Hi all.

I wondered how much memory you guys & girls put in your dedicated SETI machines?

What do you consider to be the reasonable minimum to use?

I'm just looking at the possibility of another couple of machines and want to keep the costs down.

Thanks!

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Hi all.

I wondered how much memory you guys & girls put in your dedicated SETI machines?

What do you consider to be the reasonable minimum to use?

I'm just looking at the possibility of another couple of machines and want to keep the costs down.

Thanks!

This AMD X2 4000+ system has 1GB of DDR2 (PC-5300) memory, of which 64MB is allocated to the on-board video. It is used 99% of the time for BOINC and the on-board video is powered down about the same percent (saves memory cycles). Only 365 MB of the page file is in use currently.

I have 1.5 running on both rigs. Desktop runs dedicated and laptop shared (1.425 or so). Both run just fine. I'd run a gig at minimum.

Cheers, mate!

I have 2 Gig on most of my machines. Most are running DDR2-800. One is using DDR2-1066. I am building a new crucher that will have 4 Gig of DDR2-800. It will will have a Q6600 and run Vista Ultimate 64. As long as you have two sticks of the same memory so that they can run in dual channel mode then 2 Gig should be all you need. If you plan on doing any Over Clocking then get get at least DDR2-800.

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Thanks for everyones thoughts. I'll go with a Gig for now and see how they run.

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My newly acquired SUN Ultra M2 WS, with an AMD Opteron 1210, has only 512 MB of RAM in its basic configuration, and although I can bring it up to 8 GB it is running SETI, Einstein and QMC, which is a memory hog, with good results. But I am running Linux, of course.
Tullio

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I'd suggest no more than 256MB per processor core, though 1GB sticks are the current sweet spot in pricing. And performance will increase with 2 sticks running dual channel.

For additional savings on a truly dedicated cruncher, both initial cost and recurring electricity consumption, you might consider BoincPE running from a cheap USB stick (no hard drive to purchase or spin). Though setting it up is not for the faint at heart.

Good luck,

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I'd suggest no more than 256MB per processor core, though 1GB sticks are the current sweet spot in pricing. And performance will increase with 2 sticks running dual channel.

For additional savings on a truly dedicated cruncher, both initial cost and recurring electricity consumption, you might consider BoincPE running from a cheap USB stick (no hard drive to purchase or spin). Though setting it up is not for the faint at heart.

Good luck,

One of my mates has a small handful of 256 sticks, so that would be my preferred answer, based upon cost alone ;)

I looked into BoincPE briefly and couldn't get my head around how to set it up. Would this negate the need for Windows Licences? I could set up dozens of machines which I could probably get for free if not very cheap, but it is the cost of hard drives and windows that makes it a no go really.

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I'd suggest no more than 256MB per processor core, though 1GB sticks are the current sweet spot in pricing. And performance will increase with 2 sticks running dual channel.

For additional savings on a truly dedicated cruncher, both initial cost and recurring electricity consumption, you might consider BoincPE running from a cheap USB stick (no hard drive to purchase or spin). Though setting it up is not for the faint at heart.

Good luck,

One of my mates has a small handful of 256 sticks, so that would be my preferred answer, based upon cost alone ;)

I looked into BoincPE briefly and couldn't get my head around how to set it up. Would this negate the need for Windows Licences? I could set up dozens of machines which I could probably get for free if not very cheap, but it is the cost of hard drives and windows that makes it a no go really.

A couple 256MB sticks on BoincPE would be plenty with the reduced minimal Windows memory footprint. I can't speak to the licensing legality as I only have one box running BoincPE from a legitimate XP license.

Another thought I had was to share a power supply between 2 crunchers with onboard video. Minimal cost, heat, and maximum throughput.

Good luck,

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Another thought I had was to share a power supply between 2 crunchers with onboard video. Minimal cost, heat, and maximum throughput.

Lot of variables. How big a power supply, what MB, what processor, etc. I have one C2C that is bearbones and it needs 350 watts. I have a 380 watt power supply on that one. One of my Q6600 machines uses 460 watts. It has a 500 watt PS. By daily user is a QX6700 with a lot of stuff on it. It needs 600 watts and has a 750 watt PS. So if you want to run 2 computers on one power supply, even if it is stripped down to a minimual configuration you will probably need at least a 650 watt PS. A quick check on New Egg shows that 350 watt PS can be had for about $15. The cheapest 650 was round $40. So this may not be a money saver.

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Another thought I had was to share a power supply between 2 crunchers with onboard video. Minimal cost, heat, and maximum throughput.

Lot of variables. How big a power supply, what MB, what processor, etc. I have one C2C that is bearbones and it needs 350 watts. I have a 380 watt power supply on that one. One of my Q6600 machines uses 460 watts. It has a 500 watt PS. By daily user is a QX6700 with a lot of stuff on it. It needs 600 watts and has a 750 watt PS. So if you want to run 2 computers on one power supply, even if it is stripped down to a minimual configuration you will probably need at least a 650 watt PS. A quick check on New Egg shows that 350 watt PS can be had for about $15. The cheapest 650 was round $40. So this may not be a money saver.

I agree, lots of variables. Just wondering how much power is actually needed
with a mATX board with onboard graphics & NIC, E4500 CPU w/HSF, 512MB, onboard NIC & USB. No O/Cing. No keyboard, mouse, hard drive or case fans needed.
Hard to imagine drawing more than 200W. Like I said, just a thought.

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...
One of my mates has a small handful of 256 sticks, so that would be my preferred answer, based upon cost alone ;)
...

The SETI app uses something approaching 100 MB during the "Choosing optimal functions" stage shortly after startup, but usually drops down to about 30 MB for the rest of crunch time. Two 256 MB sticks should be plenty to support up to a quad-core system with a reasonably efficient operating system.

To run BoincPE legally, you need a Windows XP license for the system. I'd think a small Linux distro would make more sense.

                                                                Joe

i think with 2 gig you will be able to have a lot of Fun,

and by the Prizes these Day...

Greetings from Germany NRW
Ulli

Have 8GB on the way next week! Overkill? Maybe a little.

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Have 8GB on the way next week! Overkill? Maybe a little.

LOL, just a bit

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I'd suggest no more than 256MB per processor core,...<snip>

XP crawls like a dog on 256. 768 megs is the lowest I would go under duress. LOL!

(edit: with apologies to dog owners...kitties too! ;o) )

I would reccomend either 1 or 2 gb.......
But whatever amount you run, the best is to make sure you are running a matched pair in dual channel mode on Windows.

I think the best bet is a 2 x 1gb pair for a total of 2gb.

Except on the new Macs, I believe best performance is from 4 matched sticks in a 4 channel mode.....no wunda those dogs are having their day.....LOL.

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"Time is simply the mechanism that keeps everything from happening all at once."

I would reccomend either 1 or 2 gb.......
But whatever amount you run, the best is to make sure you are running a matched pair in dual channel mode on Windows.

I think the best bet is a 2 x 1gb pair for a total of 2gb.

Except on the new Macs, I believe best performance is from 4 matched sticks in a 4 channel mode.....no wunda those dogs are having their day.....LOL.

Hi guy's , run VISTA on a Q6600 , with 2 GiG DDR2, a LAPTOP,running XP Home with a T2400, 1.83G, and 1GiG.
Also a Pentium D820,2.8G, {4}==3.25GiG DDR2, running XP.

+++The Q6600 is the fastest, per CPU in MIPS both Whetstone {flote}& Drystone{integer}

Although the T2400 is faster, compaired to the D820, in MIPS (Whetstone & Drystone)and it 'crunches' W.U.'s , about 1,5 faster, the D820 with 4G, is better to SURF the INTERNET, visit NEWSGROUPS and FORUMS.
No problem having 15 or more TAB's, o p e n . Or COPY & PASTE info.

So about 512MByte per CPU, seems to be enough, only the type (speed) of RAM and CHIPSET , matters!
### Fredericx51 ###

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Well the new Harpertowns will run faster with 4 Dimms of equal amounts so, roll on two weeks!

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If you go the WinXP road i'd recommend at least 512 MB. It's not Seti, which needs the ram but the OS itself doesn't run too smoothly below 512 MB.
Ram is rather hard to get below 512 MB anyway (except pre-ddr), so it makes sense to put in at least 2 sticks to use the advantage of dual-channel.
With 1 gig you should be fine.

I run a bunch of sub-GHz boxes (2 dualies), which run fine at 512 mb for SETI, SIMAP and the like. My hex-machine (Xeons at 700 MHz) is running with win 2003 server, has a whopping 1 gig and does its job as well.

Just my 2 cents

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