[serpico]

just wondering what the point of having a MAC team is if most of the cpu s are intel

[jbcool]

Originally posted by serpico:
just wondering what the point of having a MAC team is if most of the cpu s are intel

Simple! Mac users are smarter. Just kidding no flaming please.

The reason we use both Mac and PC computers are because a lot of us do or have done computer support and we know to use the correct tool for the job at hand. If you will notice most use linux and AMD processors also. This is a price performance issue.

I can build AMD 2400+ dedicated cruncher for under $250.
Motherboard $60, CPU $80, Power supply $25, hard drive $20, memory $50.

That way I can use my DP mac and intel PCs for other tasks and let them crunch when I hav not got them loaded down with work.

[Shaktai]

Ditto! Pretty much what jbcool said.

2 Macs & 4 PCs (Linux and Windows)

The PC's are purely dedicated crunchers. I interface with them no more then necessary just to keep them running (which is a heck of a lot more then it should be for a one trick pony).

My Macs are my "real work" machines. They do everything that I ask and crunch without a problem. The only thing that stops them is a sustained power outage. Of course, if I win the lottery or something, I might just dump them all for a bakers dozen of dual G5 PowerMacs.

[jbcool]

Originally posted by Shaktai:
Ditto! Pretty much what jbcool said.

2 Macs & 4 PCs (Linux and Windows)

The PC's are purely dedicated crunchers. I interface with them no more then necessary just to keep them running (which is a heck of a lot more then it should be for a one trick pony).

My Macs are my "real work" machines. They do everything that I ask and crunch without a problem. The only thing that stops them is a sustained power outage. Of course, if I win the lottery or something, I might just dump them all for a bakers dozen of dual G5 PowerMacs.

My crunchers have been pretty good about not having problems once I finally got the firewall software that each machine has correct. The sit behind a hardware firewall. Can you say pair a noid?
"I hear you knockin' but you can't come in".

And Shaktai about winning the lottery. "Dreamin' nothin' more than dreamin'"

[Shaktai]

Originally posted by jbcool:
And Shaktai about winning the lottery. "Dreamin' nothin' more than dreamin'"

Hey nothing wrong with dreams as long as you recognize them for what they are. Dropped my usual $3 for tonights game anyway, big spender that I am and all. About half the time, I forget to play.

Heh, my brother wrote a computer program to randomly select his numbers. Played religiously for months, then one week his computer selected the winning numbers for a $3 million jackpot.

Problem is he forgot to buy his ticket that week....

[DrBoar]

Well most PCs are x86. I have one that control some eqipment that is used of and on but most of the time the computer is sitting idle. If I was offered a lod computer from a friend or at work it is likely that it would be a Winbox. Still non Mac computers account for less than 1 percent of my crunching

[RealMac]

I agree with the other posters here. The Mac is more of a personal workstation type machine. Something you use when you want elegance and quality. The homebuilt PC is something you run when you want a specific task executed.

The price / performance ratio for PCs just can't be beat. Sure a G5 may be faster than the top of the line pentium / athlon system. However when you can build 4 PCs for a fraction of the cost for something like distributed computing, you kinda have to take a step back and ask yourself if you really need a mac for this.

PCs are becoming like a commodity. Apple has been good ad differentiating the Mac platform from the sometimes second rate slap whatever parts you want together PC world.

So the question we ask ourselves is this. Do we need an elegant solution or something cheap that just get the job done at a fraction of the cost. Of course this applies to distributed computing (where sheer number of cpus and processing performance are the primary methods of being successful), but may not in other areas.

ok, I'm ranting now...

[mikkyo]

30 macs, 2 linux Althons.
Not any PCs, heh.
The linux boxen run linux-only software, then feed it to a web server.
I've considered building a cheap Althon farm, but haven't had much time.
I should probably be saving up for G5s anyway.

[Zimmerman]

Originally posted by mikkyo:
30 macs, 2 linux Althons.
Not any PCs, heh.
The linux boxen run linux-only software, then feed it to a web server.
I've considered building a cheap Althon farm, but haven't had much time.
I should probably be saving up for G5s anyway.

Heck, I'm on a Athalon XP1700+ with XP Pro. I haven't owned a Mac for half a year or so. I'm fixing to get a 12"PB pretty soon though. B)

[bousozoku]

Hmm...another Athalon. These people must be Athaletes.

I'm surprised that the MACs don't have Athalons.

[Zimmerman]

Woop, my bad. -Athlon-, not Athalongschlong or whatever I posted.