Is this machine worthy of SETI@Home?

derv · 8 Jan 2012 at 21:20

My mum's PC has been upgraded recently and I now have her old Dell. Is it worth the electricity setting this up for a SETI 24/7 machine? It's so slow I have no intention to use it for anything else;

Intel Celeron 420 @ 1.6ghz
512MB DDR2 RAM 667mhz
Onboard 128mb graphics
150gb Sata HDD
Windows XP Home

Given that the machine is so unresponsive (30secs plus to open a window) I plan to give it a fresh XP install with windows updates, throw on some free AV software and let BOINC do it's thing.

Am I wasting my time? Are there any cheap upgrades worth doing for better SETI performance? A cheap Nvidia GPU perhaps or a bit of extra RAM?

derv · 9 Jan 2012 at 10:57

Cheers Biffa.

Looks like the motherboard may also take an E6600 CPU as the Celeron is on an LGA775 socket. I'll keep my eyes out for a cheap CPU and Nvidia card and will save on my electric until then.

Guess I need to start posting more so I can get access to MM. Being a forum member for 9 years isn't quite enough

derv · 9 Jan 2012 at 13:24

Quad core sounds good. What CPU should I be looking for? I've only been able to find dual core CPUs that fit a 775 socket.

derv · 10 Jan 2012 at 11:08

I will hopefully have a Q6600 coming through the post tomorrow. Since buying it I've discovered that quad cores might not work on the motherboard I have (they are fine on the normal model board, but the Dell board has some changes and a different BIOS). Sadly even if it does work I won't be able to overclock it.

Worst case my wife's PC will get the Q6600 and I'll take her E5400 for the SETI machine.

Now it's time to find a half decent Nvidia GPU, and no doubt will need a better PSU to run the thing. SETI is beginning to get expensive... I think I've caught the bug.

derv · 10 Jan 2012 at 13:10

It will be hooked up to my network which has shared folders active (pics of my family etc). Wouldn't it be a bit risky running a machine on my network without any AV?

derv · 12 Jan 2012 at 14:04

Motherboard didn't take the Q6600

My wife now has a nice upgrade on her machine (installed boinc on the quiet

) and I've got the E5400 in the Dell. I'm dropping in 2gb of RAM tomorrow.

What is the best second hand GPU I can get on the cheap purely for SETI? I want to spend as little as possible. I was thinking something like a GTX260 but have no clue when it comes to bang for buck.