What would fold faster, a Pentium M or a desktop P4?

DanGDanG I AM CANADIAN Icrontian
edited October 2004 in Folding@Home
One would be in a Dell Inspiron notebook, it would be a Pentium M 715, 1.50GHz with 2Mb cache and the desktop would be a P4 2.8 533MHz FSB.

Comments

  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited October 2004
    The p4 will probably fold faster, but not much.
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited October 2004
    Actually, because of SSE, SSE2, Intel's 3D technology, I would expect with the WUs that are out now and in near future that the P4 at 533 MHz pumped FSB would fold faster by up to 1.2 times compared to the M if the same HD speed and size and the same RAM speed and size were present. The P4 533 will be a bit more heat sensitive in a laptop. I'll give you a Dell example: The Inspiron at about 3.2 GHz 533 FSP bus outperforms the M for vector with older vector calcs compared to a Prescott HT of same speed, because the boxes both are getting a mix of tinkers and Gromacs and a few Double Gromacs with speeds that per percent are very close to comparable(try within a minute if both machines are under similar loads). This is for a desktop compare between a Prescott HT that is clocked at about 3.08 GHz to 3.1 GHz and a Northwood pre-HT that is clocked to similar rates to within about 20 MHz of CPU speed. BOTH boxes have same HD models in them, and BOTH boxes have RAM running as DDR400 rate RAM, adn teh same large amoutn of RAM.

    I can tell you that if the laptop is in a variable environment that includes time with warmer environment, the M will be more stable. If you can get a Dell Inspiron 6800 with an M at 1.6 GHz or a Inspiron 5160 3.2 GHz P4 (both available, I did this analysis for a neighbor last Friday and Saturday) and give both .5 to 1 Gig of RAM and a 40 GB 5400 RPM HD, the 5160 will be a bit more heat sensitive dn run hotter, the 6800 with its M will be cooler running but slower. You are talking a 1.5 versus a 2.8 and the whole overall picture will be determined by heat buildup over time. The 6800 cools better than the 5160, both are decent boxes. If cooler environments prevail or you get and use a laptop fanned cooler base I would say go to P4 becasue of the WUs out and being assigned now. OTOH, if you live in a warmer climate and plan to use the laptop outside, the M box will not only last longer but be more stable for folding than the P4.

    BUT, in any given day if temps are handled, the P4 will be able to output more work for Tinkers and Gromacs and some Double Gromacs than the M will-- until the P4 gets heat damaged over time. Amber WUs, which will be coming in future, should perform on the M very well. Because of heat I would say for folding to buy the M machine. Running a CPU at 90-100% load in a laptop constantly (with a lot of RAM and HD use also) gens huge amounts of heat, and the laptops were not really designed for 98% load all the time-- they were designed for intermittent load or 50-70% load on for most of the time as far as internal heating handling is concerned. So, take a month's time frame-- the M might gen more throughput than the P4 in a month simply due to being able to stay stable while on for that long. BUT, if you run the box not always on and run it 3/4 of the time, the P4 will do better in monthly throughput by a tib.

    The result is a wash, due to heat factors and heat and temp creep upwards over tiem in an always-on box(cumulative heat factors also play into this) unless you help the laptop with an external cooler base in warm climates. If you live in a cool climate than the P4 will produce more due to simple machine throughput. The 5160 is cheaper than the 6800 also, by up to a lot. A top end 6800 can be 1.7-2.0 times the price of a 5160 once your ooption costs are figured in.
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited October 2004
    The P4 might fold a little faster but not much. However, in a laptop the P-M is much preferable than the P4 if you plan to fold with it as it's thermal output is 2-3 lower than the P4, which makes it a better choice for folding on a laptop.
  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited October 2004
    I would get the P-M even if it is a bit slower. Centrinos/Dothans are awesome!
  • DanGDanG I AM CANADIAN Icrontian
    edited October 2004
    Ok, so it sounds like it's 6 of 1, half dozen of the other. I'm still going to press on for a laptop, just because I may need to be slightly mobile when we move our office. I'd love to look at something other than an inspiron 600, but that's what we've standardized on in our office. Although, as systems admin, I might be able to swing something...

    Thanks for the info guys.
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