Folding@Home
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Folding@Home (also known as F@H or FAH) is a distributed computing project run by Stanford University which studies protein folding, misfolding, aggregation, and related diseases. Instead of using a single computer, it distributes the workload over thousands of computers around the world, to simulate timescales thousands to millions of times longer than previously achieved.
OCAU is currently the sixteenth ranked Folding@Home team in the world, not considering the standard Anonymous and Google based teams. The rankings in the Folding@Home statistics are of much pride, and are battled out between teams from everywhere united under almost any banner. OCAU was in stiff competition with the chief American team HardOCP, with the number 1 ranking changing hands often during the history of folding.
You can help Stanford University with the science by downloading and running the Folding@Home Client Then just click the Download Button for Windows, or All Downloads for many other clients. Enter your team number as 24 to join OCAU.
More information about OCAU's Folding@Home team can be found on the official Distributed Folding forum
We even have our own personal incentive badges of honor with Milestone forum signatures and avatars here.
OCAU Team 24 Folding@Home Wallpaper is available in the following resolutions
- Media:Graffiti_OCAU_24_Folding@Home_Wallpaper_2560x1600.jpg
- Media:Graffiti_OCAU_24_Folding@Home_Wallpaper_1920x1200.jpg
- Media:Graffiti_OCAU_24_Folding@Home_Wallpaper_1920x1080.jpg
- Media:Graffiti_OCAU_24_Folding@Home_Wallpaper_1680x1050.jpg
- Media:Graffiti_OCAU_24_Folding@Home_Wallpaper_1280x1024.jpg
- Media:Graffiti_OCAU_24_Folding@Home_Wallpaper_1440x900.jpg
Buyers Guide
You can Fold on pretty much any PC and every bit helps however for those who wish to enhance their Folding performance or build dedicated Folding machines we have a guide with a example machine and stats on most CPU and GPU performance.
GPU Folding is pulling massive points these days, if you would like to see how your GPU might perform there is a very handy PPD Database here.
Folding PC System Recommendations and Stats
Setup Guides
Stanford Setup Guides
http://folding.stanford.edu/home/guide
If your not running Windows that's fine to:
There are also Chrome and Android Clients.
The Stanford Community Forums are also a good resource for help/info.
https://folding.stanford.edu/home/community-support/
Note:
Windows is the most common Folding OS. Folding with GPU Slots is a lot faster than with CPU Slots. CPU Folding on Linux has been faster than with Windows, however if your Folding on your GPU as well, Linux needs to run WINE and run the GPU Client from there thus running the clients as such are far slower than running on Windows.
It is also worth noting that the ATI Client client is a lot more efficient these these days, so Team Red can generally fold as well as Team Green.
Folding 'Flags' explained
You will at times hear people refer to various 'flags' or 'arguments'. These are used to give additional access and or functionality to the folding clients. Many of the setup guides will have included the use of these flags as they are necessary for certain types of folding.
The flags are used in one of several different ways. You can add them to the end of the target field in a shortcut that points to the folding .exe, you can specify them in the 'Additional parameters' section of the folding config, or you can add them to the 'Additional parameters/arguments' field in the systray clients setup.
For everything:
-advmethods * Tells the client to download new and/or experimental units. Sometimes good for getting bonus points. Keep in mind there are at times only so many types of unit available. During those times specifying this flag won't net you a different unit to what someone not using the flag would get. When units are released by Stanford that require this flag there will usually be a post made in the official Distributed Folding forum discussing the pro's and con's of running them.
-verbosity 9 * Tells the client to include the maximum amount of information in the log file. Useful for diagnosing client errors. It is recommended that you use this flag in every folding setup, every time. It's no use adding the flag after the error has occurred. If it's there already though, you'll have as much information as is available to help you sort out your problems. If you post in the forums asking for help you can expect to be asked to post your log file. Without using this flag the log will likely not include any of the helpful information that people will need to help you with your problem.
-configonly * Tells the client to open and only offer configuration options. Once the config is complete the client will close. Useful if you need to change settings after initially setting up the client.
-delete x * Tells the client to delete the specified unit. Useful if you get stuck with a unit that keeps crashing over and over.
-send x * Tells the client to return the specified unit. Useful if you get a unit that hasn't uploaded for some reason.
-oneunit * Tells the client to fold one unit and then pause.
For the gpu:
-gpu x * Specifies which gpu you want the client to fold on. -gpu 0 for the first, -gpu 1 for the 2nd etc.
-forcegpu nvidia_g80
-forcegpu nvidia_fermi
-forcegpu ati_r600
-forcegpu ati_r700
Pretty self explanatory, forces the client to run on a card that matches the description. Useful if you're mixing cards. Usually not required for single card rigs, or identical card rigs. For folding on ATI cards though you may have to use the flag no matter what.
For the cpu:
-smp x * Tells the client to fold an smp unit, x specifies how many cores you wish to use. Not 100% necessary to specify the cores, you can use just -smp, but the occasional hiccup can be resolved by using the full -smp x configuration.
-bigadv * Tells the client to fold a big advanced unit. These are primarily designed to run on dual socket dual quad core systems. They will run on an i7 rig suitably overclocked though. Best used on a dedicated folding machine, not on shared use box.
-forceasm * Tells the client to ignore the circumstances of the previous shutdown and run with fully optimised code. If you close the cpu/smp client for any reason, or your system crashes, the client will restart and disable sse instructions and run what is referred to as 'standard loops'. This slows folding considerably. If you are confident that your system is stable you should use this flag. Please note: If you use this flag and your system is not stable, you run the risk of returning garbage instead of results. This can only be detrimental to the project.
Further Help
If you need any more help with anything feel free to make a post in the F@H OCAU Forum.
3rd Party Monitoring Tools
Stats
OCAU Performance
15/Feb/2016
OCAU FOLDING
- Active Users 81 - Inactive Users 11,594
- Avg User PPD 82,294
PPD Avg / Users / Total
- 6k+ / 48 / Up 3 / 1,583,796
- 3k+ / 9
- 1.5k+ / 4
- 800+ / 4
- 400+ / 7
- 200+ / 2
- 100+ / 3
- 1+ / 4
Total PPD Team Avg 6,665,821
24/Oct/2009
OCAU FOLDING
- Active 642
- Avg User PPD 3,246.00
PPD Avg / Users / Total
- 6k+ / 65 / 1,554,783
- 3k+ / 55 / 233,682
- 1.5k+ / 51 / 108,100
- 800+ / 81 / 86,095
- 400+ / 94 / 54,393
- 200+ / 99 / 27,919
- 100+ / 94 / 13,086
- 1+ / 103 / 5,872
Total PPD Team Avg 2,083,930
External Links
Our TOP 7 Folding Competitors
The Battle rages
Over the history of the Project several teams have vied for the title of #1 contributor.
OCAU first took the No1 position on the 29-Oct-2001, 10 days after F@H2 started. oc.com and the Francophones also held the No1 spot in the first 10 days as well.
29/10/01 to 07/03/02: OCAU 129 days
07/03/02 to 11/03/02 [H] 4 days
11/03/02 to 12/03/02 OCAU 1 day
12/03/02 to 11/06/02 [H] 90 days
11/06/02 to 16/06/02 OCAU 5 days
16/06/02 to 17/06/02 [H] 1 day
17/06/02 to 20/06/02 OCAU 3 days
20/06/02 to 15/09/03 [H] 450 days
15/09/03 to 11/01/04 OCAU 118 days
11/01/04 to 23/06/04 [H] 162 days
23/06/04 to 21/04/05 OCAU 302 days
21/04/05 to 12/05/05 [H] 21 days
12/05/05 to 30/12/05 OCAU 231 days
31/12/05 to 21/09/06 [H] 264 days
So, as at 21-09-2006, sub-totals give OCAU as having 793 days in total as number #1 team, while [H] have had 993 days in the lead.
The Relic Trophy
Originally given to victims of The [H]orde as they overtook their hapless adversaries (tradition originally started by Kvizbar ([H]) against ARS Technica), The Duck was given new life by fxr91 (OCAU) when he Photoshopped/Gimped The Duck onto a stand and christened it. The Relic Trophy was born. Each time the trophy-holder is passed by the other team, the Relic Trophy is e-handed to the new #1, once it's positive the lead change isn't short-lived (usually a few weeks must pass before the handover))