Hardware Choices.

[Spud1200]

What alternative choices are available when it come to F@H Hardware? I know PS3 Support has be3en withdrawn and their is no support for PS4 and the new XBOX, I'm thinking is their support for Android based Tablets.. If the F@H DC Computing Project is Desktop preferably isn't that limiting by quite a lot and excluding other markets such as Tablets, Smart Phones, Consoles? Is their any other hardware available I could Fold on.

Thanks.

[Jesse_V]

Laptops and desktops can both do CPU and GPU work under Windows or Linux. Macs can only do CPU folding.

Mobile devices aren't powerful enough for Folding@home. Another issue is their battery and heat dissipation.

[bruce]

...their is no support for PS4 and the new XBOX, I'm thinking is their support for Android based Tablets.

Conceivably, any of those things might happen in the future, but Stanford is very careful NOT to announce future plans that might or might not happen. If the cost to develop for a new platform exceeds the scientific benefit that can be derived from that platform, it's unlikely it will ever be developed. Their #1 objective is science.

If the F@H DC Computing Project is Desktop preferably isn't that limiting by quite a lot and excluding other markets such as Tablets, Smart Phones, Consoles? Is their any other hardware available I could Fold on.

Actually, compared to the amount of science that needs to be processed, FAH is seriously limited even on the fastest of system (Desktop CPUs or Desktop GPUs) and all the platforms you mentioned provide a tiny fraction of the processing power of the desktop systems.

[Spud1200]

To be honest I really take f@h seriously and I genuinely enjoy taking part in the DC Project its self. Its just a shame thats all their is a lot of hardware in what is excluded.. In regards to the most powerful Desktop CPU s and GPUs Folding what sort of power are we talking about, I know people have way better systems than me and their are a lot of hardcore folders out their, running high end systems in the way of Folding farms but what sort of power are we talking about in the way of Pushing Folding and the science forward.

I have for example two systems in what I fold 24\7 a duel core and a Single core. I found a thread after looking what answered my question about High WU and Low points, but doing this as I don't pay for my Electricity and being in to Computers doesn't bother me as I leave my systems up 24\7 and mabie take a break once or twice a fortnight.

I will say this, and it might sound stupid, I just wish for the F@H DC Project their was a Pre packaged System you could buy but then again we had that on the PS3 but at the time I was at home, and didn't fully get in to folding until I moved out.

If we had an Android based tablet as you can pick them up for as little as £50 + I would have on at least, but a big problem for me is I don't upgrade often enuf. I also do SETI but F@H being my main rigs at home I use for f@h.

[bruce]

The PS3 was as close to a pre-packaged FAH system as possible because all PS3 hardware and software was essentially identical except for the size of the harddisk. That was also a limitation partly because Moore's Law essentially dictates that anything you buy today will be superseded by something more powerful before long.

Game consoles don't follow Moore's Law. This exception is due to the fact that all PS3 games had to be designed to run within the constraints of the original PS3 specifications while (for example) new versions of PC games could be designed for upgraded hardware as fast as the hardware manufacturers could design and sell it. The PS3 client had to run within those same constraints while the Windows/Linux/MacOS client for CPUs, followed by the client for had no such constraints.

[Paragon]

I'm not sure anything tablet-based or smaller will have enough horsepower to be worth running. One thing you could do is pick up a used laptop on Ebay and just let it crank. For a couple hundred bucks, you can find something with a mobile I5 processor. Or, you can grab something a bit older that uses a Socket P Core2 duo. You won't see huge PPD numbers, but the PPD/watt efficiency numbers are actually pretty good compared to similar desktops due to the fact that laptops are fairly low voltage. Temperature will probably be an issue for long-term reliability depending on the system's native cooling ability and processor voltage.

Here is an article that shows what an older laptop can do (compared to a Quad-core and Hex-core desktop folding rig). The PPD numbers are low but not terribly so, and the efficiency numbers are pretty good.

http://greenfoldingathome.com/2015/03/1 ... computers/