Why do my estimated daily points fluctuate so much?
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Why do my estimated daily points fluctuate so much?
I leave my computer on all the time and 90% of the time only folding home is running and it is set to use full power. but the points fluctuate from 20,000 (usually 30,000) to 65,000. why is there such a big change when no new programs are being started? shouldn't it remain relatively constant?
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- Posts: 823
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2008 12:45 am
- Hardware configuration: Core i7 3770K @3.5 GHz (not folding), 8 GB DDR3 @2133 MHz, 2xGTX 780 @1215 MHz, Windows 7 Pro 64-bit running 7.3.6 w/ 1xSMP, 2xGPU
4P E5-4650 @3.1 GHz, 64 GB DDR3 @1333MHz, Ubuntu Desktop 13.10 64-bit
Re: Why do my estimated daily points fluctuate so much?
It would help to know what your hardware is.
In theory, yes, PPD should remain relatively constant. There will always be scaling oddities when one's hardware differs from the benchmark machine, especially if yours is significantly more or less powerful. But obviously you're seeing more than the 10% or so variation they usually shoot for.
I'm guessing you have an Nvidia card. There are currently two cores that Fermi/Kepler cards can use: core 15, which is older and on its way out in the next year or so, and core 17, which is newer and better. Core 17 earns higher PPD on most Kepler cards and some Fermi cards than core 15, both because it uses the QRB system for points and because the work it does is more valuable than that of core 15. The low PPD you see is probably from core 15 WUs, and even there there are some core 15 projects that earn better PPD than others due to some not being rebenchmarked when others were.
To give some concrete examples, my GTX 780s can do around 175k PPD on project 8900, which uses core 17. The better-earning core 15 projects are around 60k, and the lowest-scoring core 15s are around 38k.
In theory, yes, PPD should remain relatively constant. There will always be scaling oddities when one's hardware differs from the benchmark machine, especially if yours is significantly more or less powerful. But obviously you're seeing more than the 10% or so variation they usually shoot for.
I'm guessing you have an Nvidia card. There are currently two cores that Fermi/Kepler cards can use: core 15, which is older and on its way out in the next year or so, and core 17, which is newer and better. Core 17 earns higher PPD on most Kepler cards and some Fermi cards than core 15, both because it uses the QRB system for points and because the work it does is more valuable than that of core 15. The low PPD you see is probably from core 15 WUs, and even there there are some core 15 projects that earn better PPD than others due to some not being rebenchmarked when others were.
To give some concrete examples, my GTX 780s can do around 175k PPD on project 8900, which uses core 17. The better-earning core 15 projects are around 60k, and the lowest-scoring core 15s are around 38k.
Re: Why do my estimated daily points fluctuate so much?
I have an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 approx. total memory 2683mb
I have 16 gigs of ram any other hardware information needed?
I have 16 gigs of ram any other hardware information needed?
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- Posts: 823
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2008 12:45 am
- Hardware configuration: Core i7 3770K @3.5 GHz (not folding), 8 GB DDR3 @2133 MHz, 2xGTX 780 @1215 MHz, Windows 7 Pro 64-bit running 7.3.6 w/ 1xSMP, 2xGPU
4P E5-4650 @3.1 GHz, 64 GB DDR3 @1333MHz, Ubuntu Desktop 13.10 64-bit
Re: Why do my estimated daily points fluctuate so much?
No that's pretty much it. As I said above, it's likely due to the varying PPD of the core 15 projects, which I don't think they're going to fix at this point.
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- Posts: 2948
- Joined: Sun Dec 02, 2007 4:36 am
- Hardware configuration: Machine #1:
Intel Q9450; 2x2GB=8GB Ram; Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 Motherboard; PC Power and Cooling Q750 PS; 2x GTX 460; Windows Server 2008 X64 (SP1).
Machine #2:
Intel Q6600; 2x2GB=4GB Ram; Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 Motherboard; PC Power and Cooling Q750 PS; 2x GTX 460 video card; Windows 7 X64.
Machine 3:
Dell Dimension 8400, 3.2GHz P4 4x512GB Ram, Video card GTX 460, Windows 7 X32
I am currently folding just on the 5x GTX 460's for aprox. 70K PPD - Location: Salem. OR USA
Re: Why do my estimated daily points fluctuate so much?
There is a rounding bug in v7.3.6 that causes estimated PPD fluctuation that is supposedly fixed in beta v7.4.2. This bug was especially evident with Core_17 WU's.
Re: Why do my estimated daily points fluctuate so much?
how do I know what core im using? and where can I download the fastest folding home client? all I can find on the site is the fah-installer_7.3.6_x86.exe
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- Posts: 2948
- Joined: Sun Dec 02, 2007 4:36 am
- Hardware configuration: Machine #1:
Intel Q9450; 2x2GB=8GB Ram; Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 Motherboard; PC Power and Cooling Q750 PS; 2x GTX 460; Windows Server 2008 X64 (SP1).
Machine #2:
Intel Q6600; 2x2GB=4GB Ram; Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 Motherboard; PC Power and Cooling Q750 PS; 2x GTX 460 video card; Windows 7 X64.
Machine 3:
Dell Dimension 8400, 3.2GHz P4 4x512GB Ram, Video card GTX 460, Windows 7 X32
I am currently folding just on the 5x GTX 460's for aprox. 70K PPD - Location: Salem. OR USA
Re: Why do my estimated daily points fluctuate so much?
The advanced control lists what core each slot is using.
There is a new section in the forums for Beta v7.4.x and the first post in the section gives DL info for the current open beta client: viewtopic.php?f=94&t=25657
Do note, that the new v7.4.2 beta is incompatible with the current HFM.net version v.0.9.1 revision 595. If you use HFM.net that may be a deal-breaker for switching to the new folding client.
There is a new section in the forums for Beta v7.4.x and the first post in the section gives DL info for the current open beta client: viewtopic.php?f=94&t=25657
Do note, that the new v7.4.2 beta is incompatible with the current HFM.net version v.0.9.1 revision 595. If you use HFM.net that may be a deal-breaker for switching to the new folding client.
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- Posts: 823
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2008 12:45 am
- Hardware configuration: Core i7 3770K @3.5 GHz (not folding), 8 GB DDR3 @2133 MHz, 2xGTX 780 @1215 MHz, Windows 7 Pro 64-bit running 7.3.6 w/ 1xSMP, 2xGPU
4P E5-4650 @3.1 GHz, 64 GB DDR3 @1333MHz, Ubuntu Desktop 13.10 64-bit
Re: Why do my estimated daily points fluctuate so much?
Also note that there are no faster or slower clients, as the client doesn't do any of the calculations. The core and project are what determine your PPD. Currently it's rather random whether the WU you get is from a core 15 or core 17 project, and you may see long stretches of WUs for one of those cores.