Overclocking…Pushing your CPU to it’s limits, being on the cutting edge of extremely fast & efficient processing power. Sure, this all sounds great & wonderful, but what exactly are you *DOING* with that GHz processor you squeezed out of a Duron or an Athlon? Playing games? Being able to sit on your ass and watch DVD movies while downloading midget porn from a site you’re viewing WHILE playing Q2 in a window without sucking up any resources? This leads me to a very interesting point – productivity.
Being productive with all that CPU power would be nice. You’ve unlocked the multiplier on your nifty new processor, paid tons of cash for a active cooling setup, burned the CPU in, taken hours of your precious time for what? A few more FPS? A chance that maybe you’ll get a pat on the back & a handshake from some mystical overclocking god that says “Yes, my son…you have done well.”
What is the PAY OFF for having all that power? Do something good! Use that processor power to solve a bigger problem, become part of
the solution, not part of the problem.
The answer to this lies in Distributed Computing. A company taking YOUR resources and doing something good with it, solving a problem it couldn’t normally solve with the systems it has available. This is a great way of not wasting your idle CPU cycles. For you to take that
extra power you’ve harnessed via multiplier unlocking & voltage cranking, and make a difference.
Below I’ve compiled a few links for you to check out. I urge you to go visit these sites, to go out there and contribute your computer to these worthwhile causes. And yes, some places will actually PAY you to run their client software and help out.
Prime95 is a great example of distributed computing, and it’s a very popular method of “burning in” a CPU to see if it’s stable under heavy use. Did you know that someone won $50,000 (out of $100,000 Grand Prize) using Prime95? A user with a Pentium 2 350 was the recipient of the prize. What exactly is YOUR setup capable of?
Internet Distributed Computing Projects
Very large list of distributed computing sites, with some pay sites too. I urge you to go check this site out, as this is the one that turned me on to distributed computing.
Help crack encryption, making future encryption methods more robust, and secure.
This is a cool one. Use your PC to generate and test millions of drug compounds against detailed models of the HIV virus. Maybe your PC will be responsible for a cure?
The people responsible for fight AIDS @ home and SETI@home – they offer multiple scientific/medical-oriented distributed computing projects for you.
A lot of these different sites offer contests, cash prizes and more. All for you running a small program in your taskbar that uses your CPU while it’s idle. Pretty cool, huh?
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