I'm back

I spent a week over at EVGA donating to brcromer.

I'm back home folding now.

I wish I were, too. But my notebook won't fold anymore. The temps raise to the level of crashing (101C is the breaking point) within 10 minutes into the job. It's becoming anemic, too. And under load, the hard drive rattles noticeably. All I have to do is run an app, such as the AV or defrag, the rattling increases. I've seen this happen before, once that drive begins to rattle, it doesn't heal.

What I done, before the final crash happens, was deleted the partitions with MiniTool Partition Wizard, reformatted the disc with the original Dell XP SP2 reinstall disc, so that all traces of any potential abusive programs are gone. I don't know how the warranty company would look at a folding program being installed on it.

I plan on replacing it with a Toshiba, with either a recent rock solid dual core, or check out their quad core choices. If it were a quad, it most certainly would be a AMD, as a Intel one would be out of my price range. One thing that I've learned on this forum is to look at the numbers (the higher the GHz, the better). And being that I like VM's, 6GB of RAM is a must.

The Anytime Upgrade to Pro adds another $100. But it's worth it, you get two OS's with it, when you figure in XP Mode.

One thing for sure, it'll be one powerful folding machine, once it gets broken in.

Cat

Before you purchase compare the CPU with this chart. - http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

The AMD Phenom II X4 955 is comparable to my Intel Core2 Quad Q9400. Also keep in mind the addition of the GeForce GTS 450 is what helped Yadap and myself for higher PPD.

Welcome back. That was a cool thing you guys did. Unfortunately I was called out of town before I could configure my machine for brcromer, so i decided to point one of my machines toward one of our own. I think the bonus just started to kick in.

(Look for a larger slice of the pie in the coming days my friend!)

Thanks, CC. I bookmarked this page for future reference, as I want to make sure that I select the right combo of parts. Particularly the CPU/Video Card options, along with at least one USB 3.0 & eSATA ports. I want this purchase to be the right one.

Cat

I don't think there would be any concerns over that where the hard drive is concerned. Folding uses the HD very little, mostly to save checkpoints while folding.

Depending on your timeframe for buying, the Sandy Bridge processors look great for the money. I haven't seen any laptop models yet to know what price range they fit, but the top SB CPU released right now is less than $350. The mobile models without HyperThreading ought to be somewhat less expensive. That could mean a good price for a low-to-mid level laptop. AMD has been competitive in the value range, but Intel seems to be making moves in that direction.

I guess what I meant by "abuse" was that I used the notebook as a folder over several months, with CPU temps into the upper 90's. When I replaced the keyboard about three months ago, I couldn't believe the amount of dust that was packed it it. Nibs told me that was probably my problem.

After using nearly two cans of air to blow it out good (oh was those cans so cold!), the temps dropped back to the mid 70's, but not for long. I folded non-stop for two months with temps around 90, then last week, it suddenly shot to the upper 90's, even to 100C. 101C was it's breaking point, once I hit that a couple of times, it would never complete a job again. It's running at 90 with only the AV scanning.

That is what concerned me, it's under warranty until mid October, and the hard drive is rattling, so I figured to wipe the drive and reformat. I've run the drive wiper option in CCleaner, it really rattles during that. But I'll give it credit, according to the SMART stats, it's almost at 500 days on run time (478). Not bad for a Hitachi drive.

I will replace it with a good mid level notebook, and it won't be a "impulse" purchase. As I stated, I want the right combo of parts to be there. Not necessarily the most expensive (I cant afford it), but a decent combo. On the RAM, I can accept 4GB, as long as there's empty slots for upgrading. I most certainly don't want another Dell or HP. My heart is set on a mid level Toshiba, and most likely, I'll buy locally. There are three office stores around, and the two that I deal with most has a large selection of notebooks (there were at least 20 Toshiba's alone). Plus, as a regular customer, I'm always getting coupons (like 15% off purchases over $100).

I just prefer a face to face deal, and actually see and feel what I'm buying, prior to purchase. Plus, if a problem arises, there's none of that RMA crap, having to pay for shipping, etc.

Cat