TPU's WCG/BOINC Team

[Norton]

I think I'd rather use something that is not going to be a one use sort of deal. I've owned True Image and other products from them and aside from the constant annoyances trying to sell you other products they're incredibly fickle about when and how they work. I gave up on Acronis a long time ago. But thanks anyway,.

EaseUS ToDo Backup works very well also- that's the one that most folks would recommend:

http://www.todo-backup.com/download/

I've used it before w/o issue.

 

[m&m's]

What's the best free software for doing an image copy?

I've used Redo Backup and Recovery.

http://redobackup.org/

It's open source so no adds, no $$, no nothing, it just works.

 

[[Ion]]

So it's a free download as long as you use it on a WD drive? Iz confoosed.

Message me--I'll send you something "special"

Also--did some calculations, the dual 6376 system is running at 55k (!!!) PPD OCed. That's INSANE.

 

[manofthem]

Message me--I'll send you something "special"

Also--did some calculations, the dual 6376 system is running at 55k (!!!) PPD OCed. That's INSANE.

Yes, that is very insane!

 

[[Ion]]

Yes, that is very insane!

I was expecting something good, but this is a lot. According to the clockspeed tool, it was a 2.4GHz before, and doing ~39k PPD then. Now it's at 2.86GHz (=19.2% boost). So I expected something like 45k PPD from it. Although, the BOINC benchmarks were up from 1850 to 2300 (=24% boost) so that's closer. Still not sure where it's managing 8k from. Admittedly it didn't run a full day (and won't be running full time, unless I can house it at work) but still it looks VERY good.

 

[Silvertigo]

Thanks for the welcome @ the new member thread!

I woke up this morning and discovered windows had recovered from a BSOD

I`m sure its not a heat problem, the nights are very cool here in spring. I restarted Boinc and I`m crunching away again.

Also after changing monitors early yesterday the display refuses to go into sleep mode, and the Boinc screensaver won`t start either.

I`ll be looking into the BSOD error code when I get home later today. I have checked the power management settings and updated all

drivers before I went to bed last night - maybe that relates to the BSOD...

Anyways I`m having fun, and looking into a cheap Xeon / 771 or similar set up as my next project.

 

[[Ion]]

Thanks for the welcome @ the new member thread!

I woke up this morning and discovered windows had recovered from a BSOD

I`m sure its not a heat problem, the nights are very cool here in spring. I restarted Boinc and I`m crunching away again.

Also after changing monitors early yesterday the display refuses to go into sleep mode, and the Boinc screensaver won`t start either.

I`ll be looking into the BSOD error code when I get home later today. I have checked the power management settings and updated all

drivers before I went to bed last night - maybe that relates to the BSOD...

Anyways I`m having fun, and looking into a cheap Xeon / 771 or similar set up as my next project.

Shame you're in Australia--if you were here in the US I could offer you a good deal on a Supermicro LGA771 board and two E5410s.

 

[twilyth]

I've used Redo Backup and Recovery.

http://redobackup.org/

It's open source so no adds, no $$, no nothing, it just works.

Thanks for all of the replies. Redo looks simple and suitable for what I need. I'm tired of using proprietary software so I'll always go freeware where I can get away with it.

 

[[Ion]]

Thanks for all of the replies. Redo looks simple and suitable for what I need. I'm tired of using proprietary software so I'll always go freeware where I can get away with it.

Sounds good. Got a copy of HDClone 16 if you change your mind

 

[Silvertigo]

Shame you're in Australia--if you were here in the US I could offer you a good deal on a Supermicro LGA771 board and two E5410s.

ahh to bad. I have just been comparing the e5410 with my Q9550 and I don`t see much difference spec wise ? - except the xeon

would run much cooler. Or am I missing something here?

I am looking for a Xeon that would give me significantly more crunching power than the Q9550, I`m itching to have

a go at the 771 to 755 adapter mod - does anyone have an idea on a xeon that I should be looking for ??

 

[[Ion]]

ahh to bad. I have just been comparing the e5410 with my Q9550 and I don`t see much difference spec wise ? - except the xeon

would run much cooler. Or am I missing something here?

I am looking for a Xeon that would give me significantly more crunching power than the Q9550, I`m itching to have

a go at the 771 to 755 adapter mod - does anyone have an idea on a xeon that I should be looking for ??

Well, the power of the Xeon CPUs is that they support multi-CPU configurations. So the E5410 is slower than a Q9550, but you can stick two in one computer. I don't know what your budget is like or how prices are there in Australia, but here in the US, a pair of Westmere Xeons (LGA1366) and board is pretty cheap from Ebay. And the PPD from them is quite solid

 

[stinger608]

Thanks for all of the replies. Redo looks simple and suitable for what I need. I'm tired of using proprietary software so I'll always go freeware where I can get away with it.

Macrium Reflect is some of the best free backup and recovery software out there:

http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

 

[Silvertigo]

multi-CPU configurations

Ha! never even considered a multi cpu / server mobo. Not many on sale here in Oz, and the few that are on EvilBay are very expensive.

I`ll keep my eye out for one.

In the mean time I`m considering knocking up another 775 play-thing with a Q6600 and and use the wi-fi of my first cruncher.
Rome wasn`t built in a day, thanks for the tips

 

[[Ion]]

Ha! never even considered a multi cpu / server mobo. Not many on sale here in Oz, and the few that are on EvilBay are very expensive.

I`ll keep my eye out for one.

In the mean time I`m considering knocking up another 775 play-thing with a Q6600 and and use the wi-fi of my first cruncher.
Rome wasn`t built in a day, thanks for the tips

At this point, most of what I have running are dual-CPU systems. A bunch of prebuilt ones actually---seven Dell T5500/T7500 systems with a pair of Nehalem or Westmere quads (got some hexs on the way for one of them). Got them for $20 each w/o HDDs so they've been very affordable crunchers. Also have a pair of quad-Opteron systems and another dual-Opteron. Much better PPD/box density than the i5s and i7s that I've been running (and am gradually phasing out). By going with AMD G34, Westmere, or ES CPUs, the PPD/$ is actually very competitive with single-socket. Minsk (see specs) is doing about 50 PPD/$ which is much better than i7 systems or single-socket Xeons tend to do.
Q6600s are still good chips--about the WCG performance of an i3 and they (at least here) can be had for $20-25 each

 

[Silvertigo]

Nehalem or Westmere / Opteron systems

I`m mostly familiar with gaming rigs/hardware, until now I have never heard of these systems and I am resisting
the urge to turn my gaming rig into a part-time cruncher

 

[Nordic]

Newegg has a deal on a dual cpu server system with ivybridge cpu's. It only has one cpu in it right now, but could be quite a deal. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=12K-00BK-00052

It will be $299 later today

 

[[Ion]]

I`m mostly familiar with gaming rigs/hardware, until now I have never heard of these systems and I am resisting
the urge to turn my gaming rig into a part-time cruncher

I'd say go for it--that's a nice Xeon. My gaming rig ATM Is an E3-1240V3 + a GTS450. Running WCG it does about 5k PPD for <100w and is basically silent

Newegg has a deal on a dual cpu server system with ivybridge cpu's. It only has one cpu in it right now, but could be quite a deal. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=12K-00BK-00052

It will be $299 later today

Not bad
Downside is that even with two of the 2403V2 CPUs it's basically just on par with a (barely overclocked) 3770k system. Now, if you sold off the stock CPU and bought some ~3GHz 12c ones, THEN that would be awesome.

 

[Nordic]

I'd say go for it--that's a nice Xeon. My gaming rig ATM Is an E3-1240V3 + a GTS450. Running WCG it does about 5k PPD for <100w and is basically silent

Not bad
Downside is that even with two of the 2403V2 CPUs it's basically just on par with a (barely overclocked) 3770k system. Now, if you sold off the stock CPU and bought some ~3GHz 12c ones, THEN that would be awesome.

I was thinking dual hex cores. They are still super expensive though. It is hard to find cheap dual socket boards, so this might be a good start to a system like that.

 

[[Ion]]

I was thinking dual hex cores. They are still super expensive though. It is hard to find cheap dual socket boards, so this might be a good start to a system like that.

Agreed. I still consider Westmere to be the best PPD/$ option right now--with X5650s at about $60 each you can get a motherboard, two CPUs, and two heatsinks for under $300. Or a full 12c/24t system for about $400.

Also if you look for ES CPUs on Ebay they're a LOT cheaper. LIke you can get a 12c E5 V3 for under $500.

 

[xvi]

Got my USB-powered Atom Z3735F crunching and results are starting to pour in. Excitement!

Initial reports measured on the 5v side of the supply is somewhere between 0.65a and 1.0a. That's 3.25-5 watts! I've seen it hold 0.65a for a while while crunching, so I'm hoping if I can find out what's causing the fluctuations and get it going at 0.65a constant. Will confirm with the Kill-a-watt once I remember which machine it's sitting on now.
My power monitor will count mAh used, so I'm hoping to get an average going to find true wattage.

 

[[Ion]]

never mind. I'm stupid and misread the FS post.

 

[t_ski]

The 2687w dual keeps crashing but I think the problem is the hard drive. It's several years old so I guess I'm lucky it lasted this long. 1TB drives are pretty cheap. Got a couple of WD Greenies for $50 each. Will do an image copy next week when I get them and put the other on in one of the rigs still running off old IDE drives.

What's the best free software for doing an image copy? I think the feature is in disk manager but I haven't used it so long I've forgotten. BTW this will be on home server or w7. Forget which.

If this is a Windows 7+ rig, you can always just use backup, and direct it to a share on another PC. You can map that share and restore it from the Windows disk.

I was thinking dual hex cores. They are still super expensive though. It is hard to find cheap dual socket boards, so this might be a good start to a system like that.

I've seen a lot of 2P S1366 boards on ebay for around $100. Not bad.

 

[Nordic]

It is hard to find cheap dual socket lga-2011 boards, not just any server board. The cost of an lga2011 system puts it out of my reach. The power draw of a dual s1366 board is too much for what I want.

 

[t_ski]

2P 2011 boards will run you about $150 and up, depending on what features you want and how picky you are

 

[[Ion]]

The Egg has Dell T3500s with 6core 3.46GHz Xeons for $390 each: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA68F3946625
Running Linux they should make pretty good systems--not sure how the noise or power usage is, but PPD should be good.