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Thread: How slow computer is too slow? |
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Thread Status: Active Total posts in this thread: 16
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rousku
Cruncher Joined: Mar 21, 2013 Post Count: 9 Status: Offline |
I recently got an old leftover MSI Megabook laptop for free, and started wondering what to do with it. As you can see i found my way here, though i can't help but wonder if my ancient little lappy is anywhere near a worthy addition to these projects. It has a single core 1.8 GHz AMD Sempron, with just 1 gig of RAM. Surprisingly for a laptop it never exceeds 64 °C even at 100% utilization and the fan is rather quiet too, so no complaints from the wife (yet) either...
---------------------------------------- I've been crunching non-stop with it for almost a couple weeks now, barring some update-related reboots, and it seems the work this laptop can do in two weeks is a fraction of what any half-decent modern computer can do in just a few days. Is anyone else slaving away with something as slow as mine, or even slower? I realize any contribution is a contribution but if 99% of crunchers have much more modern computers, i don't think i see the point in keeping the little bugger running.  [Edit 1 times, last edit by rousku at Apr 2, 2013 6:59:22 PM] |
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sgoll
Advanced Cruncher Joined: Oct 24, 2006 Post Count: 87 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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I have two alix boxes, driven by a 500 MHz AMD Geode LX and one 1 GHz Via C3 "Nehemia" driven box. From time to time I power up an 650 MHz driven Slot-1 PIII and there is also a 550-MHz driven quad PIII. There can't be so much systems out there much slower then this. And I also run a Atom 330 based box with 4 x 1.6 GHz (2 Cores with hyperthreading).
----------------------------------------Any questions? :) Stephan  [Edit 1 times, last edit by sgoll at Apr 2, 2013 8:08:07 PM] |
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Mamajuanauk
Master Cruncher United Kingdom Joined: Dec 15, 2012 Post Count: 1900 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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One of our team members runs an old IBM T43 laptop, now thats, slow!
----------------------------------------If it runs reliably and runs the Boinc client. It will crunch, albeit slowly, and that is making a contribution. Fire it up! What you may like to consider, the older the machine the more power hungry they are likely to be. For the same power consumption, a newer machine may well do signifiantly more crunching. So while it was free there is a cost to run it... M
Mamajuanauk is the Name! Crunching is the Game!
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Sgt.Joe
Ace Cruncher USA Joined: Jul 4, 2006 Post Count: 7846 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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I used to run some PII and PIII boxes with win2000 which ran fine, very stable. But I got to the point where I could no longer justify the electric use for the slow systems and I shut them down. I have reached the point where I will be shutting down my P4 boxes for the same reason when HCC (the project with the shortest WU's) ends. I guess if you are OK with paying for the electricity to run the system keep it running, but it is up to you to decide if the costs involved are worth the benefits accrued. Regardless, I am sure your contribution is appreciated.
----------------------------------------Cheers
Sgt. Joe
*Minnesota Crunchers* |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
rousku, I crunch with two old laptops. It's all I have so that's what I use. They can crunch all of the projects except one of them does not have enough ram for CEP2.
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Coleslaw
Veteran Cruncher USA Joined: Mar 29, 2007 Post Count: 1343 Status: Offline Project Badges:
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rousku, up until a few years back, I was still running a 200 MHz PC in my farm. Since then, I have upgraded many times and cycled those out. Same reasons as most...electric costs. I have since parted them out and recycled them and have even moved beyond most P4's. If the P4 isn't at least hyper threaded, I don't even bother. Even then, I usually donate it to a friend or someone needy. My home uses mostly dual core and up. I will continue to upgrade and cycle out because the expense on electricity vs. modern needs is just too much. Laptops have the advantage of having more uses. So, those devices can be re-purposed and justified for continued usage.
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rousku
Cruncher Joined: Mar 21, 2013 Post Count: 9 Status: Offline |
Thanks for the replies, nice to hear mine isn't as hopeless as i had thought.
 Even though it is old and slow, it's still just a laptop. Since i also control it remotely via VNC, i can keep the lid closed so i figure the electric costs shouldn't be astronomical. In any case i'll be borrowing a meter from my electric company so i can measure the exact running costs. I do have a spare rig in the closet but as pointed out, particularly an old desktop computer would consume way more power than the work is worth, not to mention the power supply is likely to just blow up the second i put a 100% load through it. I wish i could afford to put up a "farm" for this.  This seems like something i could keep doing for a long, long time. |
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Coleslaw
Veteran Cruncher USA Joined: Mar 29, 2007 Post Count: 1343 Status: Offline Project Badges:
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I had a friend that converted a laptop into a battery backup device for is cable modem. That way if his power went out, he could run the internet off of it for a while. Obviously this takes some knowledge and also is a limited resource, but it worked for him. I have also used old laptops in the past as a media hub connected to televisions for streaming online videos as well as hooking up external drives for small backup server. We have even converted them into routers and access points. A lot of things you can do with laptops.
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Sgt.Joe
Ace Cruncher USA Joined: Jul 4, 2006 Post Count: 7846 Status: Offline Project Badges:
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I wish i could afford to put up a "farm" for this. This seems like something i could keep doing for a long, long time.Don't worry about it. Just do the best with what you have. Cheers
Sgt. Joe
*Minnesota Crunchers* |
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Coleslaw
Veteran Cruncher USA Joined: Mar 29, 2007 Post Count: 1343 Status: Offline Project Badges:
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After posting, I was given a couple Dell Latitude c510's. They were Pentium 3 1GHz laptops. One was used for parts and the other now has a 60 GB hard drive and 512MB ram. Fresh install of XP SP3 and a wifi card. This thing is now usable again for light internet use or many different alternate uses.
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