Seti W/U time!

[ArmyLifeSucks]

I have been using SETI now for about a year. I first started crunching on my PIII 500 and the best time I could get for a work load is about 13 hours. The system I have now does alot better then that (7 Hours). I would like to know how people that have a slower system then I do can crunch faster? And, what kind of a machine are these guys using to get times of 4-5 hours?

[Burning Phoenix]

P4 1.7 averaging few minutes over 4 hours.

My 1st couple of WU's hit 30 + hours before figuring out not to run other apps while the seti is actively running. Now run only by itself with monitor blanking after few minutes. Occasionally i come back to see how far it has progressed.

[TC]

You can do a lot to optimize a slower machine - really any system for that matter. My best times consistently come from a 1.7 gig P4 overclocked to 2GHz. When it's cool I can leave it at 2.1 gigs and it does average units in the mid to high 2 hour range. My second best system is an Athlon MP at 1.4GHz - does units in the high 3 hour range.

[ArmyLifeSucks]

what can I do to help my system crunch more for SETI?

[chawken]

Originally posted by ArmyLifeSucks
what can I do to help my system crunch more for SETI?

One major thing that helps WU times is to get the highest possible fsb setting on your system. Many people have the misconception that overclocking their system by raising the multiplier will give them more performance.

AMD 1.33ghz CPU

System 1 133fsb x 11.5 = 1.533
System 2 153fsb x 10 = 1.533

System # 2 will be a better performer because it has a much larger bandwidth.

I have a PIII 1.0ghz @ 1.170 (156x7.5) and it crunches an ave AR, .4xx, in about 5hr to 5hr 15min. Before overclocking, 1.0@1.0 (133x7.5) it did those same WU's in about 8hrs.

[deez]

My average is just over 8 hours, but lately i've been getting a lot of good WU's that I can finish in under 7 with the system listed below

Unrelated question (kind of)......What program is best to use to move swap file?

[chawken]

Originally posted by deez
My average is just over 8 hours, but lately i've been getting a lot of good WU's that I can finish in under 7 with the system listed below

Unrelated question (kind of)......What program is best to use to move swap file?

Norton Speed Disk or Nuts and Bolts. Both will optimized the swap files to the head of the disk.

[chaosdriven]

1. Make sure you are using the Command Line Client
2. Use a higher FSB overclock as mentioned above
3. Adjust your memory timings

My machine completes workunits in the 3.5-4 hour range for the most part.

[JigPu]

Originally posted by chaosdriven
1. Make sure you are using the Command Line Client
2. Use a higher FSB overclock as mentioned above
3. Adjust your memory timings

And don't forget...

4. Either
a. Upgrade your slow processor...
~~~or~~~
b. buy annother computer

;)
JigPu

[Basher]

Running windows 2k also gives you a little performance boost.

[proze]

Originally posted by Basher
Running windows 2k also gives you a little performance boost.

really? guesstimate of how much time it saves you..?

[Basher]

It's not a huge difference but a little few minutes per wu is my guess, can't remeber been a long time since I ran 98se. But honestly win 2k is so much more stable than 98 I would suggest upgrading if you can just for that reason alone.

[proze]

but innit more bloated and slower as well?