Kevy wrote:....... I've been looking through google at optimising my machine for Boinc, but can't really see the wood for the trees with a lot of old and probably oudated info out there - do you have any tips? Will BOINC run better with more RAM (currently 4gb)? .......
Doubtless some stuff below you will already be aware of from your crunching 5 years ago, advance appologies if I state the "already knowns", difficult to know where to start with such a general question you asked outside of the specific aspect quoted above. You appear to have restarted in January so you've got your feet back under the table as they say
BOINC is still BOINC with all its foibles
The biggest overall change is the GPUs are now catered for (as such). They first put in a quick fix to make them useable, then started down the long, long road of changing code writen 10 years previously for CPU only. Been a long journey to get the detail sorted ..... and cater for the exponential hardware capability explosion.
They are still beavering away catching up on the detail of GPUs. The biggest changes are not yet in the recommended BOINC version (6.10.60), they are in the latest Alpha version 6.12.26. If you are a GPU cruncher, switching to 6.12.26 is a no brainer, massively more reliable and easier to use for GPUs. Always something around someone doesnt like - surprise surprise - but 6.12.26 is very good (its a Beta app, so usual caviats apply, however its stable enough for everyday useage).
BOINC Versions - Full List including Alphas and Betas
The old syndrome of presenting newly discovered drivers or tweeks as "giant leaps for mankind", as opposed -to the reality of "small steps for man" still exists (!). So be wary of alledged silver bullets and new ability/performance cure-it-all's, they very rarely come along in the former guise. It is important to keep track of, and be uptodate with graphics drivers - its not "instant death" not to switch, but its an important topic as both AMD & NVidia continue to rapidly evolve their drivers sets. You might want to consider watching others test new graphics drivers first ..... unless you are the experienced type with the vagaries of new drivers, then switch if all seems well.
The memory you specifically asked about ..... 4Gb will get you going fine, you will be able to crunch the full range of BOINC projects with that, depending what your other hardware is. You may find some limitations with numbers of WUs crunched simultaneously with *only* 4Gb, but thats relatively minor disadvantage. Memory is more applicable to the Project application, not BOINC. Each Project application has wildly diverse memory needs from a few Kb's to the still crowned King of Memory eaters, CPDN. Pays your money, takes your choice on memory. On balance, it would be nice to go for 8Gb if it will fit your motherboard, but I wouldnt die for it, very nice to have, far from essential.
You've just done THE most important thing, join a well founded team. BOINC is increasingly complex, and access to a bunch of folk of a like mind without wading through rat infested ego-minefields is vital. Lots of folk here who will help, and I reckon as a complete entity we'll find the answer to just about anything with the Team Members we have here, so post away on this Board about any aspect, you'll find people here in "help mode", not trailing ego's, and there's always someone around who will answer with a solution/partial solution.
Better shut up - rambling again rofl
Difficult to know what else to say on such a huge topic without more specific guidence on your wants and needs. Overall I would concentrate on one Project at a time, get it set, tweeked etc, then start on the next. Changing too much in one go with BOINC can cause problems when troubleshooting problems.
With BOINC these days, the slow route is almost invariably the fast route
Regards
Zy
