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View Full Version : Free computer(kind've)



jasong
01-25-2005, 03:09 PM
First, a little background so you know what's going on:

I love DCing for two reasons(actually, three):

(1) Makes my computer more useful(most computers only use about 15% of their cycles, the rest are "empty" cycles)
(2) Social aspect
(3) It's darn fun

But there are some problems. The first one is the fact that I know very little about the inside of a computer. Most of my knowledge has to do with navigating the OS. So building a farm would be a problem.

The second reason is the one for this topic. Even though a computer hardly ever uses more than 15% of it's cycles(see above), those could be some VERY important cycles. There could be people out there who, for instance, want to get on the Internet, but can't afford the out-of-pocket for a computer.

I just got a job, and sometime in the next 1-6 months(after I've got enough money for one summer college course saved up, plus a buffer zone for unexpected debts) I'm thinking about buying or monetarily helping people to upgrade their computers in exchange for crunching. The upgrade would depend on what they, and the DC project required.

I'm still trying to figure out the details. I've already gone through the fiasco of contracting someone to run FaD, with the erroneous idea that I'd have a job within the month(I JUST NOW paid them back for their crunching, and I'm ashamed of myself for taking so long)

I'm hoping to get other people involved. Maybe we could have a cool project, like sponsoring a small town's Elementary School computer budget.

Okay, now I'm rambling. But if anybody knows of someone trustworthy who really wants to get or upgrade a computer in the next 6 months and has little money, I want to know.

CaptainMooseInc
01-25-2005, 05:00 PM
If you want to build a new system that's optimized for a certain project, research the main components (CPU, Case, Mobo, RAM, small HDD, and cd-rom drive). You can build a barebones cruncher really really cheap. Then whenever you want to do maintenance on it or whatever, you just have to switch the monitor from your main PC over...

I don't think many people will take the idea of someone upgrading their computer for them, but I'd be willing to have you buy the parts, have them shipped to me (or if you buy them from emicrox.com then I can pick them up locally) then build the system for you and mail it to you. So long as you pay for all the costs (including a couple bucks in gas to get all the parts) then I'd be willing to do this for you.

I'd house the computer for you if you couldn't keep it for $20/yr.

-Jeff

black_civic55
01-25-2005, 05:06 PM
sorry to go way off topic but i think u mentioned about what computers are better for crunching what.

I have 3 pentium 4s, currently im running FAD on all of them. Is there something that i could be more productive running instead of FAD?

jasong
01-25-2005, 05:10 PM
CaptainMooseInc.:

That's a wonderful offer, I'll seriously consider it. One potential problem though is first contacting it and being able to contact it again, later. Are there idiot-proof instructions anywhere?

Also, $20 sounds optimistically low; if I do this, I'll want to know what the $20 involves, so there aren't any misunderstandings. An unofficial contract, so there's less chance for hard feelings.

I guess you just like computers, huh? :D :cool:

jasong
01-25-2005, 05:36 PM
Originally posted by black_civic55
sorry to go way off topic but i think u mentioned about what computers are better for crunching what.

I have 3 pentium 4s, currently im running FAD on all of them. Is there something that i could be more productive running instead of FAD?
I've spent a fair amount of time surfing different forums, and different projects are better with different architectures. In the case of FaD, AMD Athlons have a tendency of kicking any similar Intel's butt.

Assuming you have the goal of running a medical project, Folding@Home might be something to seriously consider. There's also D2OL, which I'm not familiar with, unfortunately.

As far as kicking butt goes, which may or may not be your goal, I've heard P4s with a decent cache are great at doing prime number research.

Depending on what your preferences are, a little research could probably find you a project that uses your computer's architecture a little better.

alpha
01-26-2005, 05:01 AM
As jasong said, P4's (comparitively) suck at FAD. You'll get more bang for your buck on SoB or GIMPS.

IronBits
01-26-2005, 08:21 AM
DPAD/Muon1 :thumbs: :D