Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Xserve for Folding

phoenixsan

phoenixsan

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 19, 2012
1,342
2
Some University where I give classes is getting a Xserve Xeon Nehalem 2.93 GHz, 8-cores, 64 GB of RAM with a 2 TB disc as a donation. I have been asked to do something in the area of chemistry with the Xserve and being a Folding enthusiast, want to give use as a Folding machine. Not having experience and knowledge about this specific hardware, here I am resorting to more knowleadgeable people with some questions:

1-How much points can we get in a 24/7 operation?
2-Any special requirements or settings I have to use to get Folding running?

Feel free to weigh in with your user experiences, benchmarks and so on.Thanks in advance for reading and posting!

:):apple:
 
twoodcc

twoodcc

macrumors P6
Feb 3, 2005
15,307
26
Right side of wrong
that machine would be able to do -smp folding only, not the -bigadv units (they now require 16-cores or more).

others can jump in here, but i'd guess around 25-30k ppd?
 
phoenixsan

phoenixsan

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 19, 2012
1,342
2
Well.....

twoodcc said:
that machine would be able to do -smp folding only, not the -bigadv units (they now require 16-cores or more).

others can jump in here, but i'd guess around 25-30k ppd?
Click to expand...

thanks twoodcc, at least some one answered my post. And with useful info too...!

And yes, I will wait to hear/see more posts about this.....

:):apple:
 
alphaod

alphaod

macrumors Core
Feb 9, 2008
22,183
1,245
NYC
I imagine the power use and heat (and noise) output would be a factor in play.

I used to run a bunch of dedicated folding machines with both Xeon and Opteron processors. I didn't really like dealing with the noisy servers and the fact that my power bill was very high every month didn't really help. You may be helping with the folding, but then not helping with the environment.
 
twoodcc

twoodcc

macrumors P6
Feb 3, 2005
15,307
26
Right side of wrong
alphaod said:
I imagine the power use and heat (and noise) output would be a factor in play.

I used to run a bunch of dedicated folding machines with both Xeon and Opteron processors. I didn't really like dealing with the noisy servers and the fact that my power bill was very high every month didn't really help. You may be helping with the folding, but then not helping with the environment.
Click to expand...

yeah heat and power is always an issue with folding. i guess it's the price we pay
 
phoenixsan

phoenixsan

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 19, 2012
1,342
2
Can be....

twoodcc said:
yeah heat and power is always an issue with folding. i guess it's the price we pay
Click to expand...

a problem, I know. But the Xserve will be located in an air conditioned facility. And about power, in the Uni we have some 150 kwH in excess....:D

Thanks again all for the pointers/observations


:):apple:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom