Folding@Home Dream PC?

I enjoyed reading the latest Folding@Home article in CPC issue 70 and you managed to convince me to join in on a more permanent basis.

I think CPC and BT should take things further and introduce either a Folding rig to the Dream PC competition or a dedicated article to a complete dream folding rig.

Dream PC has encouraged those willing to experiment more with their intended build. Even those that have not gone out and purchased one, many have used them as a building block providing them with the confidence to take it a step further.

This has helped introduced a number of mainstream consumers to the world of the enthusiast pc. We can do the same, not only to raise awareness to these distributed network projects but to introduce people to them.

I used to be under the impression dedicated folding rigs were cobbled together with old bits of hardware from previous builds but this isn’t the case. Folding becomes an incentive to spend your cash and our partners would certainly argue a ridiculous amount of money is being spent on new hardware. The evidence can be seen on this forum daily.

Nvidia has cashed in without doubt due to the Cuda range either intentionally or unintentionally, so there is unquestionably a market for a dream folding rig. Hopefully down the line we may even see an extended product range on our favourite e-tailers website.

 

It's an idea but nobody is going to spend £10k on a "Dream PC" just for folding.

I'll produce some suggested hardware configuration guides very soon (especially as I'm producing a folding farm section in my upcoming shop).

I think the problem will be that us folders prefer building our own machines (it's the only chance we actually get to use the hardware)

 

I guess it would also depend on the maximum production of a single unit compared to spreading your budget across a number of machines. It would be nice to see more thought and attention going into folding productive hardware within the magazine & online features though.

 

The magazine now publishes ppd on every graphics card review & states if a mobo would be good for a farm.

Currently maximum ppd could be got from a core i7 with 4x GTX295's but that's not going to be cheap.

 

Has anyone here built a rig with a similar spec?

 

I think jackofall did (untill the mobo died).
50k ppd I think

 

I got it up to 64K PPD, before the CPU and mb died. That was with the CPU watercooled at 3.8GHz, and 2 of the GTX295's watercooled and overclocked a little. Recent experimentation with overvolting GTX295's and then overclocking some more, I reckon I could get another 8-10K PPD per day from such a rig. I think the unofficial record from a i7 940 and 4x GTX295's stands at just a little over 70K. When the P6T7 is finally on sale in the UK, I might give it a go again, with all 4 295's watercooled, depending on the price of the board.

 

thats crazy, so u could become a top 20 producer on 1 rig hehe

 

Do you know why the mb and cpu died?

 

The word ASRock should explain it all

 

IMHO, Death by overclocking! The ASRock Supercomputer mb is built to a price point. I don't think the CPU voltage reg circuit is, how shall we put it, over-engineered. Toms Hardware killed 2 of these boards by overclocking them. I knew about this before I purchased the board, but got a 1.03 hardware version board anyway. Not that I had a choice - I still don't know if the 1.04/1.05 revisions are available in the UK. Taking that into account, I deliberately backed off the overclock to 3.8GHz, to use a lower VCore. The computer died after 3 weeks 24/7 folding. The CPU wouldn't boot in another board. The mb smelt burnt in the voltage reg area.

Toms Hardware follow-up article on the board, with the later hardware revision is here.

 

Chuckle!

I've had an ASRock! (Translation: I've had a disaster! )

 

Wonga

There are some people here spending fortunes on folding rigs - is this a lottery winners forum by any chance ?

I spent £400 getting a GTX275 and an Asus barebones/8800GS for folding and the missus nearly killed me, how do you 'big spenders' get away with it, are you all shop owners or business owners?

Jealous

 

Just don't ask about the electricity bills ...

 

Lol I spent a fortune aswell best thing to do is wait till the misses goes out then go on a spending spree...Now the warm weather is here my house is like an oven, all I get is turn them off you aint using them they just dont understand ...
I wanted a gtx 285 and was told if you want it work the overtime so I did ,just make sure you buy them a pair of shoes and some sweets to keep them sweet

 

First rule is get the bits delivered to work, build the box then sneek it in
Other rules to follow are:
Don't let the missus get to your bank or CC statements before you do.
Never use a joint account.
Show them your name in print (gives it a physical presence)
Explain it's your money & you'll spend it how you want (followed by sleeping on the sofa, flowers & a holiday)
Don't let her open the lecky bill.

 

that word sends shivvers down my spine.......asrock.........bbbbbrrrrrrrrrr
utter shite
cheers spunky

 

Haha i love the fact that im not the only one that gets stick from the missus. I think she is coming around now though, plus like you say get the kit delivered when she is not around. When she asks about it just say "i mentioned i bought that back from work the other week, haven't you been listening?!" Works for me.

 

Do you get the leccy bill sent to work...?

lol

 

This.

Yes, but that's no excuse