NVIDIA calls on PC gamers to do their part fighting coronavirus

What you need to know

• NVIDIA encouraged gamers to use their gaming rigs to battle the coronavirus.
• PC owners can use the Folding@home app to help complete projects that help researchers.
• Folding@home uses your donated processing power to help researchers understand coronavirus.

NVIDIA called on PC gamers to donate their processing power towards combating coronavirus (COVID-19). Over the weekend, NVIDIA tweeted out an invite to join the fight against coronavirus. PC owners can donate their computer's processing power through the Folding@home app. The app puts that processing power towards projects that help researchers understand coronavirus.

Folding@home has been around for a while. It relies on donated processing power from PCs around the world to compute solutions to complex problems. Folding@home announced that it was joining the fight against coronavirus earlier this month, and NVIDIA encouraged people to join the cause.

One of the many ways that researchers are working to combat coronavirus is modeling the many shapes coronavirus comes in and the movements that it makes. Studying these allows researchers to learn how coronavirus interacts with the ACE2 receptor in humans.

Folding@home recently shared an update on the progress of some of its projects related to coronavirus. The update states that "Folding@home team has released an initial wave of projects simulating potentially druggable protein targets from SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) and the related SARS-CoV virus (for which more structural data is available) into full production on Folding@home."

If you have a PC and want to donate your processing power, you can go to Folding@home's website to find out more. Be aware that using Folding@home will use power and could raise your electric bill. You can customize how often the app runs in its settings.