What else should I run?

[GhettoFob]

Hey guys, I've been a member of AT for a while now. I usually hang out in Hot Deals and OT and occasionally software. I saw the shameless recruiting thread and decided to help out. I'm pretty intent on running the UD cancer one for two reasons: 1) My father passed away from cancer when I was young and 2) My comps aren't all that fast. It says that it would be good to run another DC thing along with it and I was wondering which project needs the most help. I have a Duron 800, Pentium 166 and a Pentium 133. (Not the fastest comps in the world, but every bit helps right? ) I'm looking forward to helping out the team.

 

[Migroo]

Hi GhettoFob

Glad you decided to join! My advice would be to start with one project - once you get the feel for it, perhaps you'd then like to expand. Just my opinion - I like to maximise my output in one project - so I only run one at any one time

 

[Actaeon]

Welcome! We are glad to have new recruits around (I am one myself ). Yes, in my opinion, all these DC projects are for a good cause. If you are intent on the UD Cancer one, then Go right ahead, we are all a team here, and we all will help you out, no matter what team you are on.

 

[Marrkks]

hey GhettoFob, glad you popped in. and yes "every bit helps right?". thats why we call it a team. it's all those "every bits" that has the AT teams where they are today.

I would have to agree with Migroo, put your efforts into one project to start, reserch it some and check up on some stats every now and then.

Welcome to the team.

 

[dmcowen674]

Greetings GFob,

Welcome to the good world of Distributed Computing. I join you in the enthusiasm for the Cancer project as I lost my Mom last year to Breast Cancer. The guys gave great advice on starting with one project.

The researchers at SETI@Home are in the process of standardizing the whole process of Distributed Computing that soon all machines could have one interface and users will simply pick the project they would like the computer to work on. It may also be possible for a computer to work on multiple projects when the machine is in screensaver mode.

David McOwen

 

[JonB]

GhettoFob, I am still running UD Cancer and have been for over a year. I used to run the RC5 and OGR projects heavily, but switched most comps over.

I was getting a bit tired of UD Think/Cancer because it seemed they were just repeating old molecules, but they recently started the new Ligand-Fit routine and it appears to be going back through the "high hit" molecules from the Think process with much greater detail. So, I'm staying for awhile longer, it appears.

In the TeamAnandtech UD stats, look for JonB256 and catch me if you can !!!!!

 

[Kris]

GhettoFob-
Thanks for joining. I think (someone correct me if I don't have the facts straight) the reason it is recommended that you run a companion program with UD is that it is interested primarily in time running, not necessarily speed. I have not run it, so I am only saying what I have heard, not experienced. The point is, you get the same credit if it has access to all your spare cycles as you would get if it had access to only part. So, when running UD, why not run a companion, is what I have heard. Any project except FAH should work for you as a companion, as it has a minimum data return time. Since you are interested in helping biological sciences, I recommend you investigate Distributed Folding. It has no penalty for smaller processors, and it is a young project, so you will see that your contribution has an impact on the project whereas some of the more developed projects are not as rewarding on a personal "watch my stats" level. RC5 would also be a candidate, since it is satisfied with any speed processor, but it is not adressing disease. D2OL might be worth investigating. I know nothing about it, but it is biochem related I think. Again, thanks for playing, have fun!

 

[Baldy18]

Hey GhettoGob glad to have you aboard. I would suggest running Distributed Foldingas the companion project if that is what you decide to do. Distributed Folding is a small project so adding your computers will really help the team move up in the rankings.

 

[GhettoFob]

Cool, sounds like I'll try out UD and I'll add on Distributed Folding in a few days. I'll get it set up as soon as I get back from work.

 

[micron]

Welcome to the TeAm!

 

[muttley]

I would suggest running a few miles a day.

 

[GhettoFob]

Originally posted by: muttley
I would suggest running a few miles a day.

Yeah I might have to do that. Just set up my three comps. Everything's going smoothly so far.

 

[GhettoFob]

I couldn't resist and started folding also.

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: GhettoFob
I couldn't resist and started folding also.

That's the spirit....you'll find one that suits you (or one that you prefer) and jump all over it!

 

[GhettoFob]

Actually, I might not run distributed folding that much on my two old comps because of the dos popup window. Family members use those computers so they might end up closing it. I'm already running UD on those and I was wondering what other project would run well on a Pentium 133/166 and starts up in the system tray. Thanks for any input.

 

[GhettoFob]

*bump* for some expert opinions

 

[GhettoFob]

^ I also have a question about UD. How often are stats sent to their server? I ran it for a few hours yesterday, but the time doesn't show up on the website or on the program itself anymore after I rebooted.

 

[Kris]

Actually, I might not run distributed folding that much on my two old comps because of the dos popup window. Family members use those computers so they might end up closing it. I'm already running UD on those and I was wondering what other project would run well on a Pentium 133/166 and starts up in the system tray. Thanks for any input.

Open distribfold folder
Right click on foldit.bat and edit the line
".\foldtrajlite -f protein -n native"
to read
".\foldtrajlite -f protein -n native -qt"
at least. Other flags are worth reading about in the readme.1st text file.
If you use win2K, I know the service install is simple and effective.

Good luck, happy folding.

Oh, don't know the answers to your UD questions.

Kris

 

[JonB]

As far as UD stats go, I've never determined when they update. It appears random, though I'm sure they have some sort of schedule they try to adhere to.

Anyway, I never expect it to be updated better than within 24hrs, so I am rarely disappointed.

 

[GhettoFob]

Thanks for the responses. The problem with -qt is that it still opens up that dos prompt window so I was hoping to run something else that would run halfway decent on those two comps and that also runs in the system tray. I got my main comp doing the folding (#13 on TA after 1 day of folding ) and I'll run it on the other comps when I'm using them. Would SETI run decently on those comps or would another project run better?

 

[TwilightZone77]

A good solution Re: Distributed Folding is to use the utility called dfGUI. You can set it up to run at startup in the system tray. It works well for me; it runs on my Pentium-166@200. DF is a great project to run for slower computers.

 

[Kris]

Yeah, that's good advice, dfGUI will work perfectly if you check the right boxes. Besides, it keeps you up to speed on your output. Neat program.

 

[GhettoFob]

AWESOME! That's exactly what I was looking for. Thanks a lot guys. Keep foldin' foldin' foldin'.