Tomba,

When you create a new machine in Virtualbox, it will step you through the parameters to create a new virtual machine. When it gets to the step where it asks for the install *.iso file, you should be able to point it to the file location on your hard drive.

Hope that helps.

When you create a new machine in Virtualbox, it will step you through the parameters to create a new virtual machine. When it gets to the step where it asks for the install *.iso file, you should be able to point it to the file location on your hard drive.

Thanks! Did that on my 64-bit Windows 7 PC. Got this:



Not easy!!

I didn't pay much attencion to this, but I would advice you to see issues with GPUs on VirtualBox. Not very sure you will go smooth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69bRWxg2_QE

Hi TJ,

The AMD CPU will come with a stock cooler. It is very easy to install and cools great. My system does 4 Rosetta's and 2 GPUGRID on two 660's and runs at 48-54°C with the stock cooler. It can make a lot of noise though if the room temperature becomes high. During summer in France even higher then in the Netherlands. but you can try first. The thermal past is already mounted on that cooler.

I think I'm committed to the already-purchased cooler but, if there's a decent cooler in the mobo box, I might try installing it in my i7 Dell, which makes too much CPU fan noise for me to run any Rosettas.

Tom

I'm afraid that is not going to work. The cooler delivered with the AMD CPU is especially for AMD and on the MOBO a fitting with backplate is already mounted for it. Only pushing a handle and it is tight locked. You can try it first and if you like its performance you can put your new cooler on the i7.

---

Greetings from TJ

Tomba,

I just downloaded a fresh copy of Ubuntu 13.10, created a new VM, and told it to install from my hard drive. It seems to be working just fine (no error message like yours). The only thing I know to tell you is to check and make sure that virtualization is enabled in your BIOS. Many computers come with virtualization disabled and you have to enable it in the BIOS.

BTW, when you choose to burn the Ubuntu *.ISO file to an optical disk, you can burn it to a DVD and it will fit just fine.

Let us know how it turns out.

The only thing I know to tell you is to check and make sure that virtualization is enabled in your BIOS.

No mention of virtualisation in my BIOS. Did a BOIS update. Nothing changed...

I downloaded the 12.04.3 ISO and inserted a new 700MB RW CD for the burn. "Not enough space on the CD"; the ISO is 724,992KB.

I had that problem too, downloaded a older version and updated.
Another option is to put it into a USB stick.
There's plety of forums talking about this (I find it very silly, that they did this). Search "ubuntu size 700MB" and you find more info.

They didn't do anything silly. It just looks silly because so many newbies are unfamiliar with the terms they use and get confused. I will attempt to explain.

You can download 2 different kinds of ISO files from which to install Ubuntu:

*The plain vanilla Ubuntu installer ISO fits on a CD. It boots, asks you some questions about configuration options and installs Ubuntu. That's all it does. To run Ubuntu you must complete the installation then reboot. This is the way a Windows install disk works, this ISO fits on a CD. If you are already sure you want to install to HDD then just download the plain vanilla installer.

*The Ubuntu Live ISO does not fit on a CD because it has extra code the plain vanilla installer does not have. That extras code gives a Live DVD the ability to boot directly into a fully operational Ubuntu (something the plain vanilla ISO does not do). That allows you to test drive Ubuntu before installing it on your HDD. If you decide to install Ubuntu to your HDD after the test drive you don't need to download the plain vanilla ISO because the Live DVD can also install Ubuntu.

The next big surprise tomba is going to run into is that there is no C: to be found anywhere, no D: either. Don't worry tomba, Linux has not destroyed you disks, they still work.

Once you get a virtual Ubuntu created, the software updater will run and tell you there are a hundred or more updates. The first update is equivalent to a service pack in Windows but we don't call them service packs. The second update may be fairly big too but the third will be small. Do the updates before you start exploring and playing. After the updates are done you should shutdown the VM, open VBox manager and clone the first VM. Give the cloned VM a name that has the word "virgin" in it. Don't ever use the virgin. That way if you destroy the other VM by doing something dumb you just tell VBox manager to delete the destroyed one then clone a new one from the virgin. That gives you a fresh and already updated Ubuntu to start over with. Actually, I like to do the updates then install BOINC and then clone the virgin.

---

BOINC <<--- credit whores, pedants, alien hunters

Tomba,

Are we still talking about your Dell 435 XPS? It's possible that your motherboard/BOIS/CPU/chipset combination does not support virtualization. I did some searches on the Internet and found a post that said Dell sometimes blocks virtualization in the BIOS on their desktop computers. I also found a thread that said some CPU's lack the hardware virtualization capabilities that are required to run a virtual machine.

You can do a search on the Internet with your exact configuration and see if it is supposed to support virtualization.

Hope that helps.

Regarding necessity for hardware virtualization, see Hardware vs. software virtualization from the official VirtualBox documentation. To summarize, you don't need hardware virtualization if the guest OS is 32 bit. If the guest OS is 64 bit then your CPU must support hardware virtualization.

It's true, Dell has in the past disabled hardware virtualization on some models and made it impossible to turn on. If you look at BOINC's Event Log, about 20 lines from the top BOINC lists the hardware extensions your CPU supports. For Intel CPUs it will show VT-x. For AMD CPUs it will show AMD-V. The catch is that the list of extensions can be very long and may not fit on the screen you are using. In that case BOINC does not line-wrap the list it just chops it short. The bottom line is that if you see VT-x or AMD-V in the list then you can be sure your CPU has that feature. It might be disabled in BIOS but at least it is there and you might be able to turn it on in BIOS. If you do not see VT-x or AMD-V in BOINC's list then it might be that BOINC has simply chopped off the portion of the list where the feature appears. In that case you need to find stdoutdae.txt in the BOINC data directory, open it with a text editor and search for VT-x (if you have an Intel CPU) or AMD-V (if you have an AMD CPU). If you find it then your CPU supports it but, again, it might not be enabled. If you don't find it then your CPU doesn't support it. In that case you cannot install a 64 bit guest OS, only a 32 bit guest OS. The guest OS is the OS you install in the VM.

I could be wrong but I think tomba's problem was that he tried to save the VM image to the Ubuntu install DVD instead of HDD.

---

BOINC <<--- credit whores, pedants, alien hunters

Wow, this thread surely developed quickly! I hardly managed to catch up with new posts over the week, let laone posting myself. I suppose you haven't ordered yet, Tomba? Anyway, here are my few cents:

GPU: back when the GTX660Ti wasn't much more expensive than a GTX660 it was the obvious choise for crunchers. But now the markup on the last cards is far too large. You should go straight for a GTX770 (280€) if you want more than a GTX660, anything in between is too expensive for the performance.

Memory: I agree with 2x4 GB, unless you know you need more (you don't). What's the clock speed and timing of your kit?

DVD: you don't need this if it's going to be a dedicated cruncher (install from USB and later on use another drive over the network).

If it's going to be your new main rig I strongly suggest going for the SSD. The "wow" factor may disappear after a short time, but once you go back to an HDD-equipped machine again it becomes totally unbearable and you wonder how this has ever been "OK".

SSD: I recommend the Samsung 840 Evo 120 GB at 85€. It's got one of the best controllers and firmware for a very good price and enough capacity for most of your stuff.

HDD: you should be able to get 1 TB for ~50€. My experience with HDD space has been "don't skimp on it if it just costs a few € more; it will come in handy at some point".

Fan: excellent choice!

Heatsink: the stock cooler doesn't cut it for 24/7 crunching if you're concerned with noise.

Number of GPUs: I won't put more than 1 high performance card into my main rig, since I couldn't cool that heat silently enough with air. Two cards is still a manageable setup: you can have enough space between the cards and the PCIe connections are not really bottlenecking yet (I'm not only considering the current GPU-Grid app - it's better to err on the safe side here). At 3 cards things become challenging: you need a significnatly stronger PSU and you're almost forced into blower-style coolers, which are powerful but inherently loud. Also the PCIe configurations and on AMD the link between Northbridge and CPU become important to consider.

I'm asking because if you build for 2 GPUs you can choose a smaller PSU (600 - 700 W 80+ Gold should be ideal) and the mainboard requirements are reduced, which could again save a bit. Also consider the running costs if you're shooting for 500+ W of load with that 1 kW PSU. At 20+ cent/kWh the rule of thumb is "each W drawn 24/7 costs you 2€/year". Don't build too large of a system and be surprised by the cost later!

CPU: if you're actively working with the system and plan to keep it for a longer time (maybe passing it along in the family once it's not fit for crunching any more) I'd go for the slightly faster CPU as well, although the difference is not yet in the "clearly noticeable" range.

I would also favor Intel due to a few factors:
- far better power efficiency, unless you find a project where AMD excells - but with Intel you're still more flexible. We're talking about >50 W difference here, i.e. 100€/year higher running costs for the AMD system (unless your electricity is significantly cheaper)!

- even the idle power consumption is better than for AM3+ mainboards, which matters if the system is used for general web/office after its active crunching carreer (again saving money, just not as much as before)

- free PCIe 3, with even basic boards providing 2 x 8x lanes for 2 GPUs -> performance like 2 x 16x PCIe 2, whereas AMD will typically provide at best 1 x 16 and 1 x 8 PCIe 2 on more expensive mainboards

- "free" credits from the Haswell GPU: ~10k RAC at Einstein or ~50k at Collatz (additional power draw 20 - 30 W depending on settings and tuning)

- performance for general usage with an i5 is about equal the top AMD - so the AMD doesn't have an initial price advantage either

If you still want to go with AMD I'd at least eco-tune the setup: AMD pushes their top chips quite hard to reach high frequencies. If you disable turbo you gain some power efficiency, and if you additionally reduce the stock voltage (a bit is always possible) you can reduce the power consumption difference compared to Intel significantly. The 8320 could go lower due to lower stock speeds, but you could underclock & undervolt the bigger CPU as well if you wanted to.
Of course you could do so with an Intel as well, but here most choose to go for higher clocks since the starting point is already comparably efficient. For my 3770K I'm choosing both: OC to 4.1 GHz at reduced voltage of 1.03 V. The AMD 8350 will need massive 1.35 - 1.4 V to reach its top turbo bin of 4.2 GHz...

MrS

---

Scanning for our furry friends since Jan 2002

Thanks for chipping in MrS, and a special thanks for bringing this thread back on topic!

I suppose you haven't ordered yet, Tomba?

Yes I have! Here 'tis:

GPU: back when the GTX660Ti wasn't much more expensive than a GTX660 it was the obvious choise for crunchers. But now the markup on the last cards is far too large. You should go straight for a GTX770 (280€) if you want more than a GTX660, anything in between is too expensive for the performance.

Now there's a thought... I just emailed this link to my son with a gentle hint that Xmas is just around the corner :). If that works, I have the potential of a 770 and 2x660 for the new rig, with my spare 460 going into the current one. Perhaps that's OTT? .

What's the clock speed and timing of your kit?

I have no idea :(

DVD: you don't need this if it's going to be a dedicated cruncher (install from USB and later on use another drive over the network).

No. It is not to dedicated. It replaces the old one, which goes to my daughter.

SSD: I recommend the Samsung 840 Evo 120 GB at 85€.

That's the one coming!

Number of GPUs: I won't put more than 1 high performance card into my main rig, since I couldn't cool that heat silently enough with air. Two cards is still a manageable setup: you can have enough space between the cards and the PCIe connections are not really bottlenecking yet (I'm not only considering the current GPU-Grid app - it's better to err on the safe side here). At 3 cards things become challenging: you need a significnatly stronger PSU and you're almost forced into blower-style coolers, which are powerful but inherently loud. Also the PCIe configurations and on AMD the link between Northbridge and CPU become important to consider.

Hmmm. Food for thought there, especially if my 'cunning plan', aka Baldrick, for a 770 comes off...

100€/year higher running costs for the AMD system (unless your electricity is significantly cheaper)!

The electric tariff I'm on gives me 22 days a year when the price is 10x the normal tariff. No crunching on those days! However, for the remaining 343 days I pay half the normal tariff, so electric usage is not a problem.

Many thanks again for a fascinating rundown on crunching considerations. I'm grateful.

Tom

Re my plan to use the third of the three WIN 7 licences I bought ages ago, I just noticed it's the "Update" version.

Does this mean I must first install XP or Vista on the SSD, and then install WIN 7?

Will the WIN7 install complain that the opsys it finds on the SSD is unverified, or should I buy a full XP or Vista CD?

(No - I don't want to start with a Linux install...)

Tom

Re my plan to use the third of the three WIN 7 licences I bought ages ago, I just noticed it's the "Update" version.

Call off the dogs! Just ordered WIN7 Professional SP1 with COA on eBay UK for £37. Excellent feedback.

Tom

Hi Tomba, have fun with your new system :)

Although I did write a lot (which might help others here and there as well) and you can easily tell I would not have suggested an AMD.. the system doesn't look that different from what I was suggesting - very nice! Let us know how it works out. And if you have the time and nerve: experiment with energy saving on that AMD ;)

BTW: regarding that update version, I think you only need to provide a valid key for a prior version. Not entirely sure, though. When upgrading from XP the disk is completely swiped anyway. Give it a try when you need another license!

MrS

---

Scanning for our furry friends since Jan 2002

Re my plan to use the third of the three WIN 7 licences I bought ages ago, I just noticed it's the "Update" version.

Call off the dogs! Just ordered WIN7 Professional SP1 with COA on eBay UK for £37. Excellent feedback.

Tom

I also recently bought Win7 Pro on ebay, got for £35 with COA. When it was delivered it turned out to be a Dell disc that came with an unused COA. Didn't use the disc but the COA worked, although I did have to use phone activation to verify it.

Well, everything is shipped, and some bits have been delivered. I'm getting excited... :)

In my current rig I switched the old GTX 660 for the new GTX 660 OC, to make sure it was not DOA. It's totally silent, and it's faster: GPU from 1097 to 1149, Shader from 2194 to 2299. Memory is the same at 3004.

I await calls from more delivery men.

Tom

I don't have a cc_config.xml file, which I shall need for multiple GPUs.

I search these fora for cc_config.xml but no post told me its destination folder.

Where does it go?

Tom

The cc.config goes into the BOINC Data folder.

---

Greetings from TJ

The case arrived this morning so I made a start.

I don'r have the earthing strap yet so I passed on the mobo. However, I installed the SSD and a disk drive. Easy. Disk drives go in screwless. Two bays have cradles for SSDs so my on-order cradle is redundant.

The DVD was a bit of a challenge. There are five bays and the five front grills pop off easily. But behind them are five metal plates with no visible means of removing them. A quick Google advised breaking them off, which I did. Then the DVD drive went in easily, and screwless.

I am not a little worried about the myriad of cables coming the front control panel. All gauges, all connectors, all colours. The case's Micky Mouse guide shows a few of the key ones but that's it. No definitions of which colours are what :(

Tom

The cc.config goes into the BOINC Data folder.

Thanks TJ. Noted. Tom