What did you start with?

Message boards : Number crunching : What did you start with?
Message board moderation

To post messages, you must log in.

1 · 2 · 3 · Next

AuthorMessage
Philhnnss
Volunteer tester

Send message
Joined: 22 Feb 08
Posts: 63
Credit: 30,694,327
RAC: 162
United States
Message 1476394 - Posted: 13 Feb 2014, 6:17:21 UTC

Should hit my 10 million mark later today, WooHoo!!!

Anyway, It got me thinking about what leaps and bounds computers have made
over the last 14 years.

This may have already been done but I thought it might be fun.

As the title says; What did you start with??

I started doing SETI work with my brand new Windows ME "E-Machine" running a
600 MHz Celeron with 32 MB ram. If I am remembering right it took almost a
week to crunch one task. Of course I had to set it to disable all work if
the computer was in use. Otherwise it would slow to a crawl. I'd dial up
the modem to my CompuServe account and leave it on-line the day I thought
the job would complete.

Now if I'm lucky I don't run out of work during the Tuesday outage, LOL!! And I
am sure not running top level equipment now, LOL!!!Blows me away!!!
ID: 1476394 · Report as offensive
Profile Wiggo
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 24 Jan 00
Posts: 36608
Credit: 261,360,520
RAC: 489
Australia
Message 1476410 - Posted: 13 Feb 2014, 6:42:59 UTC

I started with an 133MHz AMD 586 mongrel setup that I put together.

Cheers.
ID: 1476410 · Report as offensive
Cosmic_Ocean
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 23 Dec 00
Posts: 3027
Credit: 13,516,867
RAC: 13
United States
Message 1476416 - Posted: 13 Feb 2014, 7:02:40 UTC
Last modified: 13 Feb 2014, 7:04:01 UTC

Celeron 633 with 256MB RAM on Windows ME. Was a Gateway POS (not a cash register..:p) machine..complete with the amazing IBM "DeathStar" HDD that went click-of-death after 25 days of getting a replacement (14 times in a row, mind you... that's how I learned how to fix and repair computers.. free training via many hours on the phone with tech support). Originally took 115 hours to do the first classic unit it ever did, and then I figured out that if you turn the screensaver off, that time would come down to 15 hours.
Linux laptop:
record uptime: 1511d 20h 19m (ended due to the power brick giving-up)
ID: 1476416 · Report as offensive
Profile James Sotherden
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 16 May 99
Posts: 10436
Credit: 110,373,059
RAC: 54
United States
Message 1476417 - Posted: 13 Feb 2014, 7:06:08 UTC
Last modified: 13 Feb 2014, 7:06:43 UTC

I started Seti@Home with a Compaq P1, Running Win 95 with a whopping 24 MB of ram. I had to add to the ram beacuse I had some PC games that needed it.
It did take me 7 days to do a work unit.
When I bought a P4 in 2003 I thought id gone to rac heaven:)
[/quote]

Old James
ID: 1476417 · Report as offensive
draco
Volunteer tester

Send message
Joined: 6 Dec 05
Posts: 119
Credit: 3,327,457
RAC: 0
Latvia
Message 1476453 - Posted: 13 Feb 2014, 10:07:37 UTC

i start back in about 1999 or so. there be my pentium 1 computer ( about 166mmx at start, if i remember correctly), with 16 mb ram and so on. i mostly run it on ms-dos seti client, and send and get new workunits via my friend computer / modem - i carry it on 1.44 mb 3.5" floppy. that's good, old time, when FidoNet be live...

and then, about a 2000 or so on i start discover linux world, and after some time switch to compute seti to linux. i have few accounts, and from time to time my enthusiasm to SETI programm awake, and i do some improvements - i e now i try to get GPU work, i purchase gt630 rev 2, and plan to purchase one more or less ok videocard for crunching at work too....
ID: 1476453 · Report as offensive
Profile Siran d'Vel'nahr
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 23 May 99
Posts: 7379
Credit: 44,181,323
RAC: 238
United States
Message 1476465 - Posted: 13 Feb 2014, 10:44:40 UTC

Greetings,

Let's see if my memory is serving me correctly:

    PC - 486DX2-66
    RAM - 2 MB (if I remember right)
    OS - MS-DOG v6.22
    GUI - Windoze 3.1


At my age, memory is getting a bit foggy. The RAM amount above is just a guess. That PC may have only had 1 MB. I'm just not really sure anymore. I don't believe it had more than 2 MB though. Although, now that I think about it, 4MB may have been the standard minimum back then. I just do not remember anymore. :( I do remember everything else being correct though. :)

Keep on BOINCing...! :)


CAPT Siran d'Vel'nahr - L L & P _\\//
Winders 11 OS? "What a piece of junk!" - L. Skywalker
"Logic is the cement of our civilization with which we ascend from chaos using reason as our guide." - T'Plana-hath
ID: 1476465 · Report as offensive
OzzFan Crowdfunding Project Donor*Special Project $75 donorSpecial Project $250 donor
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 9 Apr 02
Posts: 15691
Credit: 84,761,841
RAC: 28
United States
Message 1476502 - Posted: 13 Feb 2014, 12:56:29 UTC - in response to Message 1476465.  

@Siran - The SETI "Classic" executable was a Win32 application and could not run under 16bit Windows 3.1. Even the "command line" version of SETI Classic was a Win32 application and required Windows 95 or later.



Since I started in 2002, my first cruncher was a brand new Intel Pentium 4 1.6GHz Socket 478 (no HyperThreading) machine with 512MB of SDRAM running Windows 98 Second Edition.
ID: 1476502 · Report as offensive
Profile Link
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 18 Sep 03
Posts: 834
Credit: 1,807,369
RAC: 0
Germany
Message 1476505 - Posted: 13 Feb 2014, 13:19:22 UTC
Last modified: 13 Feb 2014, 13:20:35 UTC

My first machine working for SETI was a AMD Athlon C 1400MHz with 512MB RAM running WinXP.
ID: 1476505 · Report as offensive
Profile HAL9000
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 11 Sep 99
Posts: 6534
Credit: 196,805,888
RAC: 57
United States
Message 1476514 - Posted: 13 Feb 2014, 13:46:34 UTC

I am not sure when I started SETI@Home Classic if I was still running my 83MHz PentiumOverdrive system or had upgraded to the Celeron 333MHz by then.
SETI@home classic workunits: 93,865 CPU time: 863,447 hours
Join the [url=http://tinyurl.com/8y46zvu]BP6/VP6 User Group[
ID: 1476514 · Report as offensive
Profile Oz
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 6 Jun 99
Posts: 233
Credit: 200,655,462
RAC: 212
United States
Message 1476522 - Posted: 13 Feb 2014, 14:07:17 UTC - in response to Message 1476514.  

Wow, mists of time most assuredly... I think it was an AMD Athelon 1700+ with 512Mb running Win2K (I had a friend with a MSDN account). I remember being angry when Seti Classic ended, haha! I quit for a month or two then quit whining and got back to crunching.
BTW, I am still running an overclocked Athelon 3000+ with Win2K - I want to see if the rig will make 1,000,000 - some time in 2023 as I recall.
Member of the 20 Year Club



ID: 1476522 · Report as offensive
Profile Link
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 18 Sep 03
Posts: 834
Credit: 1,807,369
RAC: 0
Germany
Message 1476526 - Posted: 13 Feb 2014, 14:20:27 UTC - in response to Message 1476522.  
Last modified: 13 Feb 2014, 14:28:48 UTC

Oz wrote:
I think it was an AMD Athelon 1700+ with 512Mb

Probably not, the first Athlon XP CPUs were released in October 2001, so over 2 years after you joined SETI.
ID: 1476526 · Report as offensive
Profile tullio
Volunteer tester

Send message
Joined: 9 Apr 04
Posts: 8797
Credit: 2,930,782
RAC: 1
Italy
Message 1476527 - Posted: 13 Feb 2014, 14:26:56 UTC

I started in 2004 with a dual boot system using a PII Deschutes. Then in 2008 I bought a SUN WS with Opteron 1210 using only Linux, still running. In 2012 I bought a laptop with an AMD APU E-450 and I split works. Now the SUN runs Astropulse by Lunatics and the laptop stock SETI@home with Einstein@home and Test4Theory@home with Virtual Box. The SUN runs also Albert@home (an Einstein@home beta), LHC@home and Test4Theory@home vith BOINC 7.2.41 but has problems finding the Virtual Box 4.3.6, while it is found by BOINC 6.10.58 on the laptop. It should run also climateprediction.net but the project has no work. Actually, the global SETI RAC is my best.
Tullio
ID: 1476527 · Report as offensive
Profile Zalster Special Project $250 donor
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 27 May 99
Posts: 5517
Credit: 528,817,460
RAC: 242
United States
Message 1476528 - Posted: 13 Feb 2014, 14:27:48 UTC - in response to Message 1476526.  
Last modified: 13 Feb 2014, 14:33:08 UTC

Started with an old blue white plastic tower

Power Macintosh [Power Macintosh Model PowerMac3,5] [AltiVec]
(1 processors) --- Darwin
9.4.0
I think these are the right specs

Processor Speed: 300 MHz Processor Type: PowerPC 750 (G3)
Details: N/A
Processors: 1 Geekbench 2: 164
Processor Upgrade: ZIF Socket FPU: Integrated
System Bus Speed: 100 MHz Cache Bus Speed: 150 MHz
ROM/Firmware Type: Open Firmware ROM/Firmware Size: 1 MB
L1 Cache: 64k L2/L3 Cache: 512k (backside)
RAM Type: PC100 SDRAM Min. RAM Speed: 100 MHz
Details: Formally supports 100 MHz PC100 SDRAM (3.3v, unbuffered, 64-bit-wide, 168-pin). However, PC133 SDRAM is backwards compatible and may be used as well.
Standard RAM: 64 MB Maximum RAM: 1 GB
ID: 1476528 · Report as offensive
draco
Volunteer tester

Send message
Joined: 6 Dec 05
Posts: 119
Credit: 3,327,457
RAC: 0
Latvia
Message 1476536 - Posted: 13 Feb 2014, 14:52:19 UTC - in response to Message 1476527.  

Tulio, your opteron 1210 is looks pretty āst -about 15 gļops on seti?
my core 2 duo 4500 (2.2 ghz) do about 11 glops....
ID: 1476536 · Report as offensive
TBar
Volunteer tester

Send message
Joined: 22 May 99
Posts: 5204
Credit: 840,779,836
RAC: 2,768
United States
Message 1476538 - Posted: 13 Feb 2014, 14:58:32 UTC - in response to Message 1476528.  
Last modified: 13 Feb 2014, 15:08:15 UTC

I started SETI with the Son of the PowerBook that Saved the World from the Aliens.
The PowerBook 3400c, which at the time, was the Fastest LapTop in the World...

PowerBook Saving World
ID: 1476538 · Report as offensive
Richard Haselgrove Project Donor
Volunteer tester

Send message
Joined: 4 Jul 99
Posts: 14679
Credit: 200,643,578
RAC: 874
United Kingdom
Message 1476543 - Posted: 13 Feb 2014, 15:11:55 UTC

I think I remember signing up using an iMac G3, even though I was, then as now, primarily a Wintel user.



I've still got it downstairs (quite possibly still with the Classic software loaded): it's a tray-loading model, from memory the 233MHz Revision B.
ID: 1476543 · Report as offensive
Profile Donald L. Johnson
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 5 Aug 02
Posts: 8240
Credit: 14,654,533
RAC: 20
United States
Message 1476547 - Posted: 13 Feb 2014, 15:21:21 UTC
Last modified: 13 Feb 2014, 15:22:59 UTC

I ran SetiClassic on an Apple IIGS, which is still in use for some old games and Library catalogs. Moved to Seti@Home BOINC on a Mac G4 which is still crunching along nicely, alongside an iBook G4 and a pair of P4s running WinXP.

Oh yes, I was also on a Compuserve dial-up account. AT&T is my ISP now, but Compuserve is still my primary email addy.
Donald
Infernal Optimist / Submariner, retired
ID: 1476547 · Report as offensive
Profile arkayn
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 14 May 99
Posts: 4438
Credit: 55,006,323
RAC: 0
United States
Message 1476551 - Posted: 13 Feb 2014, 15:27:27 UTC - in response to Message 1476543.  

I think I remember signing up using an iMac G3, even though I was, then as now, primarily a Wintel user.



I've still got it downstairs (quite possibly still with the Classic software loaded): it's a tray-loading model, from memory the 233MHz Revision B.


I started with my iMac 333 MHz version.

ID: 1476551 · Report as offensive
Profile betreger Project Donor
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 29 Jun 99
Posts: 11414
Credit: 29,581,041
RAC: 66
United States
Message 1476642 - Posted: 13 Feb 2014, 18:43:31 UTC

I started with a P2 333MHz and 128 Mb of ram. It had W98 which I upgraded to W98 SE. I still have the box and I think it will still boot.
ID: 1476642 · Report as offensive
Claggy
Volunteer tester

Send message
Joined: 5 Jul 99
Posts: 4654
Credit: 47,537,079
RAC: 4
United Kingdom
Message 1476810 - Posted: 13 Feb 2014, 23:59:28 UTC
Last modified: 14 Feb 2014, 0:06:42 UTC

I started with a PII 350 running Win 98SE that i soon overclocked to 396MHz, i tried Win 2k but that was slower,
then i got my older P200MMX running too (on a new MB because i had bugggered a BIOS change), that was soon swapped to a AMD K5 500MHz, it was faster, but inefficient and way slower than the PII, it was also a bit unstable,
finally i upgraded the PII 350 to a PIII 800 via a slocket, then overclocked it to 896MHz, sometime along that line i swapped it's OS to XP and it's been crunching on and off since then.

PIII 800 @896MHz:

http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/show_host_detail.php?hostid=28689

Still got the K6 500 too, not been powered up in a while, but will do so to prove that it works (It'll be in about two weeks):

http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/show_host_detail.php?hostid=1993805

Claggy
ID: 1476810 · Report as offensive
1 · 2 · 3 · Next

Message boards : Number crunching : What did you start with?


 
©2024 University of California
 
SETI@home and Astropulse are funded by grants from the National Science Foundation, NASA, and donations from SETI@home volunteers. AstroPulse is funded in part by the NSF through grant AST-0307956.