Hopefully genesisone gets a notification about this thread on this e-mail because he hasn't sent any results since March 23 so he may not see this.

Sorry about your parents, genesisone.

Well, World Community Grid (and its Projects) ONLY use CPUs. So if you are buying or dedicating a machine to WCG then don't even worry about the graphics card.

Other non-WCG distributed computing projects DO use the GPU so you would want to do some research if that's what you want to work on.

In general, yes, GPUs can do more work and/or more efficient work than a CPU but that's a blanket statement with disclaimers. GPUs are intended only for graphics processing. CPUs, on the other hand, are intended to handle any kind of algorithm/problem/math you can throw at it.

I have been purchasing Lenovo P330 Intel i9 desktops over the past 2+ years to do 24x7 WCG work. They are 16 threads and I've been very happy. The machines have cost me each about $700 before tax. They sit in my basement where it is 65 degrees year-round. I have about 10 machines and they do produce some nice (not quite free) heat for the winter. :)

I have tried the new Apple M1 Macbook Air ($899) with 8GB of RAM and 256GB drive and it can only run 4 cores (instead of 8) due to thermal throttling. My hunch is that the Mac Mini can run all 8 cores because it doesn't throttle at all/as much. Regardless, the performance for WCG on these new Apple M1 machines is underwhelming. Then compare that the M1 machine is $200 more than the Lenovos and it's not even convincing to buy the Macbook. Then, if I even want to use all 8 cores on the M1 Macbook I need to plunk down another $180 for RAM from Apple so we're talking $700 vs. basically $1100. But I am comparing a laptop to a desktop. If I compared the Mac Mini ($859 with 16GB RAM so it will use all 8 cores) to the $700 Wintel Lenovo, I'm still spending a lot more money for a LOT less performance (8 cores from Apple M1 and 16 from the i9).

Furthermore, the Lenovo machines I purchased have Windows 10 on it...nowadays I can save $80/machine by ordering with Linux so we're talking about $620/machine instead of $700/machine.

My overall preference the past 10+ years is using Wintel machines. I aim to buy high end Intel consumer chips (not Xeon) in bare-bones systems brand new during great sales like Black Friday. In theory, I could sell the machines 2-3 years later for say $300 which of course is better than the garbage but also the new owner gets a machine that is in pristine condition.

Yes, back in 2013. The Help Conquer Cancer (HCC) project, which was run by the same team as MCM.

I'm also looking at upgrading the gear I'm using. Have 4 going. All 2008-2009 stuff so not much there. I'm just looking at motherboards/CPU combos since I have the rest. Am waiting for a I7 3770K to see how it works out. The pcliquidators link above is interesting. Would there be one for motherboards?

Since CPU is what is important what are others using to evaluate them? I use the cpubenchmark site.

Just wondering how much you paid for these machines, including shipping and tax. Also, how many Work Units are these machines spitting out each day?

Unlike some folks who like to replace motherboards and/or build machines out of parts, I prefer to buy. I loved the DIY stuff back in the 80s and 90s but around 1999 the desktops got so darn cheap that I found it wasn't worth my time, hassle, and $50 total savings to buy all the parts and assemble on a weekend. It is/was fun, but I simply don't have the time nor do I want to chase down the various warranties (because I bought all parts) if something silly breaks like a fan.

Anyway, if you could share the pricing and Work Units, that would be helpful!

I bought Lenovo P330 SFF Desktops 16 months ago (from lenovo.com) for $719 to my door with these specs:

● Intel Core i9-9900 vPro (3.10GHz, up to 5.0GHz with Turbo Boost, 8 Cores, 16MB Cache)
● Windows 10 Pro 64
● 8GB DDR4 2666MHz UDIMM
● Integrated Graphic Card
● Small Form Factor C246 92% Power 260W
● 1TB Hard Drive, 7200RPM, 3.5", SATA3
● Slim DVD
● Intel Wireless-AC 9560 2x2 AC, Bluetooth Version 5.0 Low Profile
● 3 Year On-site Warranty

They spit out ~160 Work Units a day for MCM.