Personal computing discussed
Moderators: renee, farmpuma, just brew it!
BIF wrote:Nice! Yeah, I'm going to let the current work units end so that I can get some things done with my machines.
BIF wrote:The longest running ones will end about 10 or 11 hours from this writing. New WUs will probably be 2+ days again, and I don't want to have those commitments queued up just yet so I won't accept new ones for a couple days. That will give me time to do some unrelated testing and other activities without hearing the laptop's howling fans in the living room or feeling heat in my home office.
I need to give a lot of thought to how I'm going to do folding with my new hardware which is currently planned to be a 6-core SB-E and a GTX 690. I really don't like howling fans or a warm office and I've perceived that it is warmer while folding is running. It could only be one degree F for all I know, but I am sensitive to it.
just brew it! wrote:The SMP client is designed to get out of the way if you use the machine. It runs at a very low CPU priority, and only uses cycles that aren't needed for anything else. I just let 'em run.
It's not your imagination. With modern systems that throttle the CPU down when idle, the difference in heat load from folding can be quite substantial. This (and the related increase in A/C cost) is why I no longer run it during the summer months.
PhilipMcc wrote:I have 1 Q8200 making a modest contribution. It manages 2600 points every 14 hours or so. My goal was to see how far it would push "my team" up the rankings. In 4 years I made it to the top 1600. Participating in Frankie is fun and lets me tinker with the configurations of my PC's.
BIF wrote:When I build the new system, I'll probably not fold on the others; the new one should be capable of an order of magnitude more work anyway. I do wonder if I can set up a schedule to automate the starts and stops of the folding client based on day/time, so that it would only run while I'm out of the house. But I need to see how much the direct electricity costs will be before I get too far down the road.
BIF wrote:My own folding garden (windowbox?) is also back online...
BIF wrote:Status update please. Who's still folding for Frankie?
BIF wrote:Need to start getting serious about my new workstation, and while this has been fun it is a distraction.
just brew it! wrote:BIF wrote:Need to start getting serious about my new workstation, and while this has been fun it is a distraction.
Mmm...? As long as you're not sneakernetting WUs in and out it should be pretty much fire-and-forget. I just check my systems once a day to make sure they're running. Not much of a distraction at all.
arpstorm wrote:@Biff
Folding is a distraction all right but it's a good kind of distraction at least. I really do hope that our efforts help Stanford to break new ground in terms of medical discoveries. I don't know Jack about medicine or drugs or biology but I do know who to keep a computer Folding
BIF wrote:But the laptop, even running at only 75% is noisy in the living room.
BIF wrote:Wow, carports, crawlspaces, and attics. You guys really are hardcore with this stuff!
BIF wrote:I live in a hot climate, so cannot use attic, garage, or outbuilding. Need to run them in a reasonably moderate ambient temperature so that I don't damage any hardware.
arpstorm wrote:That's right. Real Folders Fold in carports, crawlspaces, basements, and attics
BIF wrote:I get frogs, lizards, snakes, cockroaches, and giant dog-sized ants in my garage. I couldn't bear to put any computer in there!
just brew it! wrote:Not even a couple of ghetto computers zip tied into a plastic storage crate?
arpstorm wrote:If the garage is not heated then I'd expect insects to be attracted to a nice warm Folding farm.