Brony@Home (TL;DR: Use your CPU cycles to cure cancer)

[Sellyme 20]

MID-2013 FOLDING COMPETITION SIGNUPS OPEN! OVER $1000 IN PRIZES.

 

Watch this video and read the description for more information:

 

 

Slightly longer TL;DR: follow the 5 step guide two or three paragaphs down, and post the username you're folding under in this thread. This subteam was Artemis's idea, and is officially sanctioned by Feld0.Do you like ponies? Do you want to help cure cancer? Well, put that CPU and GPU to work, and go grab Folding@Home, and fold for ponies!Folding@Home is basically a program that uses information on what we know about proteins, and uses your computing power to try to work out exactly what configurations cause cancer, Alzheimer's, and many other diseases. The way it does so is very complicated and as I lack a Ph.D. I don't understand it, but basically, it knows what is in a protein, so it tests every possible arrangement of these, trying to see what makes sense, and what "misfolds" could cause diseases. All you really need to know is that you give it a CPU to crunch on, and it helps SCIENCE!The pony team is currently 69th out of hundreds of thousands of teams, and rising fast, but I know that we could definitely be rising faster! So follow these instructions, and put that computer to use!Sellyme's Patented 5 Easy Steps to running F@H1. Click the download link here2. Follow instructions here.3. Install the thing you downloaded. Select "SMP & GPU" (should be default) as the installation type.4. Set "Team" to 212997 and "Passkey" to whatever step 2 sent to your email5. I lied, there is no step 5, you're done.(Note that step two and the second half of step four are optional, but if you use a passkey you get bonus points, so I highly recommend it)What's a "WU"? What are points?A "WU" (or "Work Unit") is basically a single task. Your computer downloads the Work Unit, runs it on your CPU or GPU until every instruction is complete, then sends it back to Stanford. Every time you upload a Work Unit, Stanford will give you "points" based on how big the work unit was, and how quickly you completed it.But why should I do this?Err... Because it helps science? Do you really need a better reason?Yes.Oh. Okay then. Well, in that case, I've been working with the Brony@Home team manager (hiigaran) to develop some sub-team statistics. Basically, within the Brony@Home team there's sub-teams that compete amongst each other. At the moment, there are six subteams consisting of 76 users, and I've already added a MLP Forums subteam to the script. These subteam stats automatically update every 3 hours.There's a website?Yep. Right here.So, how do I join this subteam?Just tell me! Post in here with your Folding@Home username and something along the lines of "chuck me in the MLP Forums subteam" and I'll add you to my script, simple as that! If you really want to be lazy, there's a form on the subteams page that allows you to join any subteam without having to post, but that requires you to have first shown up in the team's Extreme Overclocking stats. You can see the list of users who have joined the team in the last week here to find your EO six digit ID.Ooh, I like these stats, where can I get more?Well, the team's official stats page at the Stanford servers is here, but Extreme Overclocking has a stats page running that is far better.You can find the Extreme Overclocking stats for the team here. They also have detailed stats for each individual user, for instance, here are mine. To find yours just search your username in the sidebar or replace the six digit number in the URL with your userid.But I don't have a constant internet connectionYou don't need one! Folding@Home only connects to the internet to download and send each individual Work Unit. Depending on how powerful your computer is, this could be anywhere between once every six hours to every three days, and if it can't connect it just waits until it can. This means that even if you only connect to the internet for five minutes every day, you can still run Folding@Home perfectly.Why can't they just get a supercomputer?Well, there's a multitude of reasons. Firstly, that costs a lot of money. Secondly, they've already got several of them. And thirdly, the combined computational power of people running Folding@Home on their own computers is more than double the computational power of the fifty fastest supercomputers on Earth. So, Folding@Home is better than a supercomputer.My computer sucks, there's no pointI've run Folding@Home succesfully on a Pentium 4, and if your computer is worse than that... Well, let's not think about that. It's probably not worth running Folding@Home on a netbook, but pretty much any desktop made in the last decade should be able to run it fine. For instance, I used to run an E6500 (which is about 7 years old), and got 3-4k points per day (PPD) from that, which is pretty decent. And remember, every little bit counts. A Pentium 4 definitely doesn't compare to a supercomputer, but there's millions of Pentium 4s, if every one of those ran Folding@Home it would be insanely powerful.Does this actually do anything? I'm pretty sure cancer still exists.Well, you're right. Cancer hasn't been cured. But, if you're scientifically-minded, have a look at this. That's a list of 100 (and counting) significant scientific and biological advancements that have been made thanks to people like you and me running Folding@Home. It definitely helps.But won't this cost me millions in electricity bills?Nope. It will certainly use more electricity, but computers use a surprisingly little amount anyway. Let's say you have a reasonably high-end computer (about $1000, custom-built), that you run for 14 hours a day, at an average CPU load of 50%. By running this computer 24/7 with Folding@Home running, your electricity bills would rise by about $8/month. Or, in other words, 1 cent every hour. You'd save more than that by turning your microwave off when you're not using it.But running at 100% load 24/7 is bad for computers!No it isn't. That's what they're meant to do. In fact, all modern CPUs can run at more than 100% load easily, that's why overclocking is so popular. If your cooling is particularly bad your CPU might be hitting dangerous temperatures, but really, if your CPU is going to an insanely high temperature at 100% load, you should either underclock it, clean the dust out of your computer, or get better cooling. Otherwise a javascript error could cost you hundreds of dollarsSo while I recommend monitoring your CPU temperatures when first running Folding@Home, and maybe dialling back how much CPU percentage it can use if it's too hot for your liking, it probably won't damage your computer. As a general guide, most CPUs can run up to 85°C easily. Desktop APUs shouldn't be pushed much above 70°C, whereas laptops can generally go up to 95°C with no issues. Of course, this is just a general guide, and if you think your CPU is running hot you should check the internet to find out what the maximum recommended temperature is.Won't this slow down my computer?Yes and no. The CPU client is very good in that it only uses idle CPU time. If a game wants to use your CPU, it can and will. Folding@Home takes the lowest possible priority, and will never get in the way of your normal CPU usage.The GPU client, on the other hand, is a bit intrusive. It will slow down gaming slightly, although it shouldn't have any noticeable effect on gaming. I recommend running both the CPU and GPU client and simply pausing the GPU (by right clicking on the part of the client that says "GPU" and selecting "Pause") when you want to game, or render video, or anything else GPU intensive. Of course, it's all up to personal preference, just set it up the way you like, that gives you the perfect balance of performance and folding.Is this like that WCG/BOINC/SETI/PrimeGrid thing?Yep! It's the same concept, it just does different stuff.Does the team have any official forum or IRC channel or something?Funny that you should ask, because yes, it does! There's an official thread over on Neoseeker, and an IRC channel at #foldingismagic on irc.canternet.org!And now, it's time for some questions I've been asked by users! This'll be updated as I go along.If I have two computers can I run them both under my account, or must I create a new account for every computer?You can run as many computers as you get your hands on under a single username! In fact, Folding@Home even includes a remote client monitoring system for this exact purpose.Does Folding@Home run on Windows 8?Yes it does! The Windows XP/Vista/7 client (link) runs fine on Windows 8. Thanks to Armadeus for testing this for us.Selly out!

Edited June 25, 2013 by Sellyme

[Twilight Circuits 603]

I was wondering when this would be posted! I made a thread a while back asking whom else was folding and Artemis pm'd me about it saying he was looking into it. Nice to see it pan out! I'm under TwilightCircuits and have two computers going. I looked into the PS3 and they stopped folding on the PS3 not too long ago which is a shame. But I do urge anyone to join in and prove together bronies contribute to all that is good.

 

Edit: You can put me under MLPforums.

Edited November 23, 2012 by TwilightCircuits

[Sellyme 20]

I was wondering when this would be posted! I made a thread a while back asking whom else was folding and Artemis pm'd me about it saying he was looking into it. Nice to see it pan out! I'm under TwilightCircuits and have two computers going. I looked into the PS3 and they stopped folding on the PS3 not too long ago which is a shame. But I do urge anyone to join in and prove together bronies contribute to all that is good.

 

Yeah, the end of PS3 folding was a bit of a hit to the team, we had 15 to 25 PS3s folding when they shut it down. I don't see why they had to, but oh well. I take it you want me to add you to the MLP Forums subteam?

 

Just saw the edit, you're added to the script!

Edited November 23, 2012 by Sellyme

[Twilight Circuits 603]

Yeah, the end of PS3 folding was a bit of a hit to the team, we had 15 to 25 PS3s folding when they shut it down. I don't see why they had to, but oh well. I take it you want me to add you to the MLP Forums subteam?

 

Just saw the edit, you're added to the script!

 

Perfect! I'll try and get a hold of my brothers whom although aren't official bronies, they'd probably join under my username. Is that allowed?

[Sellyme 20]

Perfect! I'll try and get a hold of my brothers whom although aren't official bronies, they'd probably join under my username. Is that allowed?

 

If they don't mind folding under your username, of course it's allowed! As long as you have permission from the owner of the computer, you can fold on as many computers as you can get your hands on.

[Twilight Circuits 603]

If they don't mind folding under your username, of course it's allowed! As long as you have permission from the owner of the computer, you can fold on as many computers as you can get your hands on.

 

Hahaha, I can ask them. I built their computers so if they have issues joining me on the folding side of the force, Twilight is going to have smack some fillies! One owes me money and the other refuses to call me their BBBFF so the challenge is accepted.

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,521]

Put me down under MLP Forums! My username on F@H is also Feld0, just like here.

 

I'll be setting this up on two computers and my server, which hosts MLP Forums. I've yet to see the thing reach even half of its processing capacity, so I hope that'll contribute nicely.

[Sellyme 20]

I've yet to see the thing reach even half of its processing capacity, so I hope that'll contribute nicely.

 

Mind telling me the specs? If it's powerful enough, it might be able to run bigadv work units, which give a ton of points. tiwake runs 2 AMD Opteron 6272s, and they return a 230k point bigadv every 45 hours.

 

(And you're now added to the script!)

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,521]

Mind telling me the specs? If it's powerful enough, it might be able to run bigadv work units, which give a ton of points. tiwake runs 2 AMD Opteron 6272s, and they return a 230k point bigadv every 45 hours.

 

(And you're now added to the script!)

 

 

• CentOS 6.3
• Intel Xeon E3-1230 @ 3.20 GHz
• 2 SSD's in RAID1
• 2 HDD's (7200 RPM) in RAID1
• 1 Gbps connection

The CPU has four physical cores, with hyper threading giving it eight logical ones. Is there something specific I need to do to get bigadv units on it?

[Simcity11100 771]

I thought cancer was incurable because its shape changes all the time and no matter what you do it will always come back regardless of how you cure it.

[Killian Jones 2,653]

I just tried it, and a shame I can't participate. Once I start folding, my computer's performance is so severely hindered, I cannot join as I have yet to find configuring options for this thing to not slow down my computer completely.

 

If I do find it, add Tich to MLP Forums, if I can't do it anyway, it'll be fine.

 

EDIT: nevermind I found the preferences and I switched to 90 % allowed use., which means I have the remaining power.

 

EDIT again: Nevermind, even at 80% allowed use, it still uses 100% of my processing power. I can't seem to change this.

Edited November 24, 2012 by Rainbow Tich

[Sellyme 20]

The CPU has four physical cores, with hyper threading giving it eight logical ones. Is there something specific I need to do to get bigadv units on it?

 

That's not going to be powerful enough to run bigadv, unfortunately. You generally need 16 logical cores or more to complete bigadv WUs.

 

I thought cancer was incurable because its shape changes all the time and no matter what you do it will always come back regardless of how you cure it.

 

I believe you're thinking of the common cold

 

I just tried it, and a shame I can't participate. Once I start folding, my computer's performance is so severely hindered, I cannot join as I have yet to find configuring options for this thing to not slow down my computer completely.

 

If I do find it, add Tich to MLP Forums, if I can't do it anyway, it'll be fine.

 

EDIT: nevermind I found the preferences and I switched to 90 % allowed use., which means I have the remaining power.

 

EDIT again: Nevermind, even at 80% allowed use, it still uses 100% of my processing power. I can't seem to change this.

 

CPU usage should not be affecting your computer's performance. Try pausing the GPU by right clicking on "GPU:0:yourgpunamehere" in the "Folding Slots" area, and clicking "Pause"

[Killian Jones 2,653]

@@Sellyme, I'm gonna let it run a while, it seems to not immediately make performance tank with these settings, so it might be fixed.

 

To be fair, I have problems with my graphics Card lacking the ability to run economy power mode. Which may be the issue creating slowdown here.

[Simcity11100 771]

That's not going to be powerful enough to run bigadv, unfortunately. You generally need 16 logical cores or more to complete bigadv WUs.

 

 

 

I believe you're thinking of the common cold

 

 

 

CPU usage should not be affecting your computer's performance. Try pausing the GPU by right clicking on "GPU:0:yourgpunamehere" in the "Folding Slots" area, and clicking "Pause"

 

Actually, no I'm not, if cancer wasn't able to mutate, then it would already be cured because it doesn't require all this research on how to cure mutating diseases if it were to not be able to mutate, but it does so it isn't cured yet.

[Sellyme 20]

@@Sellyme, I'm gonna let it run a while, it seems to not immediately make performance tank with these settings, so it might be fixed.

 

Okie dokie then, let's just hope it stays working then! If it does deteriate in performance again though, try what I mentioned with the GPU.

 

Actually, no I'm not, if cancer wasn't able to mutate, then it would already be cured because it doesn't require all this research on how to cure mutating diseases if it were to not be able to mutate, but it does so it isn't cured yet.

 

True, but it's not incurable because of this, just very difficult to cure, whereas the common cold likely is incurable.

[Killian Jones 2,653]

@@Sellyme, It's actually working, usually performs just drops immediately so, yeah, go ahead and add me to the list. It's working on my powerhouse.

[Jeolf 2]

My recommendation is always to start with CPU only folding, and if that goes well experiment & evaluate GPU folding. Mostly because the later is much more likely to be noticeable and more complex (more combinations) to set up and troubleshoot.

 

EDIT again: Nevermind, even at 80% allowed use, it still uses 100% of my processing power. I can't seem to change this.

Yes, setting a limit does not work with anything multi-core (SMP clients) But it should not be a problem since the process is set to run at minimum priority. This means, should something need CPU, folding@home will back down fast and hard.

 

But cores aren't entirely separate processing units, and especially with hyperthreading in there to muddle the concepts further. So what you can try if folding impacts your computer (gaming?) experience, is to set the client to run on less than every core. Now before you start experimenting, let the current Work Unit finish because adjusting core count can (will? idk) means the computation result cannot be used.

 

This means the computer will produce less than optimal, but being non-intrusive is a major plus for getting long-term folders. And if you often play games that contantly use some processing power, avoiding stalls could be more important.

 

The following part may be technically incorrect, I don't really know this stuff. And You dont have to read this unless you enjoy experimenting and tinkering with your computer.

 

What is "stalls"?

Consider a 4-core processor folding using the symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) client. First the clients dowloads a work unit, and breaks it up to run the calculation in parallel on each core. It does this at lowest priority, so only leftover processing power is used. All fine so far.

 

But now we start a cpu intesive retro game "Starcraft: Broodwar". As with most games (probably every retro game) it's only using up around 50% cpu on one core. That is less than one eighth of the total. However the impact for the folding is greater due to the stall because the calculation cannot progress independently, they need to exchange a lot of information.

 

So by the time part-calculation A,B and C are done, part-calculation D has only progressed 50, due to sharing the time with the game. So either ABC waits for D to start the next part, or relocate D's task to finish it quicker (possibly causing cache penalties). Thus in theory the folding performance drop is 25-33% for a mere 12.5% interfering cpu usage. In practice, it's typically much worse, and the problem is more pronounced with increased number of threads and single-thread load intensity.

 

However, restricting the folding to run on three cores, reduces the theoretical performance by 25%, but since the folding can proceed without waiting, the practice tend to follow theory this time. This also comes into play with GPU folding, and some (most?) setups benefit from reserving a CPU thread for that.

Edited November 26, 2012 by Jeolf

[Sellyme 20]

Someone tried to sign up to the MLP Forums team with an incorrect userid recently:

 

 

The userid in question belongs to someone who returned a single work unit in 2004, so it's definitely not an actual user. Whoever submitted that, I can't add you to the subteam unless you reply here with your username, or fill in the form with your correct Extreme Overclocking id.

[Killian Jones 2,653]

@@Jeolf, very interesting, the performance issues however are purely the fault of a shotty video card. My NVidea 550 Ti has troubles with certain modes, and this means I have to do odd things to happen when it is taxed to the max or not at all. In the case of Folding, it just destroys my other performance due to it's problems. Tinkering with the CPU was basically a dead end issues as I thought the problem was there, it really just wasn't.

 

@@Sellyme, I might have accidentally added the wrong one. So that might be me, so eh, I'm sorry.

[Meirno 550]

Lung cancer took my father from me way before he should have left. I am running it now, could you throw me in that pony group?

 

Username is Meirno.

[Sellyme 20]

Lung cancer took my father from me way before he should have left. I am running it now, could you throw me in that pony group?

 

Username is Meirno.

 

As soon as you show up on the Extreme Overclocking stats I'll throw you in. You show up in the stats within 3 hours of completing a Work Unit (which means, some time soon after this progress bar hits 100%). Depending on your computer and the Work Unit you received, this can take anywhere between 2 hours and 2 days.

[Killian Jones 2,653]

We need more people to get into this, my relatively good machine is currently the worst in the MLP Forums group which frankly is a travesty.

 

Come on everypony, join this, don't be afraid of science!

[Sellyme 20]

We need more people to get into this, my relatively good machine is currently the worst in the MLP Forums group which frankly is a travesty.

 

Come on everypony, join this, don't be afraid of science!

"relatively good machine"? It's only performing about twice as well as a Pentium 4... I mean, every little bit helps, but I think it's being slightly optimist to call it good

 

But yes, we need more participants! MLP Forums is currently the smallest subteam, and I know you guys have the userbase to do better than that!

[SPLinux 374]

This sounds awesome! i waste alot of time on my computer anyway.. so might as well put it to good use!

 

This is a great way to put my Linux system to work!

 

 

Edited February 1, 2021 by SPLinux

[Twilight Circuits 603]

"relatively good machine"? It's only performing about twice as well as a Pentium 4... I mean, every little bit helps, but I think it's being slightly optimist to call it good

 

But yes, we need more participants! MLP Forums is currently the smallest subteam, and I know you guys have the userbase to do better than that!

No kidding! I was never into folding cause the thought of it taking my pc's rescources  led to my own greed. When I became a brony, i realized that my dad died of lukemia and i had been denying something in honour of my father for a long long time. Now, I'd dedicate a whole server stack if i had the money.