"Use x% CPU": Cores get too hot in bursts, fan noise kick in

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JanDoggen

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Joined: 26 Jan 15
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Message 92313 - Posted: 29 Jul 2019, 18:48:29 UTC

My Boinc computing preferences are:
- use at most 67% of CPUs
- use at most 5% of CPU time

The hint of that last setting explains what is happening: computing is suspended for some time, then starts, the CPUs kick in, get hot and the fans start blowing.

For a test, I resumed Seti@Home and started CoreTemp.
My 6 cores are at 40-45C, total system CPU fluctuates 10-30%.
Boinc kicks in approximately every 20 seconds, for a period of a few seconds:
Total CPU goes to something like 97%, core temperatures shoot to over 80C (CoreTemp gives this an orange warning color).

('For fun': change setting to 50% CPU and my core temps swap between 50C and 90C every second with the fans following).

I don't want my cores to get this hot, and I especially don't like the continuous on/off fan noise from the PC.

Is there a way to have Boinc (projects) running at a continuous CPU rate so that:
a) my core temps are stable so that my fans runs continuously with an acceptable noise level;
b) computing is still effective (3 out of every 20 seconds does not seem so).

PC is a Dell Precision 3630 Tower
Intel i7-8700 CPU at 3.20 GHz, 32 GB ram
Running Win10 Pro
Boinc version 7.14.2 (x64) running as a system tray app on startup

Here are the log entries for this test run:

07/29/19 19:51:38 | | cc_config.xml not found - using defaults
07/29/19 19:51:38 | | Starting BOINC client version 7.14.2 for windows_x86_64
07/29/19 19:51:38 | | log flags: file_xfer, sched_ops, task
07/29/19 19:51:38 | | Libraries: libcurl/7.47.1 OpenSSL/1.0.2g zlib/1.2.8
07/29/19 19:51:38 | | Data directory: C:\ProgramData\BOINC
07/29/19 19:51:38 | | Running under account JanDoggen
07/29/19 19:51:39 | | OpenCL CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8700 CPU @ 3.20GHz (OpenCL driver vendor: Intel(R) Corporation, driver version 7.6.0.1125, device version OpenCL 2.1 (Build 0))
07/29/19 19:51:39 | | No usable GPUs found
07/29/19 19:51:39 | | app version refers to missing GPU type intel_gpu
07/29/19 19:51:39 | SETI@home | Application uses missing intel_gpu GPU
07/29/19 19:51:39 | SETI@home | Missing coprocessor for task blc21_2bit_guppi_58406_20109_PSR_J0358+5413_0083.28092.409.22.45.61.vlar_0
07/29/19 19:51:39 | | Host name: DESKTOP-COV1MII
07/29/19 19:51:39 | | Processor: 12 GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8700 CPU @ 3.20GHz [Family 6 Model 158 Stepping 10]
07/29/19 19:51:39 | | Processor features: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss htt tm pni ssse3 fma cx16 sse4_1 sse4_2 movebe popcnt aes f16c rdrandsyscall nx lm avx avx2 vmx smx tm2 pbe fsgsbase bmi1 hle smep bmi2
07/29/19 19:51:39 | | OS: Microsoft Windows 10: Professional x64 Edition, (10.00.18362.00)
07/29/19 19:51:39 | | Memory: 31.84 GB physical, 36.59 GB virtual
07/29/19 19:51:39 | | Disk: 236.68 GB total, 162.94 GB free
07/29/19 19:51:39 | | Local time is UTC +2 hours
07/29/19 19:51:39 | | No WSL found.
07/29/19 19:51:39 | climateprediction.net | URL https://climateprediction.net/; Computer ID 1477075; resource share 100
07/29/19 19:51:39 | Einstein@Home | URL http://einstein.phys.uwm.edu/; Computer ID 12763131; resource share 100
07/29/19 19:51:39 | Rosetta@home | URL http://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/; Computer ID 3583963; resource share 100
07/29/19 19:51:39 | SETI@home | URL http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/; Computer ID 8652608; resource share 100
07/29/19 19:51:39 | Rosetta@home | General prefs: from Rosetta@home (last modified 07-Jan-2008 11:01:59)
07/29/19 19:51:39 | Rosetta@home | Host location: none
07/29/19 19:51:39 | Rosetta@home | General prefs: using your defaults
07/29/19 19:51:39 | | Reading preferences override file
07/29/19 19:51:39 | | Preferences:
07/29/19 19:51:39 | | max memory usage when active: 16302.58 MB
07/29/19 19:51:39 | | max memory usage when idle: 29344.65 MB
07/29/19 19:51:39 | | max disk usage: 100.00 GB
07/29/19 19:51:39 | | max CPUs used: 8
07/29/19 19:51:39 | | don't use GPU while active
07/29/19 19:51:39 | | suspend work if non-BOINC CPU load exceeds 25%
07/29/19 19:51:39 | | (to change preferences, visit a project web site or select Preferences in the Manager)
07/29/19 19:51:39 | | Setting up project and slot directories
07/29/19 19:51:39 | | Checking active tasks
07/29/19 19:51:39 | Einstein@Home | Task h1_0337.05_O1C02Cl2In0__O1OD1_337.25Hz_557_0 is 183.96 days overdue; you may not get credit for it. Consider aborting it.
07/29/19 19:51:39 | Einstein@Home | Task h1_0337.05_O1C02Cl2In0__O1OD1_337.25Hz_553_0 is 183.96 days overdue; you may not get credit for it. Consider aborting it.
07/29/19 19:51:39 | Einstein@Home | Task h1_0337.05_O1C02Cl2In0__O1OD1_337.25Hz_554_0 is 183.96 days overdue; you may not get credit for it. Consider aborting it.
07/29/19 19:51:39 | Einstein@Home | Task h1_0337.05_O1C02Cl2In0__O1OD1_337.25Hz_556_0 is 183.96 days overdue; you may not get credit for it. Consider aborting it.
07/29/19 19:51:39 | Einstein@Home | Task h1_0337.05_O1C02Cl2In0__O1OD1_337.25Hz_555_0 is 183.96 days overdue; you may not get credit for it. Consider aborting it.
07/29/19 19:51:39 | Einstein@Home | Task h1_0337.05_O1C02Cl2In0__O1OD1_337.25Hz_552_0 is 183.96 days overdue; you may not get credit for it. Consider aborting it.
07/29/19 19:51:39 | SETI@home | Task ap_29ja19ab_B6_P0_00200_20190130_11163.wu_2 is 153.88 days overdue; you may not get credit for it. Consider aborting it.
07/29/19 19:51:39 | SETI@home | Task 29no06ab.28043.4162.3.30.116_0 is 114.81 days overdue; you may not get credit for it. Consider aborting it.
07/29/19 19:51:39 | SETI@home | Task 29no06ab.27655.5798.9.36.74_0 is 126.21 days overdue; you may not get credit for it. Consider aborting it.
07/29/19 19:51:39 | SETI@home | Task blc21_2bit_guppi_58406_22568_HIP20842_0090.17963.409.22.45.225.vlar_1 is 123.75 days overdue; you may not get credit for it. Consider aborting it.
07/29/19 19:51:39 | SETI@home | Task blc21_2bit_guppi_58406_20109_PSR_J0358+5413_0083.28092.409.22.45.61.vlar_0 is 123.63 days overdue; you may not get credit for it. Consider aborting it.
07/29/19 19:51:39 | SETI@home | Task 29no06ab.25003.39101.8.35.147_1 is 156.38 days overdue; you may not get credit for it. Consider aborting it.
07/29/19 19:51:39 | SETI@home | Task 29no06ab.25003.39101.8.35.143_0 is 156.38 days overdue; you may not get credit for it. Consider aborting it.
07/29/19 19:51:39 | SETI@home | Task blc21_2bit_guppi_58406_22221_HIP20056_0089.28113.409.21.44.20.vlar_0 is 123.63 days overdue; you may not get credit for it. Consider aborting it.
07/29/19 19:51:39 | SETI@home | Task 29no06ab.25003.39101.8.35.168_1 is 156.38 days overdue; you may not get credit for it. Consider aborting it.
07/29/19 19:51:39 | Rosetta@home | Task rb_07_12_6197_6416_ab_t000__robetta_cstwt_5.0_FT_IGNORE_THE_REST_09_09_849614_47_1 is 5.89 days overdue; you may not get credit for it. Consider aborting it.
07/29/19 19:51:39 | Rosetta@home | Task rb_07_13_5917_6444__t000__0_C1_SAVE_ALL_OUT_IGNORE_THE_REST_849646_283_1 is 5.89 days overdue; you may not get credit for it. Consider aborting it.
07/29/19 19:51:39 | Rosetta@home | Task rb_07_13_5917_6444__t000__4_C1_SAVE_ALL_OUT_IGNORE_THE_REST_849646_232_1 is 5.89 days overdue; you may not get credit for it. Consider aborting it.
07/29/19 19:51:39 | Rosetta@home | Task rb_07_06_6007_6210__t000__0_C1_SAVE_ALL_OUT_IGNORE_THE_REST_848873_110_1 is 5.89 days overdue; you may not get credit for it. Consider aborting it.
07/29/19 19:51:39 | Rosetta@home | Task rb_07_13_6079_6445__t000__1_C1_SAVE_ALL_OUT_IGNORE_THE_REST_849629_112_1 is 5.89 days overdue; you may not get credit for it. Consider aborting it.
07/29/19 19:51:39 | Rosetta@home | Task rb_07_13_6079_6445__t000__3_C1_SAVE_ALL_OUT_IGNORE_THE_REST_849629_224_1 is 5.89 days overdue; you may not get credit for it. Consider aborting it.
07/29/19 19:51:39 | Rosetta@home | Task rb_07_13_6203_6427__t000__0_C8_SAVE_ALL_OUT_IGNORE_THE_REST_849647_562_1 is 5.89 days overdue; you may not get credit for it. Consider aborting it.
07/29/19 19:51:39 | Rosetta@home | Task rb_07_12_6197_6416_ab_t000__robetta_cstwt_5.0_FT_IGNORE_THE_REST_04_07_849614_50_1 is 5.89 days overdue; you may not get credit for it. Consider aborting it.
07/29/19 19:51:39 | | Setting up GUI RPC socket
07/29/19 19:51:39 | | Checking presence of 196 project files
07/29/19 19:51:59 | | Suspending computation - CPU is busy
07/29/19 20:15:52 | | Suspending computation - CPU is busy
07/29/19 20:16:02 | | Resuming computation
07/29/19 20:27:03 | SETI@home | project resumed by user
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rebirther
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Message 92314 - Posted: 29 Jul 2019, 20:15:50 UTC

Its better to buy another cooler. I dont want to make ad but Noctua is the best on the market. With my old fan you have 3 cables for different speed. Its always running on a fixed speed and its nearly silent.
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Profile Jord
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Message 92315 - Posted: 29 Jul 2019, 20:28:26 UTC - in response to Message 92313.  
Last modified: 29 Jul 2019, 20:29:50 UTC

Yes, that's how BOINC (and the science applications) utilize the CPU cores: they run at full burst. The CPU time option uses 10 second swats, 90% is 9 seconds on, 1 second pause; 50% is 5 seconds full on, 5 seconds pause; 5% is totally useless in terms of usage. No useful work will be done within the deadline time limit on tasks.

If you want to use sustained cooling, use something like Tthrottle, a BOINC add-on with such functions. That it cannot be built into BOINC is because the source code needs to be able to be built for different platforms without having to rely on an application programming interface (API), which would be the case if we were to add such functionality to the code for Windows only.

Edit: using the default cooler, especially on Intel CPUs, is a big no no. Always go for an aftermarket CPU cooler, or for water cooling. Small AIOs aren't that expensive.

And otherwise choose the NCI (non-computing intensive) projects, which don't use the CPU actively, although some require a special sensor (Radioactive@Home requires a sensor), while others don't (like WuProp).
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Profile Joseph Stateson
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Message 92319 - Posted: 30 Jul 2019, 13:09:29 UTC

Something is not right. Temps should not shoot up that high so fast. Check for dust. Take case off and go over all fans, cpu cooler fins (or radiator if it has one), the power supply, and any filters (behind front panel? or under case?). Dust bunny can pack in corners of power supply over time. You have a professional workstation and it probably has sound suppression padding on the case inside surfaces which contributes to heat retention. I have a Dell Area51 with I9 and I used their thermal control app to set fans almost %100 and the noise was deafening. I had to blow dust out every two months or so. If you do not use all of your 12 threads, disable hyperthreading. That allowed me to run fans at slower speed. Setting fan to %50 may still allow one or two cores to hyperthread so best to disable it entirely. I looked over at eBay at Precision 3630 and looks like it has to side cutouts for air flow. I suspect there it no fan. You might add a pair of low noise fans to pull cool air in but I suspect a good cleaning and disabling hyperthread plus running tthrottle like Ageless mentioned is all you need.
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Profile Dave
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Message 92323 - Posted: 30 Jul 2019, 15:00:38 UTC

Is there a way to have Boinc (projects) running at a continuous CPU rate so that:
a) my core temps are stable so that my fans runs continuously with an acceptable noise level;
b) computing is still effective (3 out of every 20 seconds does not seem so).


As suggested by others, get a better cooler or with hyperthreading disabled run on only two cores for BOINC. Last week when here in Cambridge, UK we set a new all time UK record with a temp of 38.7C my laptop's fans were going full tilt with only two out of four cores running. During the winter it made less noise with all four on the go. If I want quiet when it is hot, I go down to one core as the laptop doesn't have the option of fitting a better cooler.

When I get a new MB and CPU for desktop I think I will go for liquid cooling.
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Profile Joseph Stateson
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Message 92355 - Posted: 3 Aug 2019, 16:27:57 UTC

I failed to mention that even a slight change in CPU speed multipliers can make a huge difference in temperature and still allow hyperthreading. I only know how to do this on windows using the sleep and power management tool but I am able to keep 14 threads busy with WCG tasks and another 2 threads on GPUGRID setting processor power maximum to %96. This runs my I9 at 3100mhz or multiplier of 31. Maximum multipler is 43 which corresponds to boost speed of 4000 (have never been there). The CPU is rated by CPUz at 3300. I no longer have high temps and run the dell fans at auto instead of manual.

I don't know if a Linux tool to this so possibly you may have to set the multiplier in bios setup.

For me, setting the speed down made a huge difference and I keep all threading enabled.
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Message boards : Questions and problems : "Use x% CPU": Cores get too hot in bursts, fan noise kick in

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