Hi. Chip vs. Chip performance is not a fair comparison...I totally agree. And I also don't really go 100% by what Geekbench states when comparing 2 different CPU architectures like Intel vs. M2. And in my particular case (dedicated machines only for WCG, a home environment, electric bill, etc.) the Mac Minis just seem like a clear win overall. Yes, the Windows stuff is what drove me to Mac Mini. I could do Linux but the issue is I would need to really have my hand held for the rare times that something hiccuped on the OS or networking or reboot error etc.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH for the tip to Beelink...I gave up years ago looking for mini Windows machines (my crazy Lenovo discount rocked with their Small Form Factor models and Tiny models which were both quite compact). Maybe I will try the model you said! But, would that GTR7 7940HS model ( https://www.bee-link.com/catalog/product/index?id=545 ) for $1000 crunch 2x as much as 2 Mac Mini M2s (for the same $1000 pricetag)?

I forgot about the BOINC Benchmarking. I'll find some time and run the benchmarks and report back. :)

I didn't even realize Apple Silicon was supported for WCG projects. That's good to know. My concern is that Apple is notoriously difficult to DIY and right-to-repair and work on to replace parts as they fail.



I'm a Linux beginner, but once initial config is done, it's 100% set-it-and-forget-it. My Linux boxes update themselves with patches/security updates automatically, reboot as needed automatically (maybe momthly if that), have zero GUI or Desktop Environment installed (headless), and do nothing but crunch WCG or Folding@home. I manage them from my main Windows machine at the moment using BOINC Manager. It's beautiful. Plus it's more secure than any bloated Windows 10/11 setup without hours of setting group policy and tweaking registry. Windows phones home 24/7 and phones to 3rd party data brokers, and I find that unacceptably creepy. Also, it makes zero sense to have the bloat and attack surface of a GUI for a dedicated crunchbox. Goes completely against best security practices.

I think there's enough demand for my little Linux how-to guide for beginners in 2024.

I did run some VMs in the cloud 3+ years ago running Linux and yes, it was a set-it-and-forget-it-model which is what I would prefer (and why I now really love the Mac Minis). I tried creating a Linux on A USB Key a few years back with 1 of my P330 machines and I believe I ran into some issues.

I don't mind dual-booting but I also don't really want to accidentally kill my Win10 installation (nor it's restore partition)...and I would want Linux to be the default boot.

All this being said, if you either have a guide or can point me one that is super duper at holding my hand, I'll give it another try.

If it's a USB key method, my personal pc is Windows 10 so that's what I will use to create the key.

Thanks!

I'm no Mac fan buy my M2 Mac Mini is great for crunching. I am in England and my electricity is 19p per kwh about 25c. It does about 75000 to 80000 ppd at 27w. I've been running about a year as a dedicated cruncher.

My best cruncher is my Lenovo Legion 7 gaming laptop. It has a 3060 in it so when there are Covid GPU tasks available it crunches them.

The CPU is more efficient than the Mac. It has a 5800h but I set it on silent mode and it throttles the cpu to 25w. The whole laptop uses between 28w to 35w at the wall and does 120000 ppd on mcm.

There must be some really good low power laptop processors for crunching. Especually the new ryzen 16 core processors but they cost a fortune. It is always interesting to see what people are using.