# Minimum time to get average structures

**URL:** <https://gromacs.bioexcel.eu/t/minimum-time-to-get-average-structures/1649>\
**Category:** User discussions\
**Created:** [February 27, 2021, 7:09am UTC](https://gromacs.bioexcel.eu/t/minimum-time-to-get-average-structures/1649 "2021-02-27T07:09:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
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**Author:** ![rahul85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@rahul85](https://gromacs.bioexcel.eu/u/rahul85)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 7:09am UTC](https://gromacs.bioexcel.eu/t/minimum-time-to-get-average-structures/1649/1 "2021-02-27T07:09:33Z")

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GROMACS version: 2018.8  
GROMACS modification:  
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I have done a MD simulation for 200 ns and now I want average structure files for comparison and analysis. Is there any minimum timescale (interval) at which we have to extract those so as to get averaged structure ?  
For example, in one reference, I found the average structures calculated using ensembles generated between 1 and 3 ns, for a total 3ns simulation run and there the ensembles were computed every 2 ps.