18 Mar
2006
18 Mar
'06
11:06 a.m.
At 05:25 PM 3/17/2006, you wrote:
To tie in a different thread, regarding
"practical" applications for vintage computers, Distributed.net seems like a
natural. It's not exactly Earth-shaking science at the moment, but it's a big
problem that breaks naturally down into a lot of very small pieces, so it's something
classic systems can actually practically contribute to.
I think it comes down to the cost of electricity. That's really what
you're donating to the project. If you want to make the most cost-effective
contribution, use contemporary hardware that has more horsepower at
lower power consumption. For that matter, if you want to preserve your
old hardware, I'm not convinced that leaving it on 7/24 is the best
approach. I tend to run it on the contemporary hardware that I know
will be left on. Still, more than once I've shocked myself by
examining the performance graph and wondering what's sucking 100% of the
CPU. Even today's hardware will run consume extra power and run
hotter if you're pushing the CPU.
- John