Folding computer

DragstkDragstk Syracuse, N.Y.
edited December 2003 in Hardware
I'm in the process of building a dedicated Folding computer. It's about 1/2 done, but I need to get few more parts. As the monthly computer show is coming soon, I think I should be able to finish it up.
Here's what I have so far;
Asus A7V333
Athlon XP2100
512 PC2100 mem.
case, assorted cables and fans
cable internet connection

My thinking is that I'll need a floppy, CR-Rom, bare minimal video card, small HD, and no sound card.
Any thoughts, questions, concerns?
Thanks

Comments

  • KwitkoKwitko Sheriff of Banning (Retired) By the thing near the stuff Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    Floppy? Nah. You should be able to install anything without one. What OS are you going with?
  • DragstkDragstk Syracuse, N.Y.
    edited December 2003
    I'll be using XP Pro for the OS. Originally, I thought about not having a floppy, but lately it seems I have that I have been using mine. Memory tests, flashing, etc. And for the cost of a floppy, both the drive and the media, why not?
  • KwitkoKwitko Sheriff of Banning (Retired) By the thing near the stuff Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    True, although you can flash and memtest with a CD-ROM. For XP, make sure you remove any non-essential services and programs. Make it as lean as possible. Run XP Anti Spy on there.

    Good luck and get that puppy up and running and get those WUs crankin'!!
  • seversphereseversphere
    edited December 2003
    If you can get the small hdd really cheap you should go ahead and pick up another one as backup. A really cheap 250w or 300w psu as backup won't hurt either.
  • DragstkDragstk Syracuse, N.Y.
    edited December 2003
    I was thinking about a 20gig. or so, for a HD. Around here, they can be picked up for $25.-30.
    Sorry, I forgot to mention, I already have a 350 watt Enermax PS
  • KwitkoKwitko Sheriff of Banning (Retired) By the thing near the stuff Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    If you can pick up a cheap, small HD (<5GB) from a computer show, go with that. SM4 is running Win2K on a 10 year old 1.6GB WD, which proves HD performance is not crucial to fast folding.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited December 2003
    Dragstk had this to say
    ...My thinking is that I'll need a floppy, CR-Rom, bare minimal video card, small HD, and no sound card.
    Any thoughts, questions, concerns?
    Thanks
    It's your money, if the convenience of having the floppy & CD-Rom matters to you then go for it. Being cheap (and poor) I keep an old floppy & CD drive around and plug them in to whatever computer needs an upgrade/diagnostic/etc. Other than programs that need a clean boot to run, I just copy files over my network to install stuff (like a new client, etc).

    Bare minimal video is fine (I've got a comp running on a 1MB card, 1995 vintage). What others have said about HD's is good advice. On the other hand, having a bigger hard drive will leave you a nice little network storage option. I backup my important docs to a 30GB on a Folding comp. (Belt and suspenders kinda guy when it comes to data.)

    Some of our local Team 93 experts have done some fairly extensive tests and have determined that raw CPU power is the critical factor in Folding speed. Build the rest of the comp to suit yourself.

    Glad to see you cranking it up for The Team! :thumbsup::fold:
  • GargGarg Purveyor of Lincoln Nightmares Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    We have an inventory relocation sale at the university, and it has tons of 1.2 to 1.6gb hard drives. That's what IC11 and a couple other of our folding boxes around here are running on. Some people have a hard time believing it, but that's plenty of room for WinXP (as long as the only program you install is folding). If you're of the Linux persausion, I once installed Red Hat across 2 drives with the disk spanning option.

    If anybody ever needs one, I can pick one up. They're $5 plus the shipping. I've bought 5 and every one of them has been good so far. Most are old WD Caviars.

    If we ever need a HD for a SMx box, I'll send one over for freeb :D

    As far as drives go for folding boxes, I remove the floppy and CD-ROMs after I get them set up. IC11 is only a Mobo, Vid Card, NIC, and HD (and Case and PSU of course).
  • DragstkDragstk Syracuse, N.Y.
    edited December 2003
    I knew I joined this forum for a reason! A big thanks to all of you. Being some what of a Noob, and no experience with Folding, your answers have been a great help. I think I will drop the idea of a floppy.
    Prodlp.-I did have a CD-Rom, but sold it, as I thought I wouldn't be needing it. Oh well. And yes, I voted in the play offs
    Gargoyle-Don't you just love it when that big truck pulls up in front of your house?? New parts WOOOHOO
    Mr. Kwitko- you have 3 different Folding "banners"-Fold Club/SMX Project/Short Media (not sure what their called). Are you on 3 different teams, or are these all for the same team?
    Thanks again
  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited December 2003
    Mr. Kwitko used to have his forum name as TylerDurden from Fight CLUB which is where the Club comes from. He is apart of the SMx as well as SM.

    I have a computerfest show near where I live and I always pick up a few small HDDs and cheap vid cards for SMx and my own machines.
  • SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
    edited December 2003
    (Moved to 'Hardware Discussion')
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    No dedicated CD-ROM needed, web connect needed instead. you could install OS from a USB external CD-ROM, or get cheap one that is about 40X and that will be plenty. Floppy drive ditto, except REAL cheap and not that fast by any means. Working recycled floppy ideal for this. RELIABLE dialup will do, cores are small, WUs come compressed to 1-2 MB upper end, returns are couple to a few MB each depending on WU complexity.

    GF2 MX 400 video card more than enough, or a Radeon of 7500-8500 series, not any Pro cards or 9000 series-- and that is TOP end needed for folding, a TNT2 64 MB is mid-range for just that. Take money you have saved, invest in a Barton 2500+ or Barton 2800+, and DDR333\PC2700 RAM of about same amount if you can. Folding itself does not need more than 256 MB under almost ANY circumstances, likely to use less than 64-128 MB with an older Windows running.

    John.
  • DragstkDragstk Syracuse, N.Y.
    edited December 2003
    Thanks John;
    I picked up a CD-ROM for $13, a 20 gig HD for $30. and a GF 2, for $5.,at the monthly computer show. Due to the responces from the other members, I decided not to go with a floppy. I already have the processor(XP2100), and 512 of PC2100. I have cable internet connection, and I'll be networking it (another first for me), with my main rig.
    Does the OS matter at all? I could install either XP or 98. I was thinking of going with the XP, as it seems easier to network.
    Now, all I need is the most expensive thing of all.....time
    Thanks again
  • ClutchClutch North Carolina New
    edited December 2003
    The OS doesnt' matter at all, XP should be fine. If it is a folding only computer then you should be set to go. Take out all the unwanted crap that comes with XP and let all the resources go to folding, or the CPU at least.

    I'm hosting IC13 and it has a fdd, but no optical, I just took a spare I had to install the OS and took it right out.
  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited December 2003
    I use 2k since its a smaller install and I usually put 256MB in a folding computer. XP chugs with 256.
  • GargGarg Purveyor of Lincoln Nightmares Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    XP will chug real bad with less than 256 if it's for normal use, but you can get by with less if it's only going to fold. IC11 is only running 128, and one time we had a 400 Celeron with 96mb of RAM as a folding box under XP.
  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited December 2003
    I once had a 233 P2 with 196MB folding for awhile.
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    Correct, the memory manager\virtual machine in XP eats RAM as it balances multiple task, but the machine with bigger and faster RAM and CPU speed will fold faster. folding is a low storage volume in terms of overall, but on a fast box it writes very often as it replaces, appedning updates in RAM, then writing a new file copy instead of appending to old as older machines used to do to save RAM. Rewrite is better in terms of accurate storage, appends can fail and leave corrupt files, and a base requirement is exclusive file access while appending instead of overwriting-- security says this should not be allowed for lower priority apps, as higher priority apps might have to intervene to prevent corruption and file system failure.

    John.
Sign In or Register to comment.