Had to shut down most of the computers :(

miragemirage
edited May 2007 in Folding@Home
If you notice my production heading south and wonder what is wrong, it is the electric bill. There has been a huge hike on electric rates in MA and I paid more than $1200 electric bill in the last two months only. :rant: Sorry guys, I am trying to cut down everything I can, and started with all of the PD805s and two AMD dual cores. Now, I am down to only one full time Opty165.:sad2:

I will try to ramp up again when I can get our electric consumption under control.

Comments

  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited May 2007
    That's a common problem which many of us have had at times. I once heated a 1BR apartment for an entire winter just with Folding rigs.

    Here's to cooler weather. :cheers:
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited May 2007
    That's bad news, but I completely understand. Science or no science - $600/month? That's horrendous!

    Start swapping out incandescent light bulbs for fluorescents. Depending on many lights you use and how long they stay lighted, that could save a huge chunk of cash. Buy them in bulk packs at Home Depot or Lowes to get the best price.
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited May 2007
    If you sell off your existing hardware and start building C2D boxes with real high efficency PSUs you could almost make it pay for itself.

    I know, it bites. Right now I am lucky and I have a few of my boxes running at work.
  • miragemirage
    edited May 2007
    Thanks for the comments guys. Action plan is to take all the precautions to reduce electricity consumption, including replacing the bulbs with compact fluorescents. That's a good suggestion Leo, we have Costco membership and they have those multipacks too. I was also thinking about solar panels, these electric rates certainly makes me think about that. I will probably never turn on the 805s again; instead, I will probably return with a quad core. One quad core should be faster and more efficient than three 805s, I think.

    About moving the computer to work, edcentric. Yes that is a good idea, but in this case, I will probably need to dedicate the computers for simulations of the graduate students. They can still keep folding in the background while not running the students' jobs.

    To cooler weather, Prof :cheers:
  • DanGDanG I AM CANADIAN Icrontian
    edited May 2007
    If you are running the smp version with the quad core, you'll be looking at 3-4000ppd, based on what I'm getting with my C2D.
  • QeldromaQeldroma Arid ZoneAh Member
    edited May 2007
    DanG wrote:
    If you are running the smp version with the quad core, you'll be looking at 3-4000ppd, based on what I'm getting with my C2D.

    Yeah. These CPUs even took a fairly good drop in price- but they're still not cheap. However you fold like 2 C2Ds and you don't have to pay for the second rig.

    I hear your pain. I got hit with a couple of big bills last summer and am implementing a cut-back on OCing, reducing the folding CPU percentage (I have a power meter- I'll try and publish some numbers), and operating only part of the day. I get hit big by the vicious power-cooling vortex in the summer.

    Mirage, you're doing the right thing- Folding was never meant to put us on the streets. $1200 is simply too much for most anyone anywhere.
  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited May 2007
    I am tempted by those quad cores. It isnt quite worth it yet though if you go for a folding only setup. Buying only the core system components (CPU, mobo, vid, and RAM since I have the rest) its about the same for 2 systems as 1 with a quad.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited May 2007
    Yeah. These CPUs even took a fairly good drop in price
    I'm drooling. OK, that's it. I'm calling my daughter now to tell her her wedding plans for this month are changed. It's now a budget ceremony at the courthouse! Quad core here I come!

    Oh well, it's something to look forward to later. Within a few months we'll have AMD's offerings and Intel's version two quads. Prices will continue to fall, just as they did with dual cores. :D
  • miragemirage
    edited May 2007
    This was part of a quote I had prepared recently for a Linux cluster. The price is not terrible at all for a dual quad-core computer :) Not for gaming though :eek:

    Head Node (2 quad-core processors, 8 GB RAM, 500 GB Harddisk, 2 1Gbit Ethernet) 1 $2,804.00
    ASUS DSBF-DE Dual Socket 771 Intel 5000P MCH SSI EEB 3.61 Server Motherboard 1 $330.00 $330.00
    Kingston 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 FB-DIMM ECC Fully Buffered DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Server Memory 8 $108.00 $864.00
    Intel Xeon E5320 Clovertown 1.86GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache Socket 771 Active or 1U Processor 2 $485.00 $970.00
    Intel SR2400NA Black 2U Rackmount Case 700W power supply 1 $450.00 $450.00
    Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3500630AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive 1 $140.00 $140.00
    Optical DVD-RW drive 1 $50.00 $50.00
  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited May 2007
    Ouch I was looking at quad core for like $800.
  • QeldromaQeldroma Arid ZoneAh Member
    edited May 2007
    mirage wrote:
    Intel Xeon E5320 Clovertown 1.86GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache Socket 771 Active or 1U Processor 2 $485.00 $970.00

    Ooooo - I had this idea about a month ago. I read in a Newegg review that a guy did a pin mod to OC a Clovertown (???). Too bad that a lot of server motherboards have their clocks locked. It made me wonder if you can get server board BIOSs that can overclock. Anyone know?

    At any rate, yeah, ASUS is trying to sell consumer market 2-AMD CPU boards that can OC eight cores. But to kit together that right away will not be cheap :rolleyes2 .
  • miragemirage
    edited May 2007
    This is the 1066 FSB -> 1333 FSB mod of socket 771 Xeons ... pretty easy ;)
  • DanGDanG I AM CANADIAN Icrontian
    edited May 2007
    Qeldroma wrote:
    Yeah. These CPUs even took a fairly good drop in price- but they're still not cheap. However you fold like 2 C2Ds and you don't have to pay for the second rig.

    I hear your pain. I got hit with a couple of big bills last summer and am implementing a cut-back on OCing, reducing the folding CPU percentage (I have a power meter- I'll try and publish some numbers), and operating only part of the day. I get hit big by the vicious power-cooling vortex in the summer.

    Mirage, you're doing the right thing- Folding was never meant to put us on the streets. $1200 is simply too much for most anyone anywhere.



    Damn, if I didn't have to drop another 300 bucks on 1066 ram to replace my 800, I'd be all over that!
  • miragemirage
    edited May 2007
    DanG wrote:
    Damn, if I didn't have to drop another 300 bucks on 1066 ram to replace my 800, I'd be all over that!

    You are right for Socket 775 platform in which FSB overclock through BIOS is possible. But for overclocking Soket 771 Xeons from 1066 to 1333 FSB, DDR2-667 FB-DIMM will be necessary.
  • the_technocratthe_technocrat IC-MotY1 Indy Icrontian
    edited May 2007
    mirage wrote:
    Thanks for the comments guys. Action plan is to take all the precautions to reduce electricity consumption, including replacing the bulbs with compact fluorescents. That's a good suggestion Leo, we have Costco membership and they have those multipacks too. I was also thinking about solar panels, these electric rates certainly makes me think about that. I will probably never turn on the 805s again; instead, I will probably return with a quad core. One quad core should be faster and more efficient than three 805s, I think.

    About moving the computer to work, edcentric. Yes that is a good idea, but in this case, I will probably need to dedicate the computers for simulations of the graduate students. They can still keep folding in the background while not running the students' jobs.

    To cooler weather, Prof :cheers:

    get a programmable 7-day thermostat too. makes a big difference. (I've written about this before, but don't know where the thread went)
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited May 2007
    Move to Alaska and just open the window for a nice, cool summer day!
  • miragemirage
    edited May 2007
    Leonardo wrote:
    Move to Alaska and just open the window for a nice, cool summer day!

    Leo, seriously, this is so tempting for me ... but my wife is a city girl
  • miragemirage
    edited May 2007
    the_technocrat wrote:
    get a programmable 7-day thermostat too. makes a big difference. (I've written about this before, but don't know where the thread went)

    Thanks for the suggestion, I will consider that next winter. We only have one AC unit in the living room for the summer which has its own thermostat.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited May 2007
    ... but my wife is a city girl
    Well then, Alaska is probably not a good cooling solution for you!
  • QeldromaQeldroma Arid ZoneAh Member
    edited May 2007
    Leonardo wrote:
    OK, that's it. I'm calling my daughter now to tell her her wedding plans for this month are changed. It's now a budget ceremony at the courthouse! Quad core here I come!

    And you may need more than a TT Big Typhoon and an open window in an Alaskan January to handle your overheat issues. :)
  • miragemirage
    edited May 2007
    Qeldroma wrote:
    And you may need more than a TT Big Typhoon and an open window in an Alaskan January to handle your overheat issues. :)

    ;D
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