I spoke about downsizing last time but what with winter the thermal imperative was never there. Then when FlyingFocRS sold of most of his farm I just had to bag 3of his PCs mainly for the 260s that 2 of them contained. This got me back up to 8 PCs upstairs! It is obvious as the temperatures outside nudge double figures and those inside head towards 30degC that something has to give. I have therefore decided on a Bill Gates style spree of philanthropy and am giving away my farm, or at least some of the less productive fields, to anyone that will have them. Let me know if you are interested!
The plan will be to be left with 5 quads, 4 with 260 GTX cards and one with a 280 GTX. This, augmented by 2 laptops and my work machine, should be enough to pump out 40K per day. This will be a lot less than the 60K+ I had been managing but still enough to keep me in the top 300 overall individuals for a long time. And at least the lost credits will only have been redistributed within the team.
Already I have dismantled my semi-permanant caseless "test rig" for spares and rid myself of an E6600+9600 which is already propelling another member up the ranks. The drop from 8 to 6 machines means a drop from uncomfortably hot to pleasantly toasty. The roar has also dropped from Heathrow main runway to wind-tunnel which is a big improvement
It's hardly minimalism yet but it feels significantly more sustainable.
Despite some major setbacks - Buster's retiral because of ill health & Nightlord having to downsize severely because of redundancy - TSBT are managing to maintain an RAC above 1/2 a million and have moved up to 40th overall! So no overall downsize.
If you want to score for a buckshee PC let me know- if there is enough competition I'll put the stuff up to a charity auction.
