Downloads: Folding@Home GPU client 5.05 beta (x86-WinNTC)

Stanford University has released a beta version of its Folding@home client that runs on ATi's Radeon X1900- and Radeon X1950-series graphics cards.

The download includes all 3 available client versions - console, graphical, or graphical with "fancy graphics".

Due to the complex nature of performing scientific calculations on GPUs, the FAH GPU client needs very specific system software to work. We think that this is a big nuisance, and we are working on a way to avoid this in the future, but for now, there is no way around this (please keep in mind that a Graphics Driver is really a compiler of sorts and thus any GPU code is very sensitive to this issue). Before installing the new system software, don't forget to backup your computer's hard drive (always a good idea in these situations) and then install the following components:

• Catalyst driver version 6.5 [download from ATI or from a Stanford mirror ]. Version 6.10 currently does NOT work [download from ATI if you want it] and ATI is working to fix this. Versions 6.6 and 6.7 will work, but at a major performance hit; 6.8 and 6.9 will not work at all. Due to all the complexities of support, we will support only versions 6.5 and 6.10.
• DirectX: 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904) or later, [download here] , which yields d3dx9_30.dll (the critical part for FAH)

This system software configuration is critical as a misconfiguration can lead to problems, such as excessive Early Unit Ends (EUE's).EUE's may also occur frequently in the current GPU cores due to our testing of new types of WU's. We need the help of beta testers to help pin down this issue with more data.

KNOWN BUGS, COMPATIBILITY ISSUES, AND RUNNING NOTES

Please note that the Windows GPU client for Folding@Home is a beta release. While we have done lots of testing in house, there are limits to the bugs we can find in these limited tests (and hence the need for a beta test). As in the use of any beta software, please make sure to back up your hard drive, and do not run this client on any machine which cannot tolerate even the slightest instability or problems.
Thus, we expect that there will be many problems with the client that need to be resolved. Below is a list of some of the relevant known issues or bugs for beta testers of this new client.

Known Bugs

1. The GUI pause core command doesn't work
2. The GUI Client will automatically quit when running fullscreen directx apps (games), it may be a little slow at doing this though
3. The console cannot be run as a service (must be run as a program)
4. Screen saver mode in the GUI does not work
5. Fast user switching problems: Turning fast user switching off and using the standard "ctrl+alt+del then lockout button" causes the gpu client to terminate as soon as I press the ctrl+alt+del combonation. GPU client terminated with the exact same error codes. This is a "feature" of XP: when switching users, the GPU context is taken away (this happens under locking (Windows+L or screen saver lock) or switching).
6. There have been some reports that the GPU core does not save (checkpoint) correctly when quit
7. In some rare situations, one needs to set the Hardware acceleration to max if the Catalyst install didn't do this. To do this, go into the Display Properties/Settings/Advanced/TroubleShoot tab and double check that the Hardware acceleration was set to "Max".

Known compatibility issues

1. One must use specific Catalyst drivers (6.5 or 6.10) and a recent DX version-- see the HOW TO above
2. The GPU core does not run under WINE in linux (nor do we have plans to support WINE)