The price of freedom?

BrownSparrow

BrownSparrow

BrownSparrow

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In the folding sticky it is stated that it terms of performance foldy wise windows > Linux, but how great is that difference? Can anyone here recount their experiences of folding on multiple operating systems?

As i intend to make a couple of crunchers in the future obviously i want to keep the costs down, but will the advantages of a free operating system be outweighed by the impact on performance?
 
I'm not sure how well this relates to folding but with SETI the windows client was faster per CPU speed because it had a better set of optomisations for the OS, the Linux one didn't get as much work and was slower. Windows client running under wine was the situation of choice back in the day but as I sadi I have no idea how this is with folding :(

useless post really, sorry
 
Tis a pain. Set up an old box with 98SE a while back. Its a damn old machine (duron I think) but getting drivers for printers and stuff is tricky. Would hate to use new hardware with it :/

How much slower is linux, really? Where's Billy and his ninja posting skillz?
 
What would be cool is if anyone has/could do a comparison between os' on similar/identical hardware.

I thought about win98 and the like but as has been stated i thought drivers would be an issue.

Would a stripped down linux distro like gentoo or a base debian install recoup lost performance of client through minimal system requirments due to lack of services requiring cpu time?
 
I have a pair of dedicated crunchers, a dual 1GHz P3 machine and a single 1.8GHz Willamette P4. I'm not paying for an OS for them, so both are running Debian Etch and have been doing so for quite a few months now. I use Samba to enable monitoring via FAHMon, but I don't really bother with checking FAHMon for any of my crunchers so have no idea how they do performance wise, and don't really care either; at least they are doing something.

null :)
 
Tell ya what.

Ive got two identical machines (P4 Northwood 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM), both running windows. I've got to put linux on one anyway, so i'll et them both crunching and i'll check to see which one get the most ppd for a couple of projects.
 
Yes Win98SE is still licienced (thanks Mr.B) - but you can buy a ligit copy for a fraction of the cost of XP.

Yes it's Old but ran my 805 on a 955x chipset fine without a need for new drivers (it was up todate at it's EOL) Ok it didn't find second core (but neither did xp without a complete reinstall)

And from memory it let F@H crunched quicker as it used less cycles and ram.

Ok as a main rig XP's benifits far outweight all this, but as a crunching rig......?

Whitestart - I also would be keen to see what your 'twins' do like for like.
But am I right in thinking that the linux core crunches different WU to the windows cores?
 
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shadowscotland said:
Whitestart - I also would be keen to see what your 'twins' do like for like.
But am I right in thinking that the linux core crunches different WU to the windows cores?
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Thats a possability, I'll check.

Unfortunatly yesturday I got a motherload of work piled on me, so I won't be able to do the test until next week :mad:

Sorry guys

Mark
 
You need to do the ole paper boy trick...

Dump what you don't want to do in a bin, swipe a pint of milk of someones doorstep and swig it on your way back to the shop for your wages :D

Not that I ever did that of course...

SiriusB
 
no worries - work does really have to come first (but only if you can carry on crunching in the back ground :D )

Edit: You can tell SB is a student still - no morgage, no dependents, no worries - enjoy every minute of it :D (life on the other side is good, but very different)
 
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Ok - I accept that, there just different one - or the same ones with a lower multiplication factor :D (unless you've spent £150k in the last 6 months, and will be paying it off for the next 30 years!)

Actually it's working out less then renting but the deposit was a killer. :(

I loved being a student (all 7 years :D ) so get all you can for the experance (some how I think you already are :D )

Edit: how's that server/upgrade coming along :D
 
Just awaiting a loan deposit from the SLC. However I might have to either buy the server parts and wait a while until I can afford my upgrade to the 4400+ so I can liberate it for the server lol.

SiriusB
 
Unfortunatly yesturday I got a motherload of work piled on me, so I won't be able to do the test until next week :mad:
Click to expand...

No worries mate, i'm not going to be purchasing my new gear until the new year as i'm starting a new job next week (it had to happen, couldn't keep on being a travelling slacker all my life! :p ) and won't have any disposable dosh 'till after the festive season so i can wait. Lookin forward to what you discover tho!

You need to do the ole paper boy trick...

Dump what you don't want to do in a bin, swipe a pint of milk of someones doorstep and swig it on your way back to the shop for your wages

Not that I ever did that of course...

SiriusB
Click to expand...

Those were the days, getting up at 6am, freezing your unmentionables off, peddling your knackered bike for miles with a day-glow bag over you shoulder that weighed half a ton! And all for £10 a week! :(
 
BrownSparrow said:
Those were the days, getting up at 6am, freezing your unmentionables off, peddling your knackered bike for miles with a day-glow bag over you shoulder that weighed half a ton! And all for £10 a week! :(
Click to expand...

ahh yes the paper round, I did it for 2 days, then got a job in the same shop sorting out the papers (and opening the shop) for 2 hours before school, £5 an hour, in the warm, with a brew :D I had that job for about 5 years

Paul
 
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