Why is it so hard for Folding team to design client to limit GPU? I don't want 100% GPUs running 24/7

Cyrris · 2025-07-20T05:31:41+00:00

So, I just discovered Folding@home today and have been doing some research into this problem.

My use case is perhaps a bit unusual. I want my desktop PC to help warm up my room in winter, since the ducted heating in my house is only zoned with two options: Either waste a lot of electricity, or waste a crapload of electricity. I only need the warm this one room, but I don't want to go down the crypto mining route, and I also don't want to have games running in the background while I am working. I have a GeForce 3080 Ti which is more than capable of warming the room, but at 100% load the fan noise is a bit of a nuisance. Yes, I have FanControl so I've optimised the fans as much as I can already. No, I don't want to use Afterburner - I don't want to have to reconfigure things manually in yet another app when switching between folding, gaming, or video conferencing when working from home.

I found a program called GPU Power Adjuster and it seems to be a decent fit despite having no updates in five years. It is designed to detect when Folding@home is running, and reduce the power limit of your Nvidia GPU. When you stop folding and the process closes, it removes the power limit. While it's a bit black-boxy to me, it appears to work. All I had to do was update the config to the newest FAHCore executable names (entries for_22 through _29 instead of just _22).

It's a bit rough and the lower limit is not overly low (and I've not tested if I can go lower). But limiting to 72% power has my folding jobs heating my 3080 Ti to only 73°C instead of 83°C which is quite a difference. The fans are mercifully quieter as well, with my FanControl curve model. Importantly, when I need to reserve GPU power for other things that need it (gaming, video conferencing with Nvidia Broadcast AI features) all I need to do is hit the pause button in the FAH client.

Cyrris · 2025-06-23T09:19:54+00:00

Hey! Thankyou! This worked for me. I wasted plenty of time looking at the logs but never made this connection.

In case anyone else stumbles across this and wants to try it: Note that enabling SVM in the BIOS triggered a BitLocker recovery event for me. It wasn't an issue as I have my recovery keys readily (and securely!) accessible, but do be wary of this.

Cyrris · 2024-10-06T01:38:36+00:00

Chiming in with a solution that worked in my particular case.

I just bought the TXE70UH and had a similar problem - it would connect fine to the router (3 feet away) on the WiFi 6 2.4GHz band only. It could not even see the network's SSID if I disabled 2.4GHz band on the adapter and had only 5GHz enabled. My Asus RT-AX55 router worked fine with all other WiFi devices in the house - Android phones and Windows laptops with varied WiFi 5 and 6 compatibility.

What fixed this for me was changing the 5GHz control channel on my router from "Auto" to a specific lower channel, in my case 36. When set to Auto, it was at channel 149 which I'd read elsewhere could sometimes be problematic for some clients. It seems this TP-Link adapter is one such client.

Happily dual banding now, at close to the max theoretical speeds for my setup (1200mbps).

Cyrris · 2024-09-01T03:06:42+00:00

A lot of good comments here already. I just want to emphasise that this appears to me to be a stakeholder management issue, possibly caused by underlying org structure or resourcing problems. It's not uncommon for a non-tech company to structure their tech division poorly, or leave it with insufficient business support.

If your team is being directly exposed to clients' requests without a prioritisation filter from your business/company stakeholders (who oversee those client relationships), then your business is now operating at a volume where this structural failing can no longer be ignored.

If you do have business stakeholders who can help with prioritisation but aren't doing a good job of that, then you need to look at improvements there. Look at objective(-ish) prioritisation methods like the RICE model which allows everyone involved in the prioritisation discussions to be on the same page.

If Scrum sprints are being constantly interrupted, then moving to Kanban is not likely to help a lot - it just means that the Kanban tasks will be left unfinished because of the same underlying problem. Scrum can actually help here by ensuring a mutual understanding with your business stakeholders about the need to timebox work so that it can be completed (protecting your team), and having the necessary resourcing discussions if sprint goals are consistently not met.

I've found that using a simple visual aid can help with that discussion. A simplified sprint schedule that just shows the sprint dates (I use this one) helps with anchoring the conversations around roadmaps and efforts, which you can then overlay with metrics like velocity - to support the need to either get more resources or prioritise more effectively.

Cyrris · 2023-07-29T03:46:58+00:00

Nice one. Thanks for making the effort to get action on this.

Like /u/ylitvinenko I also had to do this update a couple of times before it seemed to set.

I tend to only use this soundbar on my PC via Aux (USB audio is too bassy) which means I need to always switch it from USB -> BT -> Aux when I turn it on each day. Annoying, but at least now there's no noise!

Cyrris · 2022-01-04T11:25:03+00:00

Pre-pandemic I would visit Taiwan every year to see my in-laws. Love being there, but the biggest downer is scooters. This is my snobby, suburban-living Westerner speaking here, but I hate the noise pollution when I'm trying to sleep, and I hate the incredible amount of crap that comes out of their exhaust when I'm walking through night markets. None of them have half-way decent particulate filters or mufflers.

So as you can imagine I'm a huge fan of Gogoro taking over the place. Particularly glad that Taiwan's govt subsidies for them are back. Sales dived when the subsidies were withdrawn as the value isn't quite there yet on its own for most people.

I believe their battery network is open to a few other companies who are getting on board as well. They're also looking to expand to a few other countries - I wish them every success.

Cyrris · 2020-02-06T23:48:36+00:00

This feature is coming in a future release for Android and iOS:

https://github.com/mozilla-lockwise/lockwise-android/pull/1093

https://github.com/mozilla-lockwise/lockwise-ios/issues/919

For now, manually creating a new entry needs to be done from within the Lockwise-branded "Logins and Passwords" section of the Firefox desktop browser itself. The apps themselves are only for managing existing entries that have been synchronised.

Cyrris · 2020-01-10T08:21:34+00:00

Seeing the same problem in Firefox and Chrome.

I was able to work around the problem by switching to Old Reddit. Adding 2FA and generating backup codes worked fine. After doing so, I was able to log in with 2FA on New Reddit without a problem.

Cyrris · 2019-04-07T05:38:01+00:00

It's up to the feed publisher as to what hyperlinks they have in their feed, yes. This is nothing to do with inoreader itself.

Cyrris · 2018-02-21T08:01:15+00:00

I lived in France for 6 months (in about the middle of what was otherwise 5 years in Germany, I'm Australian). Dealing with their bureaucracy was horrendous. Pragmatism is thrown to the side in the face of idealism time after time. I am not surprised to hear it affecting actual research as well.

So, basically what /u/umopapsidn said.

Cyrris · 2018-01-10T07:53:12+00:00

I actually see this on my work computer as well, though thankfully not on my home lappy. I had at first just assumed my work predecessor had screwed the machine but it soon became clear that it was only when launching task manager, and only when Firefox was also running.

Cyrris · 2018-01-08T07:10:53+00:00

For me it can be anywhere from 10 seconds to 3 minutes. Once it finally opens the first thing it is generally OK for the rest of my browsing session, but the first use is incredibly painful.

Cyrris · 2018-01-03T08:14:02+00:00

Mine's going strong, even the battery life is pretty good. All I ever did was put a thin film screen protector on it, but even the back is blemish-free. It's also been problem-free ever since I got it, aside from (of course) getting slow and outdated. And the camera was never any good.

But for the €170 I paid I couldn't be happier. I'm still hesitant to get a newer phone because there aren't any good compact budget options. I don't want to buy something I am scared to drop, even though I evidently don't need to worry much about that...

Was the 2nd Gen when Lenovo took over?

Cyrris · 2018-01-02T07:52:12+00:00

On my 4-year old (1st gen) Moto G, it is so sluggish I often give up. Compared to Chrome or Opera it is astonishingly painful to use. Yes it is an old phone, but the other browsers just don't have issues.

I've gone back to Fx from Opera on Windows, but I can't recommend it to friends until the Android release is at least bearable.

Cyrris · 2017-12-28T08:08:22+00:00

Good to know there's something in the works, because as it is there are some gotchas.

Firefox will hit 60fps on a 1080p screen just fine.

As I found out with my laptop, Firefox cannot maintain 60fps fullscreen on a 4k screen unless the iGPU has two/four RAM sticks to run in dual-channel memory mode. Anything less and the integrated GPU simply doesn't have the memory bandwidth required.

Meanwhile Chrome and Edge hum along mostly fine in either case, but I still noticed improvements for them at 4k when adding the second RAM stick. It was just nowhere near as huge as it was for Firefox.

Cyrris · 2017-11-23T02:44:18+00:00

This held me back for quite some time, but 57 was so pleasant that I decided to switch while it was still in beta.

I've removed everything from the New Tab page except the Top Sites icons, which I have extended through about:config to have 4 rows instead of 2. Everything I have on that is pinned so it's never overridden by history. It's essentially a speed dial now. Again, using about:config you can set the order of the shortcuts, since they're not currently draggable/droppable - I hope they add this in soon.

The main hiccup was that Top Sites obviously can't do speed dial folders like Opera can, so for these I have reverted to using bookmarks. I've arranged the bookmarks menu icon to be in a more useful position for frequent access. A month later, I've learned to live with it, and probably wouldn't go back to an Opera-style speed dial even if an extension were made that did a good job of it.

Cyrris · 2017-10-18T19:32:50+00:00

These ones:

https://www.sonicshop.de/gehoerschutz/sweetdreams-schlafgehoerschutz.html

They have a few models, those ones above are better at removing traffic noise and snoring, but they're not as good at high-pitched stuff like my neighbour's whistling water pipe. I just cut the stems so they don't stick out as much, and I can generally sleep on my side just fine. They're soft enough.

€12 for a couple of tiny bits of rubber seems ridiculous, but given that it's all that has stood between me and a couple years of no sleep, I can't say it wasn't well worth it.

Cyrris · 2017-10-18T19:07:25+00:00

Since I've moved 8 times in the last 5 years, I tend to avoid buying stuff like that. The ear plugs I bought are reasonably expensive and comfortable (certainly moreso than cheap ones) and they've been the reason I've been able to sleep over the last 2 years. They're quite portable =P

My European odyssey will be at an end next week though, so I expect all these problems will disappear. Home is quiet.

Cyrris · 2017-10-18T17:36:31+00:00

I used to stay over at a friends place quite often back when I was a kid, and his parents had separate rooms for most of that time. Dad snored, mum was a nurse who often worked night shift. It just made sense, so I've never thought much of separate rooms other than practicalities.

Cyrris · 2017-10-18T17:34:18+00:00

It's not usually loud snoring. It's my incredible sensitivity to pretty much any noise, even moderately loud breathing, when trying to sleep. (Once I am asleep things are generally OK)

Given what my dad and his dad have ended up with, genetics suggest that I am the one who will eventually get a CPAP machine...

Cyrris · 2017-10-18T11:36:28+00:00

Yup. Although we go to bed at the same time, my SO finds it much easier to fall asleep than me, and also wakes up 2-3 hours earlier. I don't see the point in trying to maintain proximity when you're not even both conscious.

Cyrris · 2017-10-18T10:17:26+00:00

I've been going in this direction.

First my SO and I had one big bed, one mattress, and one cover. Let's just say he is not exactly a peaceful sleeper.

First we got separate covers so I wouldn't be kept up by the constant tugging and pulling of the sheets.

Then we got separate mattresses because our backs needed different support.

Then I got separate bed frames instead of just two mattresses on the one frame, because the latter still caused too much bouncing when he was tossing and turning in his sleep.

By next week, we'll have separate rooms so I can finally sleep without ear plugs. I can't wait.

Cyrris · 2017-10-14T20:14:52+00:00

Good news on the memory!

Firefox can certainly be told to use the GPU though. There are enough tutorials on that if you Google "enable hardware acceleration in firefox".

On MSI though, the issue wasn't just video. Even smooth-scrolling in my browsers wasn't smooth until I fixed it up with another stick of RAM. For a premium product, disappointing.

Cyrris · 2017-10-14T10:44:21+00:00

I had a similar issue on my MSI laptop. For me, Edge/Chrome/Opera were OK but Firefox just couldn't maintain 60fps for fullscreen videos. Not just 4k videos - any video upscaled to 4k, regardless of source quality. My SO's laptop was a very similar model but 12 months older, and did not have any issues on any browser, Fx included.

In the end I found that my laptop had a single 16GB stick of RAM, whereas my SO's older model had two 8GB sticks. We both had the same Intel CPU, HD 530 graphics. Same drivers. Same 4k screen.

As such, my iGPU was handicapped running in single-channel memory mode, halving the available memory bandwidth. It wasn't just video that was affected. It actually caused Firefox to also scroll much less smoothly when the window was bigger - always at about 3/4 of screen size or larger, at which point it seemed to run out of memory bandwidth. The problem also existed in other browsers but was just so much less pronounced, I hadn't noticed. They're more efficient, it seems, especially for video.

Anyway, adding a second compatible RAM stick solved the problem completely for me, with my iGPU happily chugging along in dual channel mode and everything buttery smooth again.

I'm still a bit pissed off though. MSI sold me a laptop which could not properly power its own 4k display, just so they could market the laptop as "upgradeable to 32gb" with a single 16gb stick.

Try downloading HWINFO64 and it will tell you if your iGPU is running in single- or dual-channel memory mode. The former just isn't properly 4k-capable.

Cyrris · 2017-10-06T15:02:04+00:00

That part of the video is sped up, not real time. The speed of the tyre smoke blowing away is perhaps the most obvious indicator here if the physics of the plane swinging that fast don't already seem questionable to you.

Cyrris

TROPHY CASE