Use for older desktop?

[aakast42]

I have a Dell 4600C (P4 3.2GHZ, 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD, DVD-R DL drive, GeForce 6200) that's not being used really. I looked on ebay to see what people would pay for it but it's so little it's not even worth selling at this point. I know a lot of people turn their older PC's into file servers and the like but this is one of those tiny slim-line computers and there is literally no room for more storage and the on-board NIC is 100mbit not gigabit. I just don't see much use in turning it into a storage server of any kind.

Donating it to a school has been a thought but it is still a capable computer and if I can find a decent use for it I'd prefer that. It obviously doesn't take up much room or use too much power so it's not really a nuisance that I'm trying to give away or get rid of. Any suggestions or ideas on a good use for it?

I have a different desktop to do the heavy lifting and plan on getting a laptop sometime in the next 8 months or so.

 

[leetskeet]

find an old person to give it to or an under unprivileged kid that wouldnt sell it for a jenkum fix.

 

[tiraides]

Here are some recommendations, courtesy of the FAQ:

Lol, I just dug up one of my old posts to copy into another post. And then I see this one while it was still on the clipboard. So here it is again.

#1 Fold - Google [H]orde Team 33 and Google "Folding Farm"
#2 Network Attached Storage - Google NAS DIY
#3 Mail / Web Server - Google Apache Server
#4 Christmas Light Controls - Google Computer Christmas
#5 Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence - Google SETI
#6 Learn Linux - Google Ubuntu and DistroWatch
#7 Sell it - You should have no need to google ebay.
#8 Donate it to a folder - http://www.hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=111
#9 Use it as a backup or second PC
#10 Media Jukebox for parties - Google Silverjuke
#11 HTPC (maybe you'll want a new case and TV tuner card) - http://www.hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=103
#12 Total Home Automation - Google x-10
#13 Mod it into something new and exciting that will compliment your style - http://www.hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=13
#14 Firewalled router - Google m0n0wall
#15 Build an arcade cabinet - Google MAME
#16 Build a carputer - Google Car Computer
#17 Build a USB controlled Dance floor or Bar - http://web.mit.edu/storborg/ddf/

 

[rsquared]

Is it quiet? Personally, I would stick it in a corner of my desk's lower shelf and leave it to run Folding@Home.

 

[Syribo]

I use my Dell Dimension 4550 (2.4GHz, 1GB RAM, 250GB HDD, 9700 Pro) as a folding machine (Especially since I can NOT get F@H to work on my new computer) and I use it to look up information when I'm playing a game full screen on the other computer.

If you really can't figure out any use for it, for yourself, definitely see if you can donate it to someone who needs a computer. My Dell is still a pretty damn good computer considering it is over 5 years old... Perfect for listening to music, web surfing, email, chatting, watching movies, etc.

 

[Gorankar]

Use it for for im, music, voip/ventrillo, whatever while you are gaming on your primary rig. Giving it to a relative our maybe getting a couple of hundred or so selling it on craigslist. You can often get a lot more there then online for the same items. A lot of people still prefer to deal face to face. Set it in the corner and use it as a backup when your primary rig goes down or something. It's a slim case so maybe a htpc makeover. Any number of things you could do.

 

[Blown 89]

Here are the uses I've found for my old computers:

Car PC
Media Center PC/DVR
Music Server with Jinzora

 

[aakast42]

why in the world would I want to use it for "folding"? Am I missing something here? Why would I want the computer running at full throttle 24/7 using up a bunch of electricity so I can "earn" imaginary points or whatever it is? I'd honestly love to know why people do this.

 

[Gorankar]

why in the world would I want to use it for "folding"? Am I missing something here? Why would I want the computer running at full throttle 24/7 using up a bunch of electricity so I can "earn" imaginary points or whatever it is? I'd honestly love to know why people do this.

It's not about the points, at least it shouldn't be. http://folding.stanford.edu/ should shed some light on it.

Another possible use is for building a robot and programming it to mix drinks for you.

 

[verymagicalguy]

why in the world would I want to use it for "folding"? Am I missing something here? Why would I want the computer running at full throttle 24/7 using up a bunch of electricity so I can "earn" imaginary points or whatever it is? I'd honestly love to know why people do this.

The data gathered from folding is used by researchers to discover cures for diseases such as cancer, Alzheimers, etc. And yes, folding actually does do something. I actually use the GROMACS++ core in my research (I'm a biologist/biotech researcher). If you want to know what it really does and how it helps, pm me.

 

[aakast42]

The data gathered from folding is used by researchers to discover cures for diseases such as cancer, Alzheimers, etc. And yes, folding actually does do something. I actually use the GROMACS++ core in my research (I'm a biologist/biotech researcher). If you want to know what it really does and how it helps, pm me.

whatever you say. I spend 9 hours a day, 5 days a week, working on compounds to treat Alzheimers and on new broad spectrum antibiotics. Not once have I needed anything this project has produced. It would do more good for people to donate the money they saved in electricity by NOT "folding" to a research institution where focused and directed work is done (not just throwing a bunch of crap at the wall and hoping something sticks). Cleavage points on APP are the most critical dynamic that determines whether amyloid plaques are formed in the brain (folding isn't really involved and the protein structure is known for the parts of APP that are concerned). For instance, modulating (in this case, upregulating) alpha-secretase activity will cause cleavage of APP that results in non-amylogenic peptides... no need for folding there. I just see this as really an exercise in distributed computing more so than getting real useful information from. Makes people feel good I guess but again it seems like a waste of electricity (thus a needless waste of energy) and money.

 

[verymagicalguy]

whatever you say. I spend 9 hours a day, 5 days a week, working on compounds to treat Alzheimers and on new broad spectrum antibiotics. Not once have I needed anything this project has produced. It would do more good for people to donate the money they saved in electricity by NOT "folding" to a research institution where focused and directed work is done (not just throwing a bunch of crap at the wall and hoping something sticks). Cleavage points on APP are the most critical dynamic that determines whether amyloid plaques are formed in the brain (folding isn't really involved and the protein structure is known for the parts of APP that are concerned). For instance, modulating (in this case, upregulating) alpha-secretase activity will cause cleavage of APP that results in non-amylogenic peptides... no need for folding there. I just see this as really an exercise in distributed computing more so than getting real useful information from. Makes people feel good I guess but again it seems like a waste of electricity (thus a needless waste of energy) and money.

Thanks for the insightful post. Now that I think about it, maybe protein folding isn't necessary in some of these fields. The research I do is exactly what the idea of folding was developed for. However, I'm not sure about how much the money used for folding being donated would actually help. Some of the clusters that people run on [H] are much more efficient than the clusters that we use that are a couple of years old.

 

[rsquared]

I spend 9 hours a day, 5 days a week, working on compounds to treat Alzheimers and on new broad spectrum antibiotics. .... It would do more good for people to donate the money they saved in electricity by NOT "folding" to a research institution where focused and directed work is done (not just throwing a bunch of crap at the wall and hoping something sticks).

Currently I run F@H on the in-house Web-and-file server. If I turn it off then people can't access the servings, so I might as well have it doing something in between requests. Honestly I doubt I would have a computer only for folding.

A lot of important breakthroughs have been made by accident. The throwing-crap-at-the-wall procedure has precedent. I think of it as data mining.

What are some of these research institutions to which we should donate for Alzheimer's research? My stepfather has Alzheimer's---if my folding isn't helping him (indirectly), then what will?

 

[aakast42]

Currently I run F@H on the in-house Web-and-file server. If I turn it off then people can't access the servings, so I might as well have it doing something in between requests. Honestly I doubt I would have a computer only for folding.

A lot of important breakthroughs have been made by accident. The throwing-crap-at-the-wall procedure has precedent. I think of it as data mining.

What are some of these research institutions to which we should donate for Alzheimer's research? My stepfather has Alzheimer's---if my folding isn't helping him (indirectly), then what will?

I hope i didn't mislead you. I don't actually donate to Alzheimers research as my current directive right now is... well.. development of drugs to treat Alzheimers disease and another directive for new broad spectrum antibiotics (most of my time is spent focused in the Alzheimers front right now though.)

OK, I just re-read your post and see that you were asking for a name of a place one could donate to. Since I haven't personally tried I really don't know of a place. I'm payed in a for profit model (ie. big pharma, we're not the devil Michael Moore says we are. We're really just normal people/scientists, with normal lives, an interest in biological/biochemical (you could maybe call it "wetware"), a hope that we can make something for society, and go home at night to our families and all the things everyone of us likely does). Sorry about the rant there, I just feel like we've been branded in the national consciousness as people who squeeze profit out of desperate patients when in fact it takes roughly $17 billion to take a single new chemical entity (new drug, not just a reformulation) from the mind of a chemist to the Rx pad in the doctor's office (The ENTIRE pharma industry produces less than 30 of these annually). I'm sure searching would turn up tons of foundations and institutions that do work on Alzheimers that rely on donations though.

 

[aakast42]

Thanks for the insightful post. Now that I think about it, maybe protein folding isn't necessary in some of these fields. The research I do is exactly what the idea of folding was developed for. However, I'm not sure about how much the money used for folding being donated would actually help. Some of the clusters that people run on [H] are much more efficient than the clusters that we use that are a couple of years old.

I think I see what you're saying, it's not the actual data created by people using their computers to crunch these numbers but the tools developed to model the folding are used by yourself in your research? Do you come up with a simulation and somehow submit to the program and it gets crunched and given back to you or do you simply use the tools and some institutions computing power to model just what you need?