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Stanford releases folding client for Nvidia GPUs
Latest CUDA driver download and new BETA folding client finally opens up the Folding@home world for owners of Nvidia GPUs
Nvidia first told us that its GeForce 8-series GPUs were capabale of folding back in 2006, but it’s taken until now to get a working folding client for the GPUs. Yes, after years of faffing around trying to get Nvidia GPUs folding, Stanford has finally come up with the goods, and released a BETA folding client for Nvidia GPUs.
The new client hasn’t yet made it to the Folding@home downloads page, although the project’s founder, Vijay Pande, says that it will be there soon if the client works well for most people who try it. In the meantime, you can grab the BETA 6.12 client for yourself from here. Pande insists that the client is still an early release, and that there is still ‘lots to fix,’ including ‘issues with the visualization and the EUE handling.’ However, there is apparently a roadmap to get these issues sorted out.
If you plan on trying out the client for yourself, then bear in mind that you’ll need to use Nvidia’s latest CUDA-equipped driver, which you can grab from here. The current BETA CUDA 2.0 driver is 174.55, which apparently has some problems with games, though, so only download this if folding is a bigger priority for you than games at the moment. CPC forum user and top folder CPC_RedDawn has also provided a link to ForceWare 177.35 here, which has a modified INF file to support CUDA, and also apparently supports Nvidia’s new GTX 200-series GPUs. You’ll need a minimum of a GeForce 8-series GPU to run the new folding client.
Folding@home is a distributed computing project that simulates how proteins fold for the purposes of medical research. By getting thousands of people to donate their spare CPU cycles to the project, Stanford university hopes to help find cures for Alzheimer's, Huntington's, Parkinson's disease, and many Cancers and cancer-related syndromes. You can help the project by downloading the client, and joining Custom PC’s world-leading folding team by using the id 35947.
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Btw I haven't confirmed whether or not using 175.16 ends up corrupting WUs, all I got out of 7im (from the forum) on that was that it made the client machine unstable. However, that could lead to corrupt work units, but it's far less likely than using a driver which isn't designed for your GPU. The downside of CUDA drivers is that they have problems in games. The best bet for now, I think, is don't use the beta unless you're happy to test with CUDA, then either test on a spare machine with CUDA drivers so you can game on your primary, or set a dual boot with CUDA drivers on one so you can fold when you're not running games. I did the latter, using Paragon Partition Manager to split my drive in order to install a second copy of Windows.
Comment by TWeaKoR at 12:29am 23rd June 2008
There are posts about this in the beta for nVidia forum. You can get all sorts of errors on your system if you aren't using CUDA drivers. Also, for the .inf fix on the 177.35 drivers for x64 systems, and for 173.55 in general, these are really only meant for GTX200 GPUs. The drivers were designed for them, and if changing a .inf file was all it took to release them for older GPUs nVidia would've already done so. Sure, you're whacking through WUs at a hell of a rate, but you're probably sending corrupt WUs back to Stanford and not actually helping the cause.
Comment by TWeaKoR at 12:29am 23rd June 2008
sorry don't know why it posted my message twice :S
Comment by Avlan at 5:23pm 22nd June 2008
My 8800GT wouldn't support the newer drivers (177.xx) but worked fine with the 175.16 version and is happily folding away without CUDA(?). This was a surprise but as long as it works I'm happy :D Now i just have to wait and see how many ppd it will pump out ^_^
Comment by Avlan at 5:20pm 22nd June 2008
The WUs are too small (1hr), so there is greater load on the single server, which has gone down twice in the last two days. You can get modded CUDA drivers from here: http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showforum=94 Which are the GT200 drivers, you download the nvidia 177.35 from the lv2go site, you patch it with their inf, and install. It rocks, since they support 64bit operating systems better and increase PPD. Me and some mates all have decent gpus (8800gts 320mb, 8800gtx, and 9600gso, so we are folding together, as a single user. See us in the mag in 2 months time :)
Comment by bug8504300 at 2:51pm 21st June 2008
nice one been waitin 4 this i had no probs runninig it on 175.16 just it wasent as fast as with 177.35 with modded inf iwas getin 3200 ppd 2000it/s on 175.16.. 177.35 5224 ppd 5000it/s on 146 opty @2800 and 8800 gts/320 @ 675/1666/2000 nice one stamford
Comment by damafia at 6:32pm 20th June 2008
Yeah when they put the client up on the main download page they also put in a link with more info. They forced all clients to upgrade their cores, and now it seems you can't use the 175.16 driver - you need CUDA. I couldn't get the latest CUDA driver (177.35) to install on my Inno3D 8800GT OC, but I had a copy of 174.55, which has got the folding going again. Now going to see if it affects my games - most of what I play is older anyway though. Here's a link to the 174.55 CUDA driver: http://www.nvidia.com/object/get_cuda2_beta.html
Comment by TWeaKoR at 9:59pm 19th June 2008
I have always used the single-core client, since the SMP slows down whatever else i'm doing. Now, I try this (with some bog standard forceware 174.74 from 2 months ago(its definitely above 174.55) and I'm heading for 2400ppd, with my 8800gts 320mb! Now to test in games :)
Comment by bug8504300 at 8:38pm 19th June 2008
since my cpu was the only thing do the work and work units was rubbish. With the nvidia one i think i might start properly part time folding ;) I also might get my whole new northumbria university business school to see if they will work 2 hours a week for all the computers in their to fold. They have all athlon X2 cpu's and a few equipped with Ati HD2/3xxx cards :)
Comment by Lightning_Pete at 5:11pm 19th June 2008
this client is know up on the main FAH download page if it matters to anyone. cant seem to get it working on 175.16 drivers and as im a gamer im not inclined to install older ones
Comment by soddit113 at 1:37pm 19th June 2008
nice site...how often does it update? i use http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/search.php but they only update every 3 hours....
Comment by kirk46 at 11:33pm 18th June 2008
http://kakaostats.com/ Its a great site to use when F@H's page isn't showing the scores at the moment CPC is 8th (in the whole world!!! - which is brill!) I may start folding once I have enough spare parts to build up a worthy system for this! - but until then I will have to leave it be... :( - I primarilly want to join the team because this may save my life if I have a risk of dying from cancer or many other issues (you can get a full list of them over at the F@H forums!)
Comment by NikoBellic at 10:36pm 18th June 2008
I'm not sure if you do need the CUDA driver. As far as I know I haven't got it installed, just the standard nVidia 175.16 WHQL approved driver. And thanks for my mention too!! :D
Comment by TWeaKoR at 9:13pm 18th June 2008
Quick work Ben :D Ya I was checking up on the developer's blog and noticed it had just come out. Been waiting for it ever since I sold my old X1950 crossfire sys and got an 8800GT! Can crack out a WU in under an hour now rather than a couple days!
Comment by TWeaKoR at 9:03pm 18th June 2008
Has anyone any idea how many points it's likely to be able to generate?
Comment by richiedevil at 6:32pm 18th June 2008
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