Myths about folding and why they are untrue

[sbohdan]

I found this at [H]ardOCP when browsing to find out more about F@H (they are the leading folding team-so my thinking is they might have some good suggestions and tricks concerning F@H):

Myth: WIll it cost me a lot money in power:
Truth: At most a folding boxen will take around $5/month to run, but most people already run their PCs 24/7 so at most it will cost an extra $1/month. $1 is not much for all the great scientific research you computer is doing.

Myth: Folding could install spyware on my machine
Truth: After the initial client is installed, all Stanford will send you is a work unit that is only a few kilobytes in size, everything is encrypted and checked to be sure the content is from Stanford.

Myth: Folding will take up all my resources and it'll slow down my PC
Truth: Folding only uses spare cycles that you aren't using. It's CPU priority is usually idle (unless you set it otherwise). Your mouse and keyboard have more priority over your CPU than folding@home does. As for RAM, as long as you aren't running QMD's and other large memory hogg WUs, F@H is very easy on system memory, my machine I surf on only has 384mb and still crunches big WUs and I see no issues on it at all.

QMDs are very RAM demanding, these are usually recomended for dedicated folding boxen with at least a GIG of RAM, and currently only run on P4s. You must opt in for these WUs with the options WUs > 5mb and -advmethods both turned on.

Myth: My one computer can't make that much difference
Truth: Every computer helps more than you'd think. It would take the world's largest super computer hundreds of thousands of years to crunch all the folding work that needs done. But your computer can help take that load down. Just think if every computer on the planet was folding? We'd be done much quicker, we'd be that much closer to our goal...curing disease that claims thousands of lives each year. (someone might want to work on that one, it's the best I can explain it)

Additions from other people:

Myth: Running a CPU at 100% for weeks on end will "wear it out". (submitted by HTPC Rookie"
Truth: Explain to him that an electrical interface cannot wear out, it can only become damaged by extreme voltages, heat, or physical causes. I had a P3700MHz folding for 24/7, and it's still folding. Many people here have even older machines that still run. I think i'm near the top of the "I have an old crappy computer lying around" from the Mac "Lisa" in my garage that STILL RUNS. The only thing F@H can theoretically shorten is a drive lifespan, but considering how often the windows indexing service crawls the drive, if you disable that rarely-used feature, F@H will have no negative effect.

[Panda Man]

Good find! My rig can fold a QMD :D When i get a new C2D setup I'll have to give it a try.

[sbohdan]

Originally Posted by Panda Man

Good find! My rig can fold a QMD :D When i get a new C2D setup I'll have to give it a try.

right on! get on it

[wtcnbrwndo4u]

I need to start folding again.

[sbohdan]

Originally Posted by wtcnbrwndo4u

I need to start folding again.

yes you do

[jd2299]

Here is some info for all those that still don't believe that FAH doesn't affect system performance. It DOES NOT!

The Tech Report - Measuring Folding@Home's performance impact - Page 1

[sbohdan]

Originally Posted by jd2299

Here is some info for all those that still don't believe that FAH doesn't affect system performance. It DOES NOT!

The Tech Report - Measuring Folding@Home's performance impact - Page 1

nice find jd

[screwballl]

just a simple edit needs to be made to this.... QMDs have been gone for some time now. Stanford has changed directions and is now working on the other projects such as SMP for Linux, OSX and Windows, GPU folding for ATi X1000 series cards (currently X1600-1950), folding on a PS3 and a few other projects.

But that would be cool if the same QMDs were brought back because if we could get 400ppd on them with a P4 3.0GHz then I could imagine 1000ppd or more on a C2D...

[sbohdan]

Originally Posted by screwballl

just a simple edit needs to be made to this.... QMDs have been gone for some time now. Stanford has changed directions and is now working on the other projects such as SMP for Linux, OSX and Windows, GPU folding for ATi X1000 series cards (currently X1600-1950), folding on a PS3 and a few other projects.

But that would be cool if the same QMDs were brought back because if we could get 400ppd on them with a P4 3.0GHz then I could imagine 1000ppd or more on a C2D...

aren't we a little greedy hehehehehehe

[Reloadron]

OK interesting thread. Personally I place little stock in any of those Fact / Fiction or Truth / Myth things.

Real world. I have several machines folding. Nope, matters not what I decide to do on any of them, same results, they perform just fine. They run 24/7 anyways but nope, no increase in power consumption. Blah, blah and blah.

The fact is folding is a good thing. The fact is folding in no way slows things down for normal use. The fact is I haven't a clue the machine is folding unless I look.

Why anyone would even believe the myth covered escapes me.

Just My Take...
Ron