budget bigadv folding rig

[chrisk]

A CPU folding rig (ie 860, 920) is functional for basic tasks like web surfing, music, etc. I have never tried anything like a Blu-Ray or such though.

You could try to find a used i7 920 setup. Really, anything with 8 threads clocked at approx 4.0 GHZ will do fine. I have basically stopped GPU folding myself and rely on Bigadv/Bigbeta units since this helps prevent the circuit from tripping in my apt.

[lowfat]

Is a 920 still a capable bigadv machine these days? I can't imagine they do all that well in terms of points after the bigadv point reduction. I wouldn't even do bigadv w/ a 2600k anymore unless it was a dedicated bigadv machine.

[chrisk]

i7 920 can do ~25k if clocked close to or at 4.0GHZ. If you can get one used along with a mobo I don't think its too bad.

[SugarJ]

Originally Posted by chrisk

i7 920 can do ~25k if clocked close to or at 4.0GHZ. If you can get one used along with a mobo I don't think its too bad.

Agreed. You can probably find a 920/X58 combo used for around $300, while a 2600K is $300 new by itself.

[MARSTG]

Originally Posted by SugarJ

a 2600K is $300 new by itself.

yeah I saw that too.
Just out of curiosity I am running some SMP units on only 2 cores from my Phenom II X4 940 at 3 GHz and completing 1%, I guess this is the TPF, takes 15 mins, so 4% per hour. In this rhythm it will take me more than 24 hours to complete one WU and I am getting 1806 PPD on the 7140 project. So I guess folding on all the cores will be a tad faster. If I overclock it 10% at 3.3GHz probably will give me 2 WUs per day. I see a core i7 950 is the same price as the core i5 2400k so would it be better just to get the i7 950?

[chrisk]

The i5 you mentioned is only 4 threads so it won't work with bigadv. You will need an i7 that has 8 threads, so that alone makes the i7 950 a better choice. The best route is to try to find a 920 somewhere.

[MARSTG]

yes but putting aside the bigadv, and thinking smp what would be the production of a corei5 2500k at let's say 4 ghz? what about a core i3 at 4.5 ghz like MAC had an article about?

found a core i7 940 new on ebay at 260$. good price? or should I look at used?

[_dangtx_]

for the i3 it will have to be 1156,btw :)

i think i was getting 2k ppd...memory fails me..around 4 gigs.

[MARSTG]

i found the Xeon X3440@245 on newegg.ca, it has 4 cores/8 threads and in general Asrock motherboards are one of the few (besides Intel) that offer support for the Xeons. Now my question is how overclockable are these Xeon models and what do I need as a cooler for them? How far will the stock cooler go?

[_dangtx_]

not that much,the only good thing about that 1156 cpu is that you'll be able to clock it vs a 2600 but hmmm.....