[David]

Just noticed at work some clearance PCs:
Pentium D 925 (3GHz)
1GB RAM, ATi onboard VGA
160GB HDD, DVDRW
Vista Premium (ugh)

These come in at £199.97 (~$400) which isn't bad for UK pricing. Are these worth it for folding, or are they likely to be completely and utterly decimated by anything of the C2D ilk?

For comparison a Q6600/2GB RAM/Mobo/Case/PSU can be had for in the region of ~£350. C2D barebones rig closer to ~£300.

If anyone wants one let me know where you are (UK) only and I can check stock at a nearby store when I'm at work on Friday.

[jonspd]

IMO the q6600 is gonna be alot better as the 925 want fold smp AFAIK..

[Leonardo]

I'm running two Pentium D930 computers, both clocked at 4.0GHz. The Pentium D9XX series are very good overclockers. With the Windows SMP client you can expect about 1150-1250 PPD at 4GHz. You can more than triple that production with an overclocked Q6600 running two SMP clients simultaneously with Affinity Changer.

Is it worth it? That's your call. If I were laying money for an additional system, I would spring for the quad core.

EDIT: Keep in mind, it is likely neither of the systems you referenced will overclock well with the stock hardware. I would imagine both are equipped with the Intel OEM CPU heatsink, which is a quality unit, but not not up to the task of overclocking. The motherboards are also probably very basic models without overclocking options. I would imagine the PPD data I provided above would still serve as good basis of comparison.

[David]

Originally Posted by Leonardo

I'm running two Pentium D930 computers, both clocked at 4.0GHz. The Pentium D9XX series are very good overclockers. With the Windows SMP client you can expect about 1150-1250 PPD at 4GHz. You can more than triple that production with an overclocked Q6600 running two SMP clients simultaneously with Affinity Changer.

Is it worth it? That's your call. If I were laying money for an additional system, I would spring for the quad core.

I'm looking to buy a new PC sometime soon. However I don't need excessive power so I was considering this OEM (Packard Bell) PC as a cheap (£200 + 1GB extra RAM) alternative to a full Q6600 system of my choosing (~£450). However if you reckon a Q6600 will completely outclass it (which it looks like it would) I'd rather just save the cash up and get the rig I was looking at building (Q6600, 4Gig RAM, 8500GT, 500GB HDD).

EDIT: I haven't poked around in the BIOS yet but I suspect overclocking is a no-go.

[JamesXP]

Q6600 would use less power and get more PPD, you could get a an OEM if they use a 1333FSB capable board just pad away to 3G's

[Leonardo]

For day to day use, you won't see much of a difference between a Q6600 and a Pentium D. I Folding@Home the Q completely outclasses the PD.

[APOLLON]

Originally Posted by Leonardo

For day to day use, you won't see much of a difference between a Q6600 and a Pentium D. I Folding@Home the Q completely outclasses the PD.

The comparison is a little unfair though, given that we're comparing a quad-core to a dual-core. A good comparison would be between a C2D and Pentium D, both with stable OC.

[Tyrinon]

Hello all.

I don't have any Folding rigs, but thought I would offer a comparison for a C2D and PD from the SETI perspective.

For SETI, I am using the newest BOINC platform and optimized clients for each chip's architecture.

The 930D is at 4ghz (asus p5wd, x1300, 2x512ddr2), and the e6400 is at stock (ecs p4m800pro-m, 9800pro, 1x1gb ddr2), and for points, these machines are almost even in production. The 930D is usually on top by 50-75 points on average, and this may have to do with the wife playing WOW for hours every day on the e6400, and with my hour or so of playing WOW every few days with the 930D.

For the SETI world, the q6600 is king and with the price/performance aspect of these chips, makes them worthwhile.

With that, David, if you will be Folding with your next rig, you may want to save up for the q6600 b/c I don't think you would be disappointed with your production increase!

[David]

Originally Posted by Tyrinon

Hello all.

I don't have any Folding rigs, but thought I would offer a comparison for a C2D and PD from the SETI perspective.

For SETI, I am using the newest BOINC platform and optimized clients for each chip's architecture.

The 930D is at 4ghz (asus p5wd, x1300, 2x512ddr2), and the e6400 is at stock (ecs p4m800pro-m, 9800pro, 1x1gb ddr2), and for points, these machines are almost even in production. The 930D is usually on top by 50-75 points on average, and this may have to do with the wife playing WOW for hours every day on the e6400, and with my hour or so of playing WOW every few days with the 930D.

For the SETI world, the q6600 is king and with the price/performance aspect of these chips, makes them worthwhile.

With that, David, if you will be Folding with your next rig, you may want to save up for the q6600 b/c I don't think you would be disappointed with your production increase!

Thanks for the input

I'll likely just save up and get the Q6600 then, I can only really afford to have one rig sucking power (aside from the laptop) so I'm best getting the most from it . A C2D/C2Q is a bit more future proof also.

[JamesXP]

Well the TDP of a 925 is 95, and a Q6600 is 95 too


More cores same power draw, win?


Also overclocking the preslers ensued lots of heat too.

[Leonardo]

comparison is a little unfair though...A good comparison would be between a C2D and Pentium D, both with stable OC.

Irrelevant. He asked for an opinion. If you asked me to compare a Dodge Neon and Porsche 911, I would do so. I agree with the latter part of your statement, but the OP wasn't asking for dual core to dual core comparisons.