[Invisible]

Just found an old PC in my closet that I completely forgotten about. It's some Gateway one (E-2000 I think), with a Intel Pentium 4 at 1.8GHz, and 512MB of DDR at probably 400MHz. Cleaned everything from the inside out, and thankfully it turned on. And found an old LCD Acer monitor right beside it, w00t. Also, words cannot express how loud this thing. I thought a 747 was taking off behind me whenever I hit the power button.

Don't know what to do with this PC yet. I'm installing XP Pro SP3 on it right now, then I'm going to have to find drivers for this thing which is going to be FUN.

I'm either just going to suicide run it, or maybe upgrade it. 550W PSU, 4GB DDR3 1333, Phenom II X2, and maybe a GTX460

. Who knows.

What should I do with this thing?

 

[Greensystemsgo]

exactly that. only suggestion is make sure it has sufficient airflow!

 

[PCSarge]

make a folding rig, and leave the side of the case off

 

[Invisible]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PCSarge;13028653
make a folding rig, and leave the side of the case off

Folding? Care to elaborate on what this is?

I also just did some measurements and the top of the case (which is actually the old U shape, except with flat edges, and slides on and off) is down way to far. A 460 wouldn't fit, and neither would my Hyper 212 sadly.

 

[Toransu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Invisible;13029455
Folding? Care to elaborate on what this is?

In essence, you'll be dedicating your computer to help cure cancer. Yeah, really!

On topic: I think you can keep the processor, but upgrade the mobo and CPU cooler. Dunno if there're any half-decent socket 478 motherboards out there, but since I'm sort of in the market for one myself, I'll post if I find one...

EDIT: Well, Newegg doesn't seem to have a lot of choice on this, but this motherboard looks way better than all the old 478 socket motherboards from way back when (DDR2, SATA, etc.)

 

[Invisible]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toransu;13029526
In essence, you'll be dedicating your computer to help cure cancer. Yeah, really!

On topic: I think you can keep the processor, but upgrade the mobo and CPU cooler. Dunno if there're any half-decent socket 478 motherboards out there, but since I'm sort of in the market for one myself, I'll post if I find one...

WOW, that is awesome. I can't think of a better purpose for this computer that Folding actually. Could I fold properly with the hardware I have now 24/7?

 

[Djmatrix32]

What is a suicide run? X_x sorry for my n00bness.

 

[XanderDylan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Invisible;13029595
WOW, that is awesome. I can't think of a better purpose for this computer that Folding actually. Could I fold properly with the hardware I have now 24/7?

With the hardware that rig has now? Ehh I dont think you could. If you throw in a minimum of a 8400GS which would really be pointless for GPU folding, you could but if you're interested in building a rig for folding, you could get yourself a cheap AMD Athlon II X2 CPU, AM3 miniATX mobo for cheap (not too cheap), around a 350W PSU, and throw in a GTS 450 for cheap and your good to go! Heck a GTS 250 would still be great thats what I'm using along with my 460 and a 9600GT. Just use the HDD from that rig you found, install an OS, download the folding software and done!

 

[Toransu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Invisible;13029595
WOW, that is awesome. I can't think of a better purpose for this computer that Folding actually. Could I fold properly with the hardware I have now 24/7?

As long as it can run stable, yeah. If you'll be in it for the points, though, you might soon find yourself dedicating some brand new higher-end hardware for it, lol. My sig rig is my main PC, but I leave it folding whenever I'm not using it nowadays (which is almost all the time, thanks to work...

), and I think I churn out almost 10,000 PPD (Points Per Day).

EDIT: But in all honesty, though, even a little PPD isn't nothing. It's like donating; every little bit helps. A lot of people are after the points for e-peen for their hardware and/or overclocks, but it still ends up in a good cause.

If you're looking to get started, there's plenty of guides on the thread I linked.

 

[djsi38t]

Dude you can't put ddr3 in an old ddr computer.Junk it before you waste your time messing with it.There isn't a single piece worth more than 5 dollars in it.

 

[Invisible]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toransu;13029706
As long as it can run stable, yeah. If you'll be in it for the points, though, you might soon find yourself dedicating some brand new higher-end hardware for it, lol. My sig rig is my main PC, but I leave it folding whenever I'm not using it nowadays (which is almost all the time, thanks to work...

), and I think I churn out almost 10,000 PPD (Points Per Day).

EDIT: But in all honesty, though, even a little PPD isn't nothing. It's like donating; every little bit helps. A lot of people are after the points for e-peen for their hardware and/or overclocks, but it still ends up in a good cause.

If you're looking to get started, there's plenty of guides on the thread I linked.

What's the Points per Day thing? I didn't read anything about PPD in that FAQ.

 

[XanderDylan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Invisible;13029781
What's the Points per Day thing? I didn't read anything about PPD in that FAQ.

Every work unit (protein) you fold and complete earns you points. PPD is usually a rough estimate of how much points you would earn in that day if you left it folding 24/7. I think mine is around 10-12000PPD

 

[XanderDylan]

Also, if you were interested in building a dedicated Folding rig, I put something together. I picked out only 1GB of RAM because I noticed you were talking about XP so you can just load up XP on this rig.

View attachment 204201

276.95 total for this dedicated folding rig

 

[Kaiga]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toransu;13029526
In essence, you'll be dedicating your computer to help cure cancer. Yeah, really!

On topic: I think you can keep the processor, but upgrade the mobo and CPU cooler. Dunno if there're any half-decent socket 478 motherboards out there, but since I'm sort of in the market for one myself, I'll post if I find one...

EDIT: Well, Newegg doesn't seem to have a lot of choice on this, but this motherboard looks way better than all the old 478 socket motherboards from way back when (DDR2, SATA, etc.)

Yes! Fold, I need to kill off my cancer.

 

[listen to remix]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Invisible;13026633
Just found an old PC in my closet that I completely forgotten about. It's some Gateway one (E-2000 I think), with a Intel Pentium 4 at 1.8GHz, and 512MB of DDR at probably 400MHz. Cleaned everything from the inside out, and thankfully it turned on. And found an old LCD Acer monitor right beside it, w00t. Also, words cannot express how loud this thing. I thought a 747 was taking off behind me whenever I hit the power button.

Don't know what to do with this PC yet. I'm installing XP Pro SP3 on it right now, then I'm going to have to find drivers for this thing which is going to be FUN.

I'm either just going to suicide run it, or maybe upgrade it. 550W PSU, 4GB DDR3 1333, Phenom II X2, and maybe a GTX460

. Who knows.

What should I do with this thing?

Besides the 550W PSU, you cannot upgrade it with any of the components you listed. You would need to get all new parts and reuse the old case but I think you would rather just buy a new case for $50.

 

[Invisible]

Quote:

Originally Posted by djsi38t;13029772
Dude you can't put ddr3 in an old ddr computer.Junk it before you waste your time messing with it.There isn't a single piece worth more than 5 dollars in it.

If you thought for a second I was going to keep the motherboard as well, then you are mistaken my friend, lol.

Was gonna get a combo deal for the CPU and mobo.

 

[srsdude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Invisible;13029874
If you thought for a second I was going to keep the motherboard as well, then you are mistaken my friend, lol.

Was gonna get a combo deal for the CPU and mobo.

instead of spending money on an old computer, why not upgrade your sig rig to a gtx 560 or something like that?

 

[curve_in]

Try running some Linux on there. XP will make it painfully slow compared to your regular rig. You might not need to change anything to get it folding. http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=mint

 

[XanderDylan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by srsdude;13029901
instead of spending money on an old computer, why not upgrade your sig rig to a gtx 560 or something like that?

His sig is a laptop. Plus, if he were to do that, he could build a whole new rig for almost that price. The rig I posted is about the price of a 560 anyways.

 

[Invisible]

Well I went ahead and set up [email protected] on this PC. Not sure if everything is working. I think it is though.

Not sure if everything is doing it's job though, cause the icon on the bottom right is staying at 0/2000 for something it's doing. Is it supposed to be like that now?