Possible Folding Box - Need Advice

LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciersEagle River, Alaska Icrontian
edited September 2003 in Folding@Home
My neighbors have a yard sale in progress. Amongst their junk is a Pentium (1) Compaq Presario in excellent condition. The case is beautiful - no nicks or scratches; the system actually runs. Now I realize that a Pentium 1 ain't worth a lick as far as completing work units. My question: what kind of cost would I be looking at to convert this dinosaur into an effective Folder?

I've built many systems, but have never attempted to convert an antique into something useful.

I've told them I'll probably give them a lowball offer if they don't sell the computer - perhaps $25-$35 dollars (just for the computer - not the peripherals). That figure might also include a Voodoo 5500 dual monitor vid card.

What do y'all think? Would I end up with a slow paperweight? I don't have a boat, so I don't need a boat anchor. :crazy:

Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    The case is AT. The motherboard is AT. Pentium 1s are harder to find. The PSU is AT.

    So, at minimum: you'd need a new case, PSU, processor, motherboard, RAM.

    You kind of get the picture.


    A p1 has little to no upgrade paths in it.
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    A little saw work on the back of the case and you can get everything to fit.
    So you will have a case and a floppy drive.
    That is about all, and a video card that might be able to find drivers for.
  • TheLostSwedeTheLostSwede Trondheim, Norway Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    Not worth the power usage even.

    To much trouble for the little.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited September 2003
    If it'll run a K6, it MIGHT be worth it
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    K6? Oh, I highly doubt it. It probably has an Intel-based proprietary 440 series motherboard that will take nothing but a narrow range of Pentium 1s.

    Besides, I just don't see the point in going to all the work of reworking a box, just to run a K6. Seems as though that would be tantamount to buying new laces for boots that have no soles.
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    Is there any point in Folding on a K6-2 400? (Sorry, slightly OT)

    NS
  • seversphereseversphere
    edited September 2003
    unfortunately your time is worth more shopping for a good deal than turning AT into ATX unless you just want a project to do.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    Is there any point in Folding on a K6-2 400? (Sorry, slightly OT)

    Absolutely not.

    I think this is a 'case closed' (no pun intended).
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited September 2003
    Leo, the i440 was a p2 chipset. it's probably a 430fx or something similar. at any rate, there's not much point, even with a k6-III or something (which i doubt it could run anyhow)
  • CammanCamman NEW! England Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    Leonardo said
    That figure might also include a Voodoo 5500 dual monitor vid card.

    A dual monitor Voodoo5 5500? What kind is it?

    I have a Voodoo5 5500 AGP that I used to use, but it only has SVGA out, I wasn't aware any of them came with SVGA/S-video like the Voodoo3 AGP..
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    I don't know any more about that vid card. I just went on what the seller told me. I had just stopped at the yard sale on my home for lunch. I haven't been back. The woman selling the computer really didn't know much about it, other than it was a Pentium (she was probably right) and that it had a "256" MB processor. ;D
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited September 2003
    Uh... tahts probably not a pentium then. Very, VERY few pentium boards supported that much memory. Ask her if you can boot it. If it's a P2 (hell, if you're lucky, it might be a p3) it may be worth it.
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    May have meant hard drive...... (bit of a strange number for a HD though) so it was probably RAM.

    NS
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    Based on the case model, the computer has to be some Pentium, 1 or 2, setup. It really doesn't matter though, as I've lost interest. I think the only thing of value I'd get with the setup would be the case and maybe a decent case fan or two.
  • CammanCamman NEW! England Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    NightShade737 said
    Is there any point in Folding on a K6-2 400? (Sorry, slightly OT)

    NS

    Probably not. I had folding running on my mother's K6/2 550mhz and it just wasn't even reaching deadlines, so I took F@H off of it.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited September 2003
    Wonder why. I've got it on a 500MHz Celeron and (I think) it's working fine. Was the K6 THAT bad?
  • CammanCamman NEW! England Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    Geeky1 said
    Wonder why. I've got it on a 500MHz Celeron and (I think) it's working fine. Was the K6 THAT bad?

    I'm not sure, I might stick it back on if you guys think it might be worth something, but, it didnt seem to be producing, I had left it for two days I think and it was at like 100/2500 , so I figured it wasn't going to even make the deadlines. Is there any flags I should use or something so it gets easier WUs? any suggestions?
  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited September 2003
    The only useful for a dedicated folding machine that could come from a P1 or lower machine would be the vid card, NIC and HDD. And then thats only if its about a Gig of space and not too ancient of a video card.
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