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What to do?

C

CBlakeNS

Gawd
Joined
Dec 29, 2002
Messages
808
I have a old Hp Pavilion 8370 that I got for free with a pentium II processor that I just use for a little internet browsing and aim. Works fine for what I use it for, and for gaming and all I use my laptops, but what do you guys think I should do with the Pavilion, Ive already added some extra ram that I found laying around, cut a window and added led fan, added ethernet card and thats about it, what else should I do?

Please dont bash!

Here are the specs on the old comp :)

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/genericDocument?lc=en&cc=us&docname=bph04404
 
WTF? He didn't mean throw it out.

He meant, FOLD.

[H]ard|Folding, ya big loser. ;)

-J.
 
Q: What is Folding@Home?

A. Folding at home is a means of us taking our unused computer cycles to help Stanford University academics in medical research. The scientific bits can be found here: http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegroup/science.html but simply put we will simulate the behavior of proteins and hence hopefully understand them.



Q: How can my spare cycles help?

A. The behavior of proteins, called folding, is very complex. To simulate this with one computer would take a major mainframe, but by splitting this calculation into minor steps and then giving these to computers all over the world the University can use their meager computers to combine our work and produce more results overall. That's where we come in, we download these little bits and along with their program which does the calculations, uploads the completed work and downloads new work, and so the cycle begins gain.



Q: What are these bits of work called?

A. These units are called 'work units', the number of work units you complete is one of the markers used in the statistics to which teams often allude.



Q: What other figures are used in the statistics?

A. The other statistic reported is your 'total score', this is based on the time you take to complete a work unit as compared to a P2-400 Mhz - which is expected to complete one work unit in one day. (If a P2-400 takes 3 days to complete a protein then the score allocated will be 3)



Q: Is there a time limit to returning a work unit?

A. Yes, 3 days.



Q: What is the minimum PC capable of running Folding@Home?

A. Using Q's 4 & 5 above the minimum spec of a PC should be a PC that can complete a work unit in 3 days, which running flat out is a PC that is 1/3rd the power of a P2-400 (anyone want to argue the ratings of both Intel & AMD is welcome to try and calculate the actual chips required). There should be sufficient ram to handle the operating system and the folding client (at least 64Mb on win9x), any less ram and you will use the hard drive swap file and therefore this too will have a slight affect on the requirements to run F@H v4 - usually you wont need to worry about this. You must also have an internet connection available.



Q: Can my puny PC really make a difference to the team?

A. Yes, yes & yes. The [H]orde mainly consists of single PC setups which allows flexibility should any machine go down, or anyone take a break the affect is minimal. A team with large 'farms' is susceptible to a large farmer taking a break and their performance will therefore take a larger hit.



Q: Are there any valid reasons not to fold?

A. Yes, valid reasons are:
a) You are doing another medical research based distributed computing project.
b) You will never get Alzheimer's neither will your friends or relatives whether present or future and you don't care about strangers who may.
c) Your PC runs at 100% all the time even when you are not in front of it.
d) They've already found the cure for Alzheimer's.



Q: I am on a dialup, can I get multiple work units and download them all when done?

A. No, each folding work unit is based on previously submitted work and hence cannot support this feature (aka caching), however you can run multiple instances of the client by running them from separate folders, if you took part in folding1 then you should use the -local switch to launch the program, this effectively slows down each client but your overall work rate will be unaffected.



Q: I have a machine which cannot connect to the internet, can I use it?

A. Yes. Download and install the client into a separate directory on the internet machine, configure it and download a work unit. Then stop the client and cut & paste the entire directory to the other machine & restart the client. When the work unit is complete reverse the order to upload the completed work and download the next unit. This has been tested & proven to work.



Q: Where can I see my stats?

A. Stats can best be seen here at hardfolding.com

Note: When you first join you will be unlikely to see any stats for at least 6 hours after the first work unit is submitted.
 
Thanks for the reply, that answers my question!

I dont think im gonna send it away for medical reasearch although I would like to.... I do use it im just saying what would you guys do besides send it to folding or whatever its called.
 
You don't send your computer to them for use, Stanford sends you information via the internet/folding program and your computer runs it, when your computer is done, it uploads the results to the Stanford servers. All you have to do is turn on the program, sign up for the [H]orde, and let it do the rest.
 
CBlakeNS said:
Thanks for the reply, that answers my question!

I dont think im gonna send it away for medical reasearch although I would like to.... I do use it im just saying what would you guys do besides send it to folding or whatever its called.
Click to expand...


Like the guy said, you don't send it away...it is a program that runs on your computer, you just let it run and it does everything else itself.


If you don't want to do that....you could turn it into a jukebox that streams to your stero....you could turn it into a storage box.....etc etc etc.
 
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