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Quad Xeon Server good for folding?

H

[H]alcyon441

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 25, 2004
Messages
173
i can get a hold of a quad PIII xeon server for less than a 100 bucks. Would that be good for a folding box? Or would a newer proc and mobo be better than 4 PIII xeons? Also would it be possible to use knoppix/overclockix on a setup like this? All opinions welcome.
 
are you kidding me?!?! that sounds like a great deal... hmm, I'll have to look at Ebay tonight.

Folding is mostly all about MHZ
... go to www.em-dc.com to see larry's page comparing processors... the xeon won't gain you much (if any) over the regular p3, but the p3 is a great little folder for it's clock speed. so a quad box might be fun, but depending on specs, not the way to go for $PP (dollars per point).

what speed are the chips?

sharp
u_sharp.gif


(thanks xeno :D )
 
yup, the cool factor to having the xeons is way high.. but so will be the power consumption, and you will produce fewer WU than a new chip and board.
...
don't be sad for the xeons, be happy for the best of the best of a few years ago now being not as fast a regular setup today. ... stuff like this always makes me wonder what we'll be using in 5 years. sheez. DNA boxen working to fix DNA o' people. hmmm.

sharp
u_sharp.gif
 
Yup, way high cool factor for sure, espcially having 4 instances running at once. The power use problem would be my main issue..what size are they and how many? Don't want the cost per point to get way out of hand.

Gotta admit, would look good under my desk :D

Fold on folk

BillR

500000.gif
 
Like most others here said, it's pretty much all about MHZ. I am willing to bet that a 2.0Ghz Athlon XP Barton core will outperform the quad Xeon by itself. Of course, the cost would probably be more than a hundred bucks to build that box, and one of the great things about folding is you can put any 'ol computer that seems to have outlived it's usefulness back to work folding. The only issue really is the power required will be the same as a newer setup, so the points/kw will be lower, which translates directly into points/$$ unless your electricity is free.
 
which translates directly into points/$$ unless your electricity is free.
Click to expand...

<eco-weenie>Nothing is free especially when it comes to energy. Even if you are not directly burdened with the expense consider the externalities of what you are doing.</eco-weenie>
 
BillR said:
what size are they and how many? Don't want the cost per point to get way out of hand.

Gotta admit, would look good under my desk :D
Click to expand...

I saw them on ebay. They are 4 x 667mhz piii xeon's. They are going for less than 25.00 and the mobo is $35. So I could get the whole setup for <$100 w/ spare parts I have. As for the power issue, I live in military housing so I don't have an actual electric bill. I realize that it ultimately comes out of my/your taxes though to appease the naysayers. However I think I'm going to go w/ a m-atx board and athlon 2800+. Thanks to everyone for their inputs. I've got to admit the cool factor would have been high.
 
I would get the Xeons :)
There is no other way you could get 2.66GHz of SSE folding power for a hundred bucks (I mean real GHz, not P4 :p ). The 2800+ alone costs more than that... A Mobile 2600+ could give you comparable speed, but with decent cooling and a decent MB (which means more $$$).
So the only cons I can think of are electricity (although the difference would not be very large) and the possible need for exotic components (Registered DRAMs, special PSU or something)...
 
The dell xeon board needed Registered PC133 ram but I found a couple sticks for cheap. But I decided not to get the xeons. Since I only needed a chip and mobo I went with a xp 2200+ and an msi micro atx board. The price was about the same since I have spare parts to complete the box.
 
I got one, But I am working at a PC mod with it, it can take up to 4x 900mhz 2mb cache and 16gb memory. But whos counting I'm honored to help out team HardOCP or team 33.
I have also have the Power cabinet and am still working on to get the 3x 350w units

Oh Btw the Intel SRKA4 MB will only take 4x 100fsb Pentium 3 Xeon processors, it is incompatible with the 133fsb processors.

Your mouths will drop once I tell you I Ebayed the MB for only $24.00
 
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