More farm ideas

[Herulach]

Folding boxen.

Right, ive given up on the idea of second hand boxen for now, p3 really doesnt seem to cut it when i can get:
Celeron D 2.66
512mb Ram
40GB HDD

for around twice the cost of a p3 1Ghz. So, a few questions, is it worth getting the 512mb of ram? It will be running Linux, so can i get away with 256mb and big packets? I seem to have teh figure 104mb of ram to run big packets, but i cant remember where i read it. And also the linux client definately doesnt need X right? or ill have to invest in a half decent card rather than the shitty on board vid.

So, basically, commeent, i get the impression Celeron Ds fold very well. How well do the overclock? If i am only getting 256 of ram, the money will go into getting a decent board, so any recommendations there would be welcome too.

 

[Hito Bahadur]

Folding boxen.

Right, ive given up on the idea of second hand boxen for now, p3 really doesnt seem to cut it when i can get:
Celeron D 2.66
512mb Ram
40GB HDD

for around twice the cost of a p3 1Ghz. So, a few questions, is it worth getting the 512mb of ram? It will be running Linux, so can i get away with 256mb and big packets? I seem to have teh figure 104mb of ram to run big packets, but i cant remember where i read it. And also the linux client definately doesnt need X right? or ill have to invest in a half decent card rather than the shitty on board vid.

So, basically, commeent, i get the impression Celeron Ds fold very well. How well do the overclock? If i am only getting 256 of ram, the money will go into getting a decent board, so any recommendations there would be welcome too.

My Celeron is in a Dell box (so no overclocking for me). But I think the 512 is worth it although I can't rightly justify that feeling, especially if the box is going to be dedicated to folding, except to say that resource requirements continue to go up not down.

 

[rogue_jedi]

when i first read your post, i was thinking "big packets and 128mb ram" which is (barely on a netboot system on my brother's server) a no-no. but 256 mb should be fine, as long as you kill some stuff (maybe. shouldn't really be necessary, come to think of it)

see if you can just get one hard drive, and save the money. netboot the other boxen.

a celeron D 2.66 should hit 3-3.4 (maybe... not sure on exact numbers) with a good board.

X is not needed for the folding client, but if you're going with a good OC board, you'll need an offboard card anyways. look at cheap PCI cards rather than AGP because a 4x/8x AGP card is still 20-40 dollars, while a PCI card could be $5 or something cheap like that at a computer show.

good luck with that. make sure to get a decent PSU... it'll last longer.

 

[wake6830]

I think if you aren't doing anything else on the box, 256 should be ok. but don't get pissed if i'm wrong.

big packets take up 104mb, yes.

 

[Oldbenwa]

Celeron Ds seem to OC very well: link thanks to Marty

Linux console client does not need X, and I think I've seen a couple people doing big packets in linux with only 256.

That should be a pretty good boxen.

Edit: Geez you guys are fast!! I have a PCI Vidcard I could send you if you want to go that route.


Oldbenwa

 

[unhappy_mage]

Folding boxen.

Right, ive given up on the idea of second hand boxen for now, p3 really doesnt seem to cut it when i can get:
Celeron D 2.66
512mb Ram
40GB HDD

for around twice the cost of a p3 1Ghz. So, a few questions, is it worth getting the 512mb of ram? It will be running Linux, so can i get away with 256mb and big packets? I seem to have teh figure 104mb of ram to run big packets, but i cant remember where i read it. And also the linux client definately doesnt need X right? or ill have to invest in a half decent card rather than the shitty on board vid.

Does not need X, for sure. If I hadn't run out of client boxen, I'd get you exact figures, but suffice it to say that 256MB will be enough for big packets. However, if I were you I'd get 512 (and skip the hdd) in case Stanford comes out with extra-huge packets or something.

The client image will fit in 3524 KB. That's small enough for a cheap-o usb pen (but getting it to load would be a pain) which can be found for $8 for 8mb. No hdd needed. It's also fairly easy to load over network .

 

[Herulach]

Thanks for the input, as far as netbooting goes, this would be my first rig, and as im a poor student, prob my only one for a while. But it wold be dedicated to folding 24/7 possibly set up as a router if we change to DSL broadband.
Thinking about it i can use an old case and PSU i have hanging around. The psu is only 350W, but its a solid 350, so that should be cool. might have to invest in a new cpu cooler too, esp if o/cing. But looking again, the specs seem to be:
Celeron D 320
Abit IS7
256mb pc3200 Kingston Value Ram (If its not enough its no cheaper to buy 1 512 than 2x256 anyway)
40Gb Diamondmax 8
Radeon 7000 PCI (retro!)

Anyway, if anyones in the uk, that can all be had from dabs.com for £157 shipped. (300$ ish, wish we could pick up those dell SC420 offers here, to get one here is £300, and they wont let me order a us one, bastards)

 

[SmokeRngs]

I have a Morgan core Duron 1Ghz with 256 meg of RAM and it chews through the bigpackets WUs just fine. btw, this system has WinXP Pro installed on it. It's also used for a little web browsing when my ex fiance is as my friend's house (where all my computers are right now.)

I will not let her touch my main system. When we were together, she managed to kill my main system twice in like a two week period. I won't let her touch my main systems ever again and I haven't had hardly any problems since then.

WinXP Pro with only 256 meg runs big packets just fine. As long as the box is strictly for folding, you will not have a problem.