[yoesh]

i'm sure this is out there somewhere, but i can't find it....what are the best/better CPUs for Folding? I have a 1.8 G5 (single) -- how does that compare to a P4, P3 or Athlons in terms of DC computing power?

Also -- what's the best distributed computing project for the G5s? I remember my older Macs (604e) would fly on SETI (in the early days) -- can the pre-G5 machines still contribute (realistically) to DC projects? I know there are some that are running 6100s on SETI, but I'm not thinking about going that far back. I have some P3, P4 and 604e machines (in addition to the G5) at my disposal (and maybe a new Athlon XP coming my way soon).

I'm all for finding ET, but the practical side of me likes the folding projects' medical advances. Don't know much about the others (Prime number search, etc....)

Any pointers, hints or suggestions greatly appreciated.
Cheers,

[Shaktai]

Originally posted by yoesh:
Any pointers, hints or suggestions greatly appreciated.
Cheers,

Well, except for SETI, Evolution@home and maybe RC-5, almost all of the projects require Mac OS-X, so I think that excludes your 604's for any project except those. The P3's & P4 should do fine on any of them, and the Athlon if you get it is good on any project.

Your G5 should do well on Folding@Home especially when you get some Gromacs workunits. This thread in the F@H forums should give you an approximate idea of how the various platforms compare on one specific work unit. Mileage does vary though.

With mikkyo's "optimized" clients, Predictor@home is also a good project for G5's. IMHO, Folding@home and Predictor@home are right now maybe the two best for G5's. Any project that takes the time to optimize for the Mac the G5 should do well on.

[DrBoar]

Regarding the 604 computers
SETI is the only "native" DC client out there, remember to have the computer to go to blank screen ASAP as drawing the graphics has a huge impact on slow computers.

If you have a 200 MB RAM and 2 GB HDs you can actually install OS X from 10.0 to 10.1.5 on your 604 computers with the help of Xpostfacto
http://eshop.macsales.com/OSXCenter/


Predictor, F@H and DF all work on a 200 MHz 604E.
DF is good if you have a lot of RAM (increasing RAM allocation from 25 to 150 MB boost speed a lot). However, the DF client is patched often and those patches does not update as they should on old OS X versions.

F@H, have a tighter time table so the 604 need to run 24/7 or close to that. This is what I run now as it is "set and forget" with long times before updates.

http://www.arsfoodcourt.com/index.ph...t%20DC&meid=27

and http://www.cox-internet.com/setispy/efficiency.htm

has lots of useful information, hmm I better get back chasing Zimmerman in F@H:

[siliconman]

Originally posted by Shaktai:
Well, except for SETI, Evolution@home and maybe RC-5, almost all of the projects require Mac OS-X, so I think that excludes your 604's for any project except those.

Actually RC572 and OGR-P2 require the new 2.9 dnetc clients which have only been compiled for OS X. I've been wanting to take the time to do a carbon port so that older PPC Macs can contribute, but I'm way too short on time.