Team 32's Starter's, Buying, Building, and Farming Thread

[jonspd]

Hello All,

I hope this will help a few of the newier members we have gather in the last few months. I would like to go ahead and point you to a few places you will need to know about if your going to start folding for team 32.



Folding @ Home Website

Team 32's Stats

ExtremeOverclocking Stats Page

Team 32's FAQ's section here

All New Members Post here

Milestone Thread

Those we hold in our thoughts

Our website for the team here

Want a Team 32 Shirt?



Other then just contributing to the team you can also join in on the many races we have just check the folding @ home section of our forums and your sure to find some kinda action to join in on.





Thanks in advance for any info provided that needs to be added...
jonspd

 

[jonspd]

AMD...

As for what to buy on the AMD side there are a few thing's you can choose from, all of which are going to be dual core unless you're just wanting to build a layer of single core cpu's for farming. I would also suggest that if you're going dual core to make sure it's the 1mb per core cache version as this will give a better performance.

There are only really 3 platforms I would suggest right off hand and that will be the 939 AM2 and AM2+. Although there are the 754 claw's, and fx style opty's.

939
The 3800x2, 4400x2, opty's 165, 170, and 175 are some of the top choices as for general system build and for those looking to take the cpu to it's max. The best board IMO is the DFI versions ultra-d, sli-d, and expert. Also MSI has a nice NEO line of board's along with Asus, and their good quaility boards.


AM2
The 3600X2, 4000x2, 5600x2 and 6400x2BE are some of the nice chips to pick from on the AM2 socket side of thing's. As for board's I would still recommend that you stay with one of the better board names the to try and cheap your way out unless it's for a layer then ECS make some nice choices.



AM2+
Best bang for the buck here is probably gonna be the 9500 series or 9550 as they can be had with frys deals and used pretty cheap. The phenom style chips have issues when overclock at idle so be sure that your stable. I have ran 2xvm with my original 9600be so it can be done.

 

[sno.lcn]

Intel

Currently SMP is giving the best ppd per folding instance and while it was intended for computers with 4 processing cores, it works quite well on dual core systems, mainly Core 2 chips. The larger cache versions have a great advantage.

Quad cores are really what you want for the best ppd though.

For best points/$:

Between Fridays and Thursdays Fry's has cpu/motherboard combos that can't be beat for the price. What they do is sell the cpu for normal price (and in some cases discounted) and throw in a free motherboard. And while the free motherboard is an ecs so it doesn't overclock very well but will still produce well. And if you want, you can probably sell the board on ebay for around 30 or 40 dollars.

The link for weekly fry's deals is HERE.
While it states on the website that there is no official affiliation with Fry's, I have found it to be dead-accurate every time I have gone to the store after something I saw on the site.


But what if you're overseas or don't live near a fry's? These awesome deals are usually in-store only...

It's okay! With the recent price drops, you can get great cpu prices from e-tailers as well. I personally prefer Tankguys, NewEgg, Zipzoomfly, Buy.com, and ClubIT.

I'm sure you can pair your new chip with a motherboard so I won't discuss those.

DDR2 ram is easy to find on your own for very cheap, or you can check the cyber deals section (actually, you can find deals on just about everything there).


This is definitely a work in progress. Post or PM any comments, suggestions, changes, additions, etc.


A good quote from ned:

Intel Quad core rigs are the ppd per dollar leader.

You'll need at least one Q6600 or better. Probably you will need 2. I think Q6600 is the best quad bang for the buck right now.

The PS3 is worth 900 ppd and the E6430 is worth what? Maybe 1700 ppd?

I've read you can get ~4000 ppd out of a Q6600, so I guess you might make it on just one.

05/27/08

Cheapest CASELESS 24/7 Folding Rig I would build right now:

Motherboard with VGA: GIGABYTE GA-G31M-S2L $49.99:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128078R
Overclocks Q6600s to 3.2 with ease.

CPU: Q6600 :$180-200 NEW ($150-165 USED)
http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0283289

RAM: ANY PC2-6400 Ram: Like this Corsair: ($27 after Rebate)
http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0245599

PSU: Anteq Basiq 350: ($19.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371013

Hard Drive: 40GB SATA Drives : ($29.50)
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?In...T94015AS-R&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=ST94015AS-R

HSF: Re-furbished Zalman 9500: ($35)
http://myworld.ebay.com/refurbdoc

OS: LINUX Fedora 8 or Ubuntu 8.04 (FREE)

TOTAL: $290-350

 

[pscout]

Client Selection guide

I just copied this from a post i made to the new members thread

Still needs some work to make it more useful as a standalone starter guide
and should either be linked into the welcome sticky or crosslinked to it?

We need to make it easy for new folders to get started if they come here first before stanford.
.
.
.


to OCF and T32 folding Joco and AfterShock

I checked both of your OCF id's and nobody else is using them on Team 32
(although they are in use on other teams - just make sure you enter 32 for the team number when configuring your clients)

The first thing to figure out is what folding clients are best for your rigs.

The first link below will help you setup a standard single core client which will work on any windows rig. Also not a bad way to get get your feet wet although it will not likely be the highest producer if you have dual core rigs and/or an ati x1900 video card.

Standard (ie. single core) clients are also available for MacOS and Linux if that is what you run.

1) Welcome sticky for standard client + other useful links
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=386159

If you have dual core rigs, and want to get higher production (points), then running one of the SMP clients will be best. They are all still in beta however so you could run into issues with them but nothing we can't help you out with.

I assume you are running windows, so if you have a dual core rigs then the win smp client will be easiest to start with.

If you have/like or just want to try out linux, there are 2 ways to run the 64-bit client, under native linux, or running linux under vmware under windows if you need to use windows apps on the rigs.

Beginners Guide to WinSMP on Vista or XP ->
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=505126

Beginners guide to VMWare and SMP install
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=494925

Ubuntu install guide for linux 64-bit SMP client ->
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=508568

I expect you will have some questions, so I would suggest you both start up a new thread here so we can help you through it.

 

[Audioaficionado]

Currently SPM is giving the best ppd per folding instance

You have a small typo
It's symmetric multiprocessing

 

[silent bob]

well thanks Bill Nye "The Science Guy"

 

[jonspd]

I think this needs alittle help!!!

 

[nitteo]

05/27/08

Cheapest CASELESS 24/7 Folding Rig I would build right now:

Motherboard with VGA: GIGABYTE GA-G31M-S2L $49.99:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128078R
Overclocks Q6600s to 3.2 with ease.

CPU: Q6600 :$180-200 NEW ($150-165 USED)
http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0283289

RAM: ANY PC2-6400 Ram: Like this Corsair: ($27 after Rebate)
http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0245599

PSU: Anteq Basiq 350: ($19.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371013

Hard Drive: 40GB SATA Drives : ($29.50)
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?In...T94015AS-R&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=ST94015AS-R

HSF: Re-furbished Zalman 9500: ($35)
http://myworld.ebay.com/refurbdoc

OS: LINUX Fedora 8 or Ubuntu 8.04 (FREE)

TOTAL: $290-350

 

[Cognoscenti]

05/27/08

Cheapest CASELESS 24/7 Folding Rig I would build right now:

Motherboard with VGA: GIGABYTE GA-G31M-S2L $49.99:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128078R
Overclocks Q6600s to 3.2 with ease.

CPU: Q6600 :$180-200 NEW ($150-165 USED)
http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0283289

RAM: ANY PC2-6400 Ram: Like this Corsair: ($27 after Rebate)
http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0245599

PSU: Anteq Basiq 350: ($19.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371013

Hard Drive: 40GB SATA Drives : ($29.50)
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?In...T94015AS-R&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=ST94015AS-R

HSF: Re-furbished Zalman 9500: ($35)
http://myworld.ebay.com/refurbdoc

OS: LINUX Fedora 8 or Ubuntu 8.04 (FREE)

TOTAL: $290-350

Dont let our secret out about the board.

 

[nitteo]

Dont let our secret out about the board.

Big thanks for the Great Tip!

I have bought 6 of these boards after your thread:
http://www.overclock.net/overclock-net-folding-home-team/308898-cogs-mini-folder-build-part-1-a.html

Nice to see you post here.

 

[David]

Anyone want to supply some more info on where the best $/PPD lies for AMD, Intel, ATi and nVidia? This thread is a year old now and the PPD landscape has changed some.

 

[jonspd]

I will be glad to work with someone on this. Unstick this one and me for amd someone else for intel can start a new one and maybe someone else can help with the gpu part.

If not maybe me and the other can work together on the gpu part.

 

[harlam357]

Agreed... you both have PM.

 

[David]

Thread unstuck.

Jon - please feel free to start a new thread and post the AMD stuff. Hopefully someone can chime in on Intel kit and GPUs.

 

[pik4chu]

well it opened for me 2nd try. Are you trying to get it as a download-able file or an actual table embedded in the post?

 

[Nihilus]

Alright so the first one is now done. As you can see line 10-19 care the components, so if you want to add a system just give me the line, the component chosen, and $. You don't have to put the type of component, since for example, line 10 will always be operating system. If you leave it blanck, Ill assume you want to keep that component the same as the first one. This is recommended for things like RAM, OS, case, HDD, and DVD drive. It makes for a better comparison and it makes my job easier. Also, make sure you include PPD, PPD/W and the rest.

Harlem, other administrators - Sorry, this thread may need some love

 

[Jmtyra]

No, its gonna have to be a download able file, I guess. I don't think you can edit the embedded document since it isn't saved anywhere.

What about google docs?

 

[Nihilus]

@Jymtyra - I'm not sure what those are!

alright to keep continuity, to calculate Nehalem CPU ppd, use the following formula: (1350)(speed in GHz)(# of physical cores) This is at 100 percent of course.

1350 is the constant which was based off of 2686 -bigadv work units.

example for my xeon 3440 (1350)(3.7)(4) = 19980 ppd
anybody with a 2686 wu, please check if this is close to they get

 

[Jmtyra]

@Jymtyra - I'm not sure what those are!

For the document that is being downloaded/uploaded. Here's an example.

 

[Nihilus]

For the document that is being downloaded/uploaded. Here's an example.

Cool, Jmtyra. That should work great. Can you just make another reply with a blank googledoc properly labeled. Also add in the info below, please. I'll fill in the rest, and then delete my other post to simplify the thread.

alright to keep continuity, to calculate Nehalem CPU ppd, use the following formula: (C)(speed in GHz)(# of physical cores) This is at 100 percent of course.
C is the contant for the family of CPUs based off of 2686 -bigadv work units.
Nehalem constant (w/ HT) : 1350
Sandy Bridge constant:
Bulldozer constant:
example for my xeon 3440 (1350)(3.7)(4) = 19980 ppd
anybody with a 2686 wu, please check if this is close to they get