with similar issues, even though they haven't received as much attention and their network isn't nearly as large?)
I have both clients installed on my computer. Whenever I'm not getting CPU WUs after large number of attempts I pause CPU folding, pull up BOINC and tell it to get new tasks. After it finishes downloading the first batch, I click "No new tasks" let it finish the current tasks and then unpause FAH to see if that's ready for more.

Re: Should I fold with a Geforce 930MX?

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2020 8:59 pm
by JimboPalmer
In part, this is a Folding@Home Support forum, so we focus on helping folks Fold.

In part, we give advice on what we know. I have never done any work on Rosetta, so there is not much I can say about it.

In part, the infrastructure here is growing by leaps and bounds, it would be awkward to grow into servers we could not keep busy.
In a given day, 10 times as many volunteers turn in at least one WU as happened 4 weeks ago. And 6 times as many Points are handed out.
There is still a gap, but the team has grown the infrastructure mightily is a very short time.

People vs Performance is never going to be 1 to 1, some new folks are bringing older equipment, some companies are unleashing whole Divisions of spare CPU cycles. (Me counting new volunteers entirely ignores those folding as anonymous. "That still only counts as One." - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAdkKQ6-6wo)

Re: Should I fold with a Geforce 930MX?

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2020 9:58 pm
by PantherX
nr415355 -> It seems that your setup is fine. However, due to the network load on the F@H Servers, it may take a few attempts to get a CPU WU so the client will automatically re-try so just leave it as it and you will get a CPU WU soon :)

Re: Should I fold with a Geforce 930MX?

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2020 10:10 pm
by Neil-B
Search the forums for Rosetta and/or BOINC and you will find quite a few mentions … but it is true, as a support forum for F@H most advice/guidance tends to be focused on that.

Re: Should I fold with a Geforce 930MX?

Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2020 9:22 am
by nr415355
Oh, I didn't mean just this forum (I've barely read anything here yet and certainly wouldn't expect support for other platforms!) but also e.g. the official Folding@home Twitter account. There as well, I stumbled across a post mentioning the struggles to assign work and no mention of Rosetta.

Re: Should I fold with a Geforce 930MX?

Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2020 9:24 am
by nr415355
PantherX wrote:nr415355 -> It seems that your setup is fine. However, due to the network load on the F@H Servers, it may take a few attempts to get a CPU WU so the client will automatically re-try so just leave it as it and you will get a CPU WU soon :)
But my question was about the GPU not being used? Considering that I very rarely make use of 3D graphics, it's idle all the time...