Hello
I do not know much about pc,s but own a 2 month old Dell pc with ht and pentuim 4 and 2.8ghz and 800mhz mother board with dual ram.I want to get another pc purely to crunch seti on.Found this pc on Ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=14294&item=5141926461

What do you think?Do you think it looks good and is it a sensible price?From what I can see it looks great value.Or am I better buying somewhere else?Have you more than one pc and can you recomend a pc other than the one I just linked?I do not want to spend a fortune as I just want it purely for crunching.Know this question sounds abit daft but I know hardly anything about pc's and was wondering what is the best way to get a pc for purely crunching seti on?I am better having one made up for this reason by a person?Is buying an old pc a good idea?I was told it was not as new ones are so cheap now.I supose I am thinking that buying a new pc which has special features , will it be abit of a waste as they will not get used?Have you had a pc made up just to fit the use of seti or would that work out more cash than just buying a new pc off the shelf?

Also the pc in the link has no software on it but I have Xp Pro on my current pc.Could I just put that on another pc too?Is there any copyright laws or can I put it on any pc,s I own?
Thanks
Rachel.

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......In Space No One Can Hear You Scream......

that what i see at this link is a 3 ghz pentium 4 with 1 mb L2 cache rachel
*

Super fast Pentium 4 3Ghz Prescott Processor 1MB Level 2 Cache
*

512MB DDR RAM
*

52x32x52 CDRW
*

Maxtor 120GB ATA133 7200rpm Hard Drive
*

Integrated Intel Real 256bit Graphics
*

6 X USB 2 (2 x front 4 x rear)
*

10/100 Ethernet Lan
*

5.1 Surround Digital Audio

and only 450 euro (one pound is 1,5 euro or)for this i think its TOO CHEAP TAKE CARE

Have you ever thought about building a pc on yourself? It's realy easy like the old child games, there is only one way to get one part into an other.

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WARR - Wissenschaftliche Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Raketentechnik und Raumfahrt
(WARR - scientific working group for rocket technology and space travel)

> that what i see at this link is a 3 ghz pentium 4 with 1 mb L2 cache rachel
> *
>
> Super fast Pentium 4 3Ghz Prescott Processor 1MB Level 2 Cache
> *
>
> 512MB DDR RAM
> *
>
> 52x32x52 CDRW
> *
>
> Maxtor 120GB ATA133 7200rpm Hard Drive
> *
>
> Integrated Intel Real 256bit Graphics
> *
>
> 6 X USB 2 (2 x front 4 x rear)
> *
>
> 10/100 Ethernet Lan
> *
>
> 5.1 Surround Digital Audio
>
> and only 450 euro (one pound is 1,5 euro or)for this i think its TOO CHEAP
> TAKE CARE
>
Sorry, but I don't think it's cheap, I have payed for my pc at all 450 € with new parts!

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WARR - Wissenschaftliche Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Raketentechnik und Raumfahrt
(WARR - scientific working group for rocket technology and space travel)

For pure crunching this PC looks reasonable. The drawback is the integrated graphics and the 'baby-sized' mainboard. So it is limited to enhancing and adding new components. For pure crunching it looks ok to me, but don't try to game on that.

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Aloha, Uli

> Have you ever thought about building a pc on yourself? It's realy easy like
> the old child games, there is only one way to get one part into an other.
>
>
>

Me build a pc?LOL.I would not know where to start.I know about as much about cars as pc,s.Where the petrol goes and the key,lol.

---

......In Space No One Can Hear You Scream......

> > Have you ever thought about building a pc on yourself? It's realy easy
> like
> > the old child games, there is only one way to get one part into an
> other.
> >
> >
> >
>
> Me build a pc?LOL.I would not know where to start.I know about as much about
> cars as pc,s.Where the petrol goes and the key,lol.

I've managed it myself and I have two left hands ;-).

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WARR - Wissenschaftliche Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Raketentechnik und Raumfahrt
(WARR - scientific working group for rocket technology and space travel)

> > > Have you ever thought about building a pc on yourself? It's realy
> easy
> > like
> > > the old child games, there is only one way to get one part into an
> > other.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> > Me build a pc?LOL.I would not know where to start.I know about as much
> about
> > cars as pc,s.Where the petrol goes and the key,lol.
>
> I've managed it myself and I have two left hands ;-).
>
>
>

By the time I buy all the parts, would it cost the same or more than buying an off the shelf one?I know my hubbies friend build pc's and we asked him how much it would cost before I got my new pc(Dell) and he said a price and it was no cheaper than buying off the shelf after adding monitor and speakers and software.I guess I could ask him for a quote for a pc just for crunching on seti but I bet it will not be too cheap but I guess I will get a better pc.The pc on Ebay has ht.Which would be great.

---

......In Space No One Can Hear You Scream......

You should ask yourself,what you would like to do with your PC!
->Running SETI

So you'll need a good CPU, f.e. P4 HT 3.2 GHz (but needs many electricity) or you
take an AMD 3.2 (120€ and you can overclock it, so that
it'll run faster then the FX55)
Motherbord with dual Ram support (circa 125 €)
2*265 DDR Ram (100-125€)
Cooling and electricity (80€)
Hdd 40 GB (70€)
modem/on board Lan??
----------------------------------------------------
120€
+125€
+100€
+ 80€
+ 70€
------
495€ --> all new parts put if you buy them at ebay you maybe have to pay
- 10-20% ->50 to 100 €

If I missed something please post, all prices are based on my last experiences.

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WARR - Wissenschaftliche Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Raketentechnik und Raumfahrt
(WARR - scientific working group for rocket technology and space travel)

> If I missed something please post, all prices are based on my last
> experiences.
>

You missed the case and the graphics card and a cdrom/dvd drive ;)

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Aloha, Uli

Oky the case, but that aren't more then 20€.
I think DVD and graphik card aren't nessesary for running SETI ?!, but maybe ET is sending us an video of its holiday ;).

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WARR - Wissenschaftliche Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Raketentechnik und Raumfahrt
(WARR - scientific working group for rocket technology and space travel)

I built my P4 3.2 from parts bought on the high street for around £350. Had I the patience to wait for mail order, I could have done it cheaper.

Here are a couple of links you might find useful, Rach:

http://www.novatech.co.uk (sells motherboards with processor and memory already installed)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/ (a range of quality components, systems)
http://www.ebuyer.co.uk (cheap parts, systems)


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Rachel,

If the PC is for crunching SETI, go for a Pentium 4 Prescott (1MB cache).
The prescott is 20-25% faster then the Northwood (512kb cache).
The only drawback is the Prescott is alittle hotter then the Northwood.
Try not to go for mATX (baby boards), cause the Prescott does put some
strain on the board's power regulators. Last but not least make sure you
get a good power supply. Stay away from those lousy power supply units
that come free when you buy a case. From experience, I have blown 2
non-branded power supply units and they were rated at 450 watts.
To see just what a Prescott can do, look in my profile. The 3.2 and 3.0
are both prescotts. Both get over 600+ RAC. My 3.0 get better RAC cause
it's only used by my wife for emailing. My 3.2 is used by me for gaming
and that takes away CPU time from SETI.

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I don't see "minimum" requirements for SETI, but here is what I'd think about:

An AMD Sempron 2400+ is $60. An Athlon 3200+ is $200 (U.S. dollars, but it's the relative numbers).

If I was trying to toss out the maximum number of work units, I'd build one system and find the minimum I could get away with and have reasonable performance. Something like a motherboard with built-in video and LAN, 256mb RAM, 40gb HD. No CD or floppy (at least not permanently). No monitor (TightVNC instead).

Then I'd build two more.

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And end up with a bunch of computers that do
less then 100 RAC? Whatever for?

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> And end up with a bunch of computers that do
> less then 100 RAC? Whatever for?
>

I fancy a pc which does about the same as the one I am now using.Or more.

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......In Space No One Can Hear You Scream......

Hi Rachel,
Have you seen the one Advertised in The Sun Newspaper?

> And end up with a bunch of computers that do
> less then 100 RAC? Whatever for?

The idea is to maximize the RAC per $$$, not the RAC per machine.

I suspect the individual machines would be pretty close to 100 RAC each.

So, three machines doing about 100 RAC would return 50% more work for about the same money as a machine that does 200 RAC or so.

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The prescott is 20-25% faster then the Northwood (512kb cache).
=========
@ Legacy

I would like to see a link to that proof that the Prescott is 20-25% faster.

Any reviews I have ever seen on comparing the 2 they were about even and in some cases the Northwood will actually out preform the Prescott even. For 1 thing the Prescott has more latency because of the 1mb L2 Cache & another thing it runs a lot hotter than the Northwood ...

The only time the Prescott out preforms the Northwood is when you start to overclock them, then the Prescott at some point will out preform the Northwood, but if your not going to overclock them then the Northwood is actually a much better chip to go with ...

this one works out to about $0.71 per rac cobblestone
$243 to build,, no case ..no permnent cdrom
rac of 340

http://setiweb.ssl.berkeley.edu/show_host_detail.php?hostid=195004