Leo, just what are you packing under the hood?

TBonZTBonZ Ottawa, ON Icrontian
edited December 2007 in Folding@Home
You're freak'n smoking man! I'd love to see a list of the rigs you have going for you if you don't mind. :)

Also, I find it so cool that you're now our highest producing member. Y'know, seeing that you started this team in 2001 and all....congrats!! :respect:

Comments

  • QCHQCH Ancient Guru Chicago Area - USA Icrontian
    edited December 2007
    He cannot say or he'd have to kill you. :(

    All I know is he's been asked to check himself into SMPA* for rehab.











    *SMPA = SMP Anonymous
  • TBonZTBonZ Ottawa, ON Icrontian
    edited December 2007
    Haha!
  • ThelemechThelemech Victoria Icrontian
    edited December 2007
    Go Quad 6600 go! :)
  • QeldromaQeldroma Arid ZoneAh Member
    edited December 2007
    TBonZ wrote:
    You're freak'n smoking man! I'd love to see a list of the rigs you have going for you if you don't mind. :)

    He has a list- look at his signature. And yes, it's a very effective farm :) .
  • Your-Amish-DaddyYour-Amish-Daddy The heart of Texas
    edited December 2007
    I'd love to see how they'd handle being in a botnet...
  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited December 2007
    Upgrades from P-Ds to Quads will do that to a man. I believe 3 quads so far.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited December 2007
    Mr. Mmonnin, had you begun your answer with "What is..." you would have won on Jeopardy!

    Mr. Terry TBonz, the answer to your question is in my signature: 1) three overclocked Q6600 rigs, Gigabyte and Abit, and 2) two overclocked Pentium D930 rigs (Asus). The Q rigs are each running dual instances of Windows SMP with Affinity Changer running in the background. The PD rigs each run a single WinSMP client (without Affinity Changer). Those, Sir, are the not-so-secret ingredients. For further details, please see signature below.

    This was not nearly as expensive as might appear. I'm using power supplies as simple as Antec 430W Type II (home modifed P4->EPS12v connectors) and budget DRAM. Parts were sourced new and from trading forums. One of the Abit IP35-E motherboards was $69/Newegg after MIR. Yeah, I know you didn't ask about all that. I'm just letting my Teammies know that you don't have to purchase expensive, high-end components to make a high output Folding box.

    :);):D:eek::bigggrin:
  • HarudathHarudath Great Britain Icrontian
    edited December 2007
    o.O blimey... So... To compete... I'd better get a paper round and do some more babysitting.. :P
  • TBonZTBonZ Ottawa, ON Icrontian
    edited December 2007
    All that output coming from only 5 boxes, amazing! My next rig is definitely going to be an Intel quad.
  • ThelemechThelemech Victoria Icrontian
    edited December 2007
    Leonardo wrote:
    Mr. Mmonnin, had you begun your answer with "What is..." you would have won on Jeopardy!

    Mr. Terry TBonz, the answer to your question is in my signature: 1) three overclocked Q6600 rigs, Gigabyte and Abit, and 2) two overclocked Pentium D930 rigs (Asus). The Q rigs are each running dual instances of Windows SMP with Affinity Changer running in the background. The PD rigs each run a single WinSMP client (without Affinity Changer). Those, Sir, are the not-so-secret ingredients. For further details, please see signature below.

    This was not nearly as expensive as might appear. I'm using power supplies as simple as Antec 430W Type II (home modifed P4->EPS12v connectors) and budget DRAM. Parts were sourced new and from trading forums. One of the Abit IP35-E motherboards was $69/Newegg after MIR. Yeah, I know you didn't ask about all that. I'm just letting my Teammies know that you don't have to purchase expensive, high-end components to make a high output Folding box.

    :);):D:eek::bigggrin:

    Thanks for the budget info Leo. After looking around (and not very hard yet either) it looks like I might be able to get 2 Quad systems going by the start of the new year for the price of 1 1/2 in my original calculations = buying all brand new from NCIX or a local merchant.
  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited December 2007
    A new quad core setup is about $500-600 all new. CPU, motherboard, RAM, video card, PSU, and cooling. Thats with $270-280 of that being the quad.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited December 2007
    CPU, motherboard, RAM, video card, PSU, and cooling. Thats with $270-280 of that being the quad.
    Factor in a little more for better cooling if you wish to overclock. And I do recommend that. There is a linear relationship between CPU frequency increase and Folding production. You can overclock with the stock cooler, but not much. Also, I would not recommend DRAM below DDR2 800.

    What PSU did you have in mind with your parts estimate, Mmonnin?
  • ThelemechThelemech Victoria Icrontian
    edited December 2007
    Leonardo wrote:
    Factor in a little more for better cooling if you wish to overclock. And I do recommend that.You can overclock with the stock cooler, but not much. Also, I would not recommend DRAM below DDR2 800.


    Yeah, I really want to overclock the most possible out of the Q6600 = 3.4 to 3.6 GHz is what I have been hearing is a stable goal; with good cooling.
    If I can stick too the mmonnin budget plan :bigggrin: ; I can afford 2 of these babies as opposed too the one over-priced one I have already saved most of the money for.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited December 2007
    For the overclocking range you desire, you will need:

    - PC2 6400 RAM, budget RAM is fine as long as you don't need to overclock the RAM much; if you intend to drop the multiplier to 8 and keep the RAM at a 1:1 ratio with FSB, you will need very good quality 800 or 1066
    - good quality PSU; if the system doesn't have a high power consuming GPU, you can get away just fine with something as modest as an Antec 430 (very inexpensive when found on sale!)
    - you will need very good air cooling; you will start losing overclocking ability on a hot Q6600 long before you near the ~70C maximum safe operating temperature; recommended HSFs -- Tuniq Tower 120, Zalman 9700/9700NT, TR Ultra 120; and even better if you want to spring for the $$ - TR Ultra 120 Extreme, TR FX-14

    The 3.4-3.6GHz range on air would be the G0 stepping. Most OCs on the B3 stepping are 3.0-3.2GHz. (my B3 is at 3.3GHz..yay, go me)

    If your computer case is not well ventilated, all bets are off! Be prepared for cutting, grinding, and fan fitting. (but for me, that's the fun part)

    I could probably squeeze out 3.6 on both my G0s with better RAM and/or better cooling. I'm happy where I am considering I found my coolers for very good prices pre-owned and purchased budget RAM.
    ---

    Recommended hardware monitors:

    CPU Z
    FanSpeed 4.34 Beta 36; if you run 4.33 (non-beta) you will also need to use Core Temp to calibrate the four core temp readings. FanSpeed 4.34 beta 36 tracks exactly with Core Temp, which is considered THE authority for Core 2 CPU cores. Once calibrated, 4.33 is also very good.

    Power consumption: according to monitoring software of my APC UPS, my Systems 1 and 5 combined (3300 and 3400MHz respectively) with a 20" LCD are drawing 507 Watts at full load, each running two instances of FAH WinSMP
  • ThelemechThelemech Victoria Icrontian
    edited December 2007
    Ok :bigggrin: maybe with the overclock I am looking for I could afford one and a half of these quad wonders! I will definitely spring for some good cooling.

    Thank you Leo for the info, I actually copied your post for later use and reference (hope you don't mind:cool:)

    I was thinking of going high on Ram and not worry so much about the GPU, or does the vid card play a more substantial role in the efficiency of fold@home?

    :cheers3:
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited December 2007
    Thank you Leo for the info, I actually copied your post for later use and reference (hope you don't mind:cool:)
    Flattery will get you...everywhere.

    The GPU is irrelevant to WinSMP folding. My only point was that a modest PSU may not be adequate at elevated CPU overclocking if you are running one of the power pig video cards that consume great quantities of Watts.
  • TheLostSwedeTheLostSwede Trondheim, Norway Icrontian
    edited December 2007
    This SMP stuff is pretty sick. I get 4k ppd from a Quad at 3.3 ghz.
  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited December 2007
    I get better than that at 3.1 (still havent pumped up the clock speed yet) :) 2k-2.1k each client. Checked the log files yesterday and they are both around 450k each so I know its been up and running for awhile.

    I factored in a thermalright ultra 120 HS and a scythe fan. The PSU I got was better than the Antec 430, its an OCZ600SXS. Its efficient and I did it so I could power something a little beefier in the future. Along with a cheap fanless GPU its practically silent.

    There are always deals on Crucial sticks. I got mine for around $50 AR. I saw some others on spoofee for around $30 last week.
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