I have been running BOINC for a few years with zero problems. Now, one after another, my machines are being threatened by high heat, even with TThrottle. CPU's are i7-920, i7-840QM, i7-2720QM.

I have tried all sorts of configurations of percent of threads at percent of usage. Right now, all I can trust is my i5-520M.

TThrottle, set at 60degC has been failing to do its job, re-installed several times on each machine.

I have been running 6.12.34 which has been solid as a rock.

I do not want to say goodbye to this noble work, the best thing I have ever done with computers. But, I cannot risk the health of the machines.

If anyone has any suggestions, I would love to see them.

Thanks.

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Your only choice is to open up the machines one by one, clean them of dust and possibly take the heat sink off, cleaning it of old thermal grease, reapplying new thermal grease and rebuilding the computer.

This is something that really needs to be done on a regular basis, as else the temps will go up again. Of course, rebuilding the machine with lots of (self-made) filters in place will help as well.

I got so sick and tired of having to open the machine up every 3 months to clean out the excess cat hair and dust, that I made myself a filter from the air-filter stuff in a cooker hood, with help of fine mesh of anti-mosquito netting. All held in place with Velcro. I did this in March, haven't had to open up the machine since, temps are still at a quite normal 50-56C (over 4 cores plus a GPU).

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Stupid question, but when did you last clean the CPU heatsinks? Are the CPU fans running flat out to compensate for clogged heatsinks? I have to clean my machines twice a year, and the one lappie I run BOINC on every few months.

Why should all of the machines start having problems at the same time? Maybe you've just turned your central heating on for the Winter and the ambient temperature has jumped up enough to be a problem?

Cheers,

Al.

As usual, thanks, my friend. It is a lot to think about.

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Not a stupid question at all.

I vacuum the vents regularly. I am a complete commoner when it comes to things technical, so I cannot begin to think about the heat sinks.

The reason they are all running into trouble at the same time is because they are very close in age.

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Not withstanding the suggestions of my good friend Jord, I have removed BOINC from all but two machines, one an i5-520M, the other an ATOM processor. All of this because of the accumulating problems with CPU heat.

Jord's suggestions are, no doubt, valid. But I have neither the talent nor the discipline to deal with all of this.

I have been running 6.12.34. If at some future point a BOINC agent becomes a reality with no more heat considerations than anything else in the running of a machine, then I will be happy to install that agent.

My problems grew over time, and culminated in a few brief months, all of my machines being of relatively the same age.

I would hate to think that BOINC in its very nature will limit itself to only those technically adept people who can follow the suggestions outlined by Jord.

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Is it so difficult to open the machine up and removing the dust bunnies? Perhaps you want to read http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/how-to-clean-your-pc-of-dust-and-dirt-936244.

Or watch this YouTube video, or a more scary one, this one. ;-)

Do know, it's not BOINC that heats up your CPUs, but the science applications. So any newer BOINC will never be cooler than a previous one, since BOINC itself does not deal with hot making things. You can also opt to run non-CPU-intensive projects only, then you'll see that it isn't BOINC that was the culprit here.

And even after all that, you have no technical minded friend in your neighborhood who isn't afraid to look under your hoods? How about going to a PC repair store or a local PC club and asking them for help?

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You mentioned vacuuming the vents on a regular basis.

Have you ever opened up the case and blown the dust off the internal components? Regardless of whether or not you're running BOINC, that's something that every computer needs done on a regular basis to keep it running properly. The dust builds up on circuitry and acts as an insulator, which traps the heat and makes it hard for the fans to keep things cool.

I agree that pulling the CPU heatsink and re-applying the thermal compund (as suggested earlier in the thread) isn't a good idea if you're not comfortable with that type of work, but just using canned air to blow dust out of the computer is fairly straight forward.

Also: have you checked the air flow through the vents to make sure the fans are actually moving their normal amouunt of air? Computer fans sometimes die and have to be replaced.

It is in the end immaterial to me whether the problems with heat are caused by the BOINC agent or the individual projects.

I run the CoreTemp indicator and I have installed TThrottle. With BOINC running, temperatures were running up into the 80's C, blowing right through TThrottle set at a max of 55 deg C. With BOINC un-installed, CoreTemp is showing temperatures in the 40's-50's C, which is perfectly acceptible.

I would certainly be willing to try to run projects which are not so CPU intensive if someone could tell me which projects they might be.

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I vacuum the vents regularly. I am a complete commoner when it comes to things technical, so I cannot begin to think about the heat sinks.

Hmmm. I don't think I've owned a computer for at least a decade that needs any tools or a degree in engineering to open up the case :) You can do this!

Get the manual (or PDF online) shut them down and remove power leads, press the necessary latches, open 'em up, and look for the big hairy ball of fluff. Remove big hairy ball of fluff with a vacuum cleaner with a narrow nozzle, or blow it away with a can of compressed air (the stuff that camera shops sell, easily available online). Put cases back together. Job done.

Even without BOINC running, things are only going to get worse, so you might as well just do it and get back to number crunching :)

Cheers,

Al.

It was proposed in the first reply "Your only choice is to open up the machines one by one" **, it was repeated in a 2nd, 3rd and 4th reply, but if the horse called mitch cant be led to the water, it's difficult to even develop the reflex of drinking. As was stated, with inaction it will only get worse... remember the old TV spontaneous igniting from accumulated dust inside?

Few weeks ago opened up the quad desktop sidewall, 2 latches shifted, after doing power down and remove the juice lead. Took the machine outside and put the desktop on the side down on a table and first vacuumed [narrow nozzle, at respectful distance and small brush holding fans static so the blades could be cleaned]. Satisfied there was no visual dust left, got the can of compressed air [says it has a new mix, no trace solvents some deviously contain] and took the fine nozzle tube and inserted in CPU cooler spaces/ribs to blow out the untouchables. Did same through some holes in the PSU. Rich amounts of dust still came out. Vacuumed again to any remnants out, latched the side back on, juice lead reconnected and low and behold, 1 summer doors/windows semi permanent open later, 14C less. Running 48C at 100% BOINC load in a 21C temp room, on a 7 year old machine [which gets about every 6 months a cleaner treat taking 5 minutes]. TThrottle? I prefer Speedfan on Windows machines [latest works great on W8 desktops too] and fancontrol/pwnconfig procedure on Linux. Steady slightly elevated continuous fan speed setting.

** I would *not* recommend for laptops, which have manufacture compressed air instructions, mine has]

Three of my machines are laptops. The only desktop is the i7-920.

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Three of my machines are laptops

Laptops are trickier, but all of mine have a panel on the base that can be removed to get to the fan. You'll need a tiny crosspoint watchmaker's screwdriver, but they're easily available for a few $.

I wouldn't recommend it, but I blow compressed air into the outlet vents sometimes to do a quick fix. But usually I take the panel off, and then remove the fan to give it a clean and lube and to give me access to the back of the heatsink behind the vent.

FWIW (probably not very much!) I avoid using BOINC on lappies because in the old days they did used to overheat regularly. These days I just use one junk one that's stood up on edge to get the maximum airflow through it.

As someone said, could you not take them along to a local computer store or club and get someone to show you the way to do it?

Cheers,

Al.

Thanks. BTW, what's the axe? Must be good for you to put up.

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Things are getting better. The i5-520M is fine in the 50's C. Also the i7-840QM and the i7-920.

The i7-920 I did take off the cover, used compressed air all around the DRAM, all surfaces and cavities, and especially the various fans and grills. When I restarted the machine, and BOINC began to work, the temps shot right up into the 80's C. I shut down BOINC and installed TThrottle. Running 75% of "cores" at 60%, with Tthrottle set at 60 C, I am O.K., in the 60's..

So the only machine not working is the i7-2720QM. TThrottle itself blew that puppy up through the 80's C. W/O BOINC installed, it runs in the 40's C. Start BOINC and it shoots straight for the 80's. I wounder why Tthrottle does no good on this machine.

Shortly. I will be getting back my i7-3930K Maingear Shift Super Stock, in for some routine maintenance. We will see what happens with that one, which is really for GPU work but does some CPU crunching on 8/12 "cores". I saw in BOINCStats that this machine did 175,323 for 11.23 and 143,541 for 11.22 even while on the test bench at the Maingear shop.

So, I can keep wearing my BOINC T-shirts a while. And my WCG T-shirts.

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Perhaps you should invest in some of these: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laptop_cooler.

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Jord, all of my laptops are on chill pads, and raised with rollerball wheels for added air space.

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Jord-

I looked at the cooler image on the Wiki article. Not good. Solid metal surface close to the laptop's bottom, and ridged outside. All of that will trap heat away from those fans. My coolers have flat expanded metal or perforated metal surfaces so that a lot of the laptop bottom is not covered by metal. I think they are Targus.

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Solid metal surface close to the laptop's bottom, and ridged outside.

That's all plastic, dear boy. See one of the sites selling it.

And it was just an example.

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OMG!! You are correct. Plastic. But, still, holey is better than solid.

Thanks all for all of the help.

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