New laptop cruncher

FluffySheep · 13 Dec 2009 at 16:57

This is a distributed computing thread!

Im after a new laptop and it will spend a lot of its time crunching SETI (as it sits on my desk in work switched on but not doing anything more taxing than power points!

What I want to know is can anyone suggest a laptop or maybe a chassis that will be good for the job, as I worry many laptops will overheat with modern processors doing their best (especially on improved apps) and anything more than 3 particles of dust. I'm looking to spend about £400-£500.

Any ideas as to good systems or alternatively stuff to avoid?#

Ta
Fluffy

theheyes · 13 Dec 2009 at 18:03

Not wishing to pee on your bonfire, but in my opinion laptops are best avoided for DC work as they're just not designed for the task. As you pointed out, heat is the main issue and with heat comes noise as the fans ramp up to keep the temps down - this will drive you nuts as the fans can get really loud.

Berserker · 13 Dec 2009 at 18:38

Heat is indeed the main problem. If you really must, then restrict BOINC to 50% of the CPU cores. Also, don't buy the highest CPU speed you can, because that's the one most likely to have heat problems.

My laptop got well into the 90s with both cores on full. With one core and a slight underclock (I did buy the fastest, but learned my lesson and underclocked it to compensate), it's fine (fan hardly spins up at all).

FluffySheep · 13 Dec 2009 at 21:54

theheyes said:
Not wishing to pee on your bonfire, but in my opinion laptops are best avoided for DC work as they're just not designed for the task. As you pointed out, heat is the main issue and with heat comes noise as the fans ramp up to keep the temps down - this will drive you nuts as the fans can get really loud.

I need a laptop as I need the portability for some jobs like watching DVDs while away and internet work at home (I manually start SETI!) As for the problem with noise, the laptop will be in a BIG science lab filled with kids...noise is not an issue

Im after chassis that have decent cooling as my current laptop (compaq nx9105 I am working on right now) has 2 60mm fans and some AMD64 processor (cant remember and cant be bothered with cpu-zright now) and in 4 1/2 years I have blown out about 10 times with hoovers and low pressure compressors and 1 full open up and reattatch the coolers and it is still solid (but slow as **** for work).

The purple suit brigade etc tend not to know how good cooling is and dont show the underside of the laptops in the shops (locked to the display) and the internet doesn't show the underside at all! My cousins laptop overheats with IE browsing :eek:

so Im after old hands to say what they use

Fluffy

Berserker · 13 Dec 2009 at 23:06

I've seen pics of a few of the laptops OcUK sell - one of those had a row of fans in the bottom. Might be a bit out of your budget, however.

I'd ask in the Laptops forum for laptops that can handle sustained high load.

FluffySheep · 13 Dec 2009 at 23:30

Berserker said:
I'd ask in the Laptops forum for laptops that can handle sustained high load.

Sounds like a plan...off I go and wish me luck

Fluffy

theheyes · 13 Dec 2009 at 23:37

They sell aftermarket coolers for laptops but I've not a clue how well they work:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=57&subid=1406

Be good if you could leave it in a server room or somewhere cold and dust free.

As for which laptops to avoid, I can only speak from my experience. I wouldn't recommend any sort of Mac laptop (with a budget of < £500 this shouldn't be a problem). Coincidentally the low(ish) budget might do you a favour as I find the budget laptops tend to be a bit more bulky which would suggest better airflow.

I think Berserker has a good point - underclocking or limiting the CPU usage might be the way to go as you'll then be able to choose the right laptop based on other criteria and not just cooling.

edgedemon · 13 Dec 2009 at 23:42

I have a HP Pavillion dv6
Quad core i7 @ 1.6
Nvidia 230M

Happily cunching away, though you will need to drop the cpu usage down to 50% to make the heat output bearable, and Im running CUDA and crunching on the GPU :eek:

I've been crunching on laptops for years now and one thing I will say is that it will shorten the life of your laptop, I have never had one go past 3yrs, but work buy mine so it isn't such an issue - if I was buying them, Im not so sure I would bother..