help w/ building dedicated foldiong pc

[stereoud7]

operating systems

can i use Linux or some other free OS for folding?

I don't have the money for 3 copies of windows.

computer 1) i3 and 4 gig mem / 9500gt 512 mb

computer 2) i3 and 4 gig mem / 8400gs 256 mb

computer 3) i7 920 6 gigs mem / 2 x 285gtx in either SLI or not if can run separately.

what folding apps should i be looking at?

all are only going to be used for folding.

 

[Bobnova]

Linux works great, most dedicated folding farms run linux as far as i know.

 

[ChasR]

Use Ubuntu 9.04 and follow one of the guides to set up CPU and GPU folding (under wine). No need for Windows at all. Don't use Ubuntu 9.10 or 10.04 on any rig you plan to run GPU folding on. If you're never going to run gpu folding, give 10.04 a whirl it should have the fastest kernel.