How to tell if you have a powerful enough computer.

[hobbit709]

If you're running 3 different folding@home processes in the background, converting .avi to DVD, browsing DU and listening to music and it doesn't stutter a bit.
That's not counting your security software also up and running.

[ret5hd]

1. Well, it's only polite to tell us what such a computer is!

Cray, maybe?

[hobbit709]

2. Nothing THAT expensive.

AMD FX-8350 overclocked to 4.5 GHz, 8 GB PC-1600 DDR3 RAM, MSI 970A-G43 motherboard, 120 Gb Patriot SSD boot drive, 2 Tb data drive, NVidia GTX 650 ti graphics, connected to n ASUS 27-inch 2560x1440 monitor.

That's my main system. Have three others plus my HTPC and laptop.

[Fumesucker]

3. I find the GPU processes for einstein@home make my screen very laggy and jerky

I have the GPU processes set to turn off when I'm using the box, the CPU processes don't seem to make any difference most of the time. I do have the CPU processes set to turn off if usage goes over 40% and I have to suspend the GPU processes if I want to watch a video over one minute in length.

Einstein@home is engaged in searching for pulsar signatures in radio telescope data.

I do a fair bit of free computer work for friends and acquaintances and lately I've been telling them that I want to run a distributed computing application on their box in trade for my work, so far everyone has been cool with it. I set up the apps so that they suspend whenever the computer is actually in use so it doesn't interfere with anyone's use of their computer.

No PC gamers in my circle so the only GPU apps I get to run are on my own box. I wanted to run milkyway@home but my GPU is only single precision and the MW@H GPU apps require double precision.

Since I have electric heat I can run this stuff all during the heating season and it basically costs me nothing extra on my power bill, my box pulls an extra 150-190 watts over idle consumption when I'm running the @home apps full throttle. My AC is marginal and it's hot and humid here in the summer so I don't run them so much then, set them to turn on after midnight and off at about ten am.

[hobbit709]

4. My GPU core is running 95-98% with all that running.

My cpu is running damn near 100% but with the liquid cooling the core temp is staying under 50°C.