New thread created. Moved posts in from milestones thread in cafe

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Rosetta Moderator: Mod.Sense

If a person was to get really dumb and build a computer JUST TO DO CRUNCHING, what sort of processor and OS would that person use?

Apple? Linux? Command line on a Linux box?

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Pugs Helping Man by Sleeping on Couches

If a person was to get really dumb and build a computer JUST TO DO CRUNCHING, what sort of processor and OS would that person use?

Apple? Linux? Command line on a Linux box?

I would use Ubuntu Linux, it is free and not that hard to set up. In fact I have done it several times now. Currently I have 2 different machines running it and they both crunch just fine. Here is the link to my ramblings about it http://malariacontrol.net/forum_thread.php?id=642

Here is a link to Ubuntu http://www.ubuntu.com/

The only hard part was thru the Synaptic package loader thingy, I am NOT a Linux guy, but even it was not that hard. It is just a click here, click there, click here again and there is Boinc. Once you get it up and running there is one key, do not click the X at the top of the screen in Linux, it actually stops the program, but since it is a cruncher only, just minimize it and it runs just fine.
Here is a link to the 2 pc's:
http://abcathome.com/show_host_detail.php?hostid=65177
and
http://abcathome.com/show_host_detail.php?hostid=65041

If you really want to you can even set the pc up so you can see and check on it thru your Windows machines, I have not done that. I have about 15 machines running here at home and those 2 have their own keyboards and mice connected all the time. I only have one monitor and a long cable that I move around to whatever pc I am looking at. I use that in my basement setup, upstairs I use RAdmin to keep tabs on all my Windows pc's, RAdmin is like VNC.

As far as cpu's go I would use AMD quad cores if I could. In fact I asked for, and got, money for Christmas so will be looking for more crunchers to replace some of my single cores machines. I found this:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4362097&CatId=3586 it is an AMD quad core 9550 with mother board, cpu and on board video for $219.99. I have enough memory, hard and cd drives and a case laying around to make this worthwhile to me. In fact I may be buying 2 of them! I need to put the money in the bank first though. There is no rebate, which is the only problem I have found with Tiger, they are VERY VERY picky on their rebate details!! I have a friend that sent the stuff in to them for a rebate and they asked him to resend the original UPC code because they damaged it upon opening his letter, how can he resend it when you only get one per box? No they would NOT accept a copy. They denied his rebate, he was not a happy camper!!

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I have a friend that sent the stuff in to them for a rebate and they asked him to resend the original UPC code because they damaged it upon opening his letter, how can he resend it when you only get one per box? No they would NOT accept a copy. They denied his rebate, he was not a happy camper!![/quote]


that's just lame! i would not support that store or recommend it to anyone based on their logic. how do you send an original upc code again if you sent it in the first place? i would be filing a complaint so fast it would make their head spin.

amd is cheaper, but the way some crunchers see it, is that intel is a better number cruncher than amd. i am a former amd user but went to intel for number crunching. but being i jumped from a single to a dual core and new technology i can't say which is better.

this discussion should go in its own thread, as this is a personal milestones thread.

If a person was to get really dumb and build a computer JUST TO DO CRUNCHING, what sort of processor and OS would that person use?

Apple? Linux? Command line on a Linux box?

I would use Ubuntu Linux, it is free and not that hard to set up. In fact I have done it several times now. Currently I have 2 different machines running it and they both crunch just fine. Here is the link to my ramblings about it http://malariacontrol.net/forum_thread.php?id=642

Here is a link to Ubuntu http://www.ubuntu.com/

The only hard part was thru the Synaptic package loader thingy, I am NOT a Linux guy, but even it was not that hard. It is just a click here, click there, click here again and there is Boinc. Once you get it up and running there is one key, do not click the X at the top of the screen in Linux, it actually stops the program, but since it is a cruncher only, just minimize it and it runs just fine.
Here is a link to the 2 pc's:
http://abcathome.com/show_host_detail.php?hostid=65177
and
http://abcathome.com/show_host_detail.php?hostid=65041

If you really want to you can even set the pc up so you can see and check on it thru your Windows machines, I have not done that. I have about 15 machines running here at home and those 2 have their own keyboards and mice connected all the time. I only have one monitor and a long cable that I move around to whatever pc I am looking at. I use that in my basement setup, upstairs I use RAdmin to keep tabs on all my Windows pc's, RAdmin is like VNC.

As far as cpu's go I would use AMD quad cores if I could. In fact I asked for, and got, money for Christmas so will be looking for more crunchers to replace some of my single cores machines. I found this:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4362097&CatId=3586 it is an AMD quad core 9550 with mother board, cpu and on board video for $219.99. I have enough memory, hard and cd drives and a case laying around to make this worthwhile to me. In fact I may be buying 2 of them! I need to put the money in the bank first though. There is no rebate, which is the only problem I have found with Tiger, they are VERY VERY picky on their rebate details!! I have a friend that sent the stuff in to them for a rebate and they asked him to resend the original UPC code because they damaged it upon opening his letter, how can he resend it when you only get one per box? No they would NOT accept a copy. They denied his rebate, he was not a happy camper!!

>> Thanks for taking the time to reply as well as you did. I was actually thinking about Debian or Fedora, but I do know this guy who is using your version. Pretty cool stuff. I do appreciate your feedback.

Here is what I am thinking... a dual CPU quadcore AMD with about 4 gig of memory. Just let it crunch. I am an Apple person, so I don't want to do any processing on the machine other than blazing fast crunching...

Let's see if I can get it off the ground.

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--
Pugs Helping Man by Sleeping on Couches

If a person was to get really dumb and build a computer JUST TO DO CRUNCHING, what sort of processor and OS would that person use?

Apple? Linux? Command line on a Linux box?

I would use Ubuntu Linux, it is free and not that hard to set up. In fact I have done it several times now. Currently I have 2 different machines running it and they both crunch just fine. Here is the link to my ramblings about it http://malariacontrol.net/forum_thread.php?id=642

Here is a link to Ubuntu http://www.ubuntu.com/

The only hard part was thru the Synaptic package loader thingy, I am NOT a Linux guy, but even it was not that hard. It is just a click here, click there, click here again and there is Boinc. Once you get it up and running there is one key, do not click the X at the top of the screen in Linux, it actually stops the program, but since it is a cruncher only, just minimize it and it runs just fine.
Here is a link to the 2 pc's:
http://abcathome.com/show_host_detail.php?hostid=65177
and
http://abcathome.com/show_host_detail.php?hostid=65041

If you really want to you can even set the pc up so you can see and check on it thru your Windows machines, I have not done that. I have about 15 machines running here at home and those 2 have their own keyboards and mice connected all the time. I only have one monitor and a long cable that I move around to whatever pc I am looking at. I use that in my basement setup, upstairs I use RAdmin to keep tabs on all my Windows pc's, RAdmin is like VNC.

As far as cpu's go I would use AMD quad cores if I could. In fact I asked for, and got, money for Christmas so will be looking for more crunchers to replace some of my single cores machines. I found this:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4362097&CatId=3586 it is an AMD quad core 9550 with mother board, cpu and on board video for $219.99. I have enough memory, hard and cd drives and a case laying around to make this worthwhile to me. In fact I may be buying 2 of them! I need to put the money in the bank first though. There is no rebate, which is the only problem I have found with Tiger, they are VERY VERY picky on their rebate details!! I have a friend that sent the stuff in to them for a rebate and they asked him to resend the original UPC code because they damaged it upon opening his letter, how can he resend it when you only get one per box? No they would NOT accept a copy. They denied his rebate, he was not a happy camper!!

>> Thanks for taking the time to reply as well as you did. I was actually thinking about Debian or Fedora, but I do know this guy who is using your version. Pretty cool stuff. I do appreciate your feedback.

Here is what I am thinking... a dual CPU quadcore AMD with about 4 gig of memory. Just let it crunch. I am an Apple person, so I don't want to do any processing on the machine other than blazing fast crunching...

Let's see if I can get it off the ground.

I don't see any problems with your logic except the 4 gig of memory, it would be a waste to put in more than 2 gig if the machine is only a cruncher. I have a small program, Everest, and it tells me how much memory is being used and after 1 gig the percentage used is below 50%. Often down in the 30 to 40% range. Now I would go to 2 gig because you want to use 2 of the same size chips for better efficiency of use.
One more thing....make sure you get a motherboard that has a PCI-express slot on it. The video cards that can crunch only come that way . This will give you future expansion capabilities.

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I got an Asus board and it has 3 slots for video cards intended no doubt for the serious gamer that wants to put in 3 cards of the same type to get SLI capabilities. In a way that is ideal for a cruncher ... as project come on line with GPU capabilities add GPU cards as you can afford the electric bill ...

Once all slots are filled, you can upgrade the slowest ... rinse repeat till you buy a new box ...

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Sounds like a good system to me. That AMD chip should overclock well if you want to try it. Plenty of sites will walk you through the process to overclock you system.

I keep one of my systems overclocked 24x7. It works fine and yours will too. Start at about 10% overclocked and just crank it up a little at a time until is fails.

Good luck and keep crunching!

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Thx!

Paul

I don't see any problems with your logic except the 4 gig of memory, it would be a waste to put in more than 2 gig if the machine is only a cruncher.

I disagree. I think 4GB is the minimum for a new quad core cruncher. I've seen WUs in the past that used more than 512MB, and I expect there will be even bigger ones sometime in the future.

I don't see any problems with your logic except the 4 gig of memory, it would be a waste to put in more than 2 gig if the machine is only a cruncher.

I disagree. I think 4GB is the minimum for a new quad core cruncher. I've seen WUs in the past that used more than 512MB, and I expect there will be even bigger ones sometime in the future.

You are correct, I had not thought of that. The projects I crunch need only 512meg minimum so for me that is not an issue. But for a dedicated machine that wants the ability to crunch any project, 4 gig would be the right call. As memory is dropping in price the difference in 2 gig and 4 gig could be minimal too. The OP could start with 2 and add 2 more later on, and be careful on project selection. But if the motherboard only has 2 slots, go with the 4 gig originally.

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