Can you fold on a home server?

[mihapiha]

it really depends what you want. Servers are really good for Folding@Home. CPU WU get bonus points (if you use a passkey). The quicker the WU finishes the more bonus points you get. So it depends on the system. Mine is high-end, even in the server-sector. I get over 400.000 points per day on average but I have also 700W power consumption. In the PPD/Watt ratio I'm doing quite well though.

For folding purposes with your budget I'd skip the CPU-based solutions. These make sense as soon as you get a Intel Core i7-3930k @ 4.2 GHz or faster. The reason for this are primarily the WUs. You see with 16 threads or more, you can get BIG WUs. WUs of over 20.000 base points. These have to be finished in 3 days in order to even get bonus points. A 3930k @ 4.2 GHz stays (just barely) within the tight 3-day deadline. One of those WUs results in 200.000+ points. Unless you can get those WUs and fold them in time, CPU based folding is just not as interesting. These BIG WUs practically double the PPD on average.

With your tight budget, I'd honestly prefer GPU based folding. You only need one threat/core per GPU and it would beat a CPU based system in terms of performance easily in that budget range.

Maybe you can get an old used system and just put a newer nVidia graphic card in there. AMD unfortunately doesn't run as well. If you're look carefully for the right hardware you may even end up in the 200W power-consumption range.

 

[RadeonHDx]

Thanks for the great advice! I'm planning on building a home server this year and thats what this whole thread is about!
On the using an old computer front, I do have 2 old Dell pc just laying around but they only have PCI slots . I've been looking around abit and seen that I can get a HD5450 PCI edition from Club3D!
Do you think this would be worth it for a HTPC or could you recommend something that would be good for gaming as well as for folding? I dont really want to spend over £40 on it but I don't mind going a tiny bit over.
Thanks!

 

[mihapiha]

I would avoid AMD cards as I said. They are just not running as well as nVidia cards. For some reason Stanford has problems making the clients run at full speed on AMD cards (or ATI if it's older). AMD in terms of pure computing power is usually ahead of nVidia in the desktop market, however nVidia cards just fold much better due to better driver support - or lack of better driver support for AMD. For some reason Stanford failed to address that issue, or failed in doing something to get AMD cards better supported. Even an overclocked 7970 got barely over a few thousand points per day. It would compete in F@H with an old GTX280 - just to give you an idea.

I'd say you try to get an nVidia card, and I'd suggest something of the GTX460 range. Them cards are really cheap on ebay these days. Maybe even a GTX560 if you can get you hands on one of those. That would result in about 15.000 points per day on average - or twice as much as an 7970

If you're building a Server, the best thing for Folding@Home and a combination of gaming would be a dual socket system. I don't recommend it though. It's best to keep one rig dedicated to folding and another dedicated to gaming.

What type of a Server-Build did you have in mind?

 

[RadeonHDx]

The original idea was to have as low power consumption as I could and here's what I got:
C60M1-I - Onboard 18w TDP AMD CPU
GTX 460 - or something with better PPD/price/watt
4GB 1066MHz Crucial RAM
Be Quiet Pure Power L7 300W PSU
2 HDD's
CM Elite 120 Mini-ITX
This comes out at a good wattage of 112w and price of about £150 exc. HDD's (undecided on what I'm getting right now)
Again thanks