I really wanna share my cpu for some nice projects, but i wont do it unless i somhow can limit the cpu usage, i dont worry about performance of other programs, since it seems like thats not that bad, but i dont like that the constant 100% load on cpu gives a really hot cpu, that will make the lifetime of my cpu to drop considerably. Cpus arent made for working on max effect 24/7, with high temperature, and i think that boinc should consider this, so people can share their cpu, without damaging their hardware.

if you could set the max percentage of total cpu you want boinc to use, you could prevent solve this problem really easy. I guess you could do this somehow with a third party software, but shouldnt you be able to easy decide how much you wanna share? I tried to find a function like this in boinc, but i couldnt find it

My system is winXp pro with amd 2600+ and 512 ram, no overclocking.

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I really wanna share my cpu for some nice projects, but i wont do it unless i somhow can limit the cpu usage, i dont worry about performance of other programs, since it seems like thats not that bad, but i dont like that the constant 100% load on cpu gives a really hot cpu, that will make the lifetime of my cpu to drop considerably. Cpus arent made for working on max effect 24/7, with high temperature, and i think that boinc should consider this, so people can share their cpu, without damaging their hardware.

if you could set the max percentage of total cpu you want boinc to use, you could prevent solve this problem really easy. I guess you could do this somehow with a third party software, but shouldnt you be able to easy decide how much you wanna share? I tried to find a function like this in boinc, but i couldnt find it

My system is winXp pro with amd 2600+ and 512 ram, no overclocking.

This is one of the features which has been mentioned for consideration in the next version to go into Alpha testing shortly. It's still to be seen if it can be implemented. Personally I've had my system on 24/7 for 2 years with no sign of a heat related problem. I think it's more a matter of getting rid of dust bunnies from time to time.

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Boinc V 7.4.36
Win7 i5 3.33G 4GB NVidia 470

I dont mean that using boinc will destroy your cpu, but since computers normally only use 100% cpu briefly every now and then, they are probably designed for just that. Same thing with a car engine, if you use it 100% all the time, it will probably fall apart earlier. Anyway, i just tested, and found out that boinc increased my cpu temp with about 10 degrees, which isnt that bad i guess, so i think ill leave it on, but i still hope a new version gives the user better control over what resourses to share. Both max ram usage, max cpu % and maybe even you could make boinc stop itself or slow down whenever the cpu gets above a user defined limit. I think that might give more users, since it has to be users that have quit cause they feel they loose control over their own system.

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Most users are probably running SETI, (10s of thousands of them), and using LOTS of salvaged computers cobbled together from bits and pieces.
They know what they are doing, and don't care if the occasional old computer melts.
It's only people with a single, new, computer who worry about things like heating.
And who don't keep an eye on dust on the cpu heatsink and the fans.
Or have plenty of case cooling.
Or have the computer on a table in the sun.

Just some of the things that have come to light from people with problems.

If the cpu(s) are not running at max temp I wouldn't worry. We have a dual P3 here that has been running Seti since 19 may 1999, 24/7 and it still going strong.

Andy

oEivin: If you are using Windows 98 through XP, here is a link to HDD Thermometer. It can help monitor (warn) and even cause your computer to hybernate or shut down if the temps reach a user specified level. There is also ThreadMaster available through this page for control of the maximum CPU usage but I couldn't tell you how well it works since I've never tried it myself.

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I dont mean that using boinc will destroy your cpu, but since computers normally only use 100% cpu briefly every now and then, they are probably designed for just that. Same thing with a car engine, if you use it 100% all the time, it will probably fall apart earlier. ...

CPUs are designed to run at full load 24/7, since they're used in servers which are in constant use.

But the same can't always be said for the computer they sit in - laptops and mini PCs sometimes just don't have the cooling required.

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I think that it's an excellent idea!

I don't run BOINC on my laptop not even when it's running on the power mains because it gets a bit too hot to handle and its fans go full blast, which is quite noisy.

I'd be glad to be able to run BOINC when plugged in, provided that it used a limited CPU % and kept it cool, so that the fans wouldn't kick in.

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I had Boinc going full blast on my FX-60 laptop and the fans couldn't keep up. So I changed my global_prefs_override.xml file to only use one processor and my machine is much happier. Although the fans still run all the time when Boinc is worken they don't have that straining to keep up sound anymore.

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The hard drive on my relatively new laptop died. It was under warranty and I have backups, so I'm not that concerned (other than the time and aggravation to rebuild it). But I did notice on this and other machines that BOINC projects (I run 8 at the moment) keep accessing the hard drive. It could never power down, and along with the extra heat (yes, my fans were going full blast too) I surmise that's what killed the hard drive. After rebuild, I will still run BOINC, but I won't leave the laptop on overnight like I did. In fact, I'll probably try the one-processor trick.

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The hard drive on my relatively new laptop died. It was under warranty and I have backups, so I'm not that concerned (other than the time and aggravation to rebuild it). But I did notice on this and other machines that BOINC projects (I run 8 at the moment) keep accessing the hard drive. It could never power down, and along with the extra heat (yes, my fans were going full blast too) I surmise that's what killed the hard drive. After rebuild, I will still run BOINC, but I won't leave the laptop on overnight like I did. In fact, I'll probably try the one-processor trick.

I don't think laptops are really design with the idea of running 24/7. Heat build up in such a small case is problematic. A laptop cooling tray may provide some relief to the internal fans.
Also, there is an option in the general preferences for the 'Write to disk at most every'. I haven't checked if this really helps the drive spin down but I set mine to 1800 seconds (30 min.) anyway.

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Boinc V 7.4.36
Win7 i5 3.33G 4GB NVidia 470

Especially in the case of notebooks (but also lot of recent desktop CPUs) the produced heat can be significally reduced by lowering the CPU core voltage and/or lowering (e.g. overnight) the CPU fequency. There are tiny utilities at least for Windows and Linux doing this. Check my posts in threads CPU Thermal Issue and Cooling brake must be included in teh preferences.

Peter

I don't run BOINC on my laptop not even when it's running on the power mains because it gets a bit too hot to handle and its fans go full blast, which is quite noisy.

I'd be glad to be able to run BOINC when plugged in, provided that it used a limited CPU % and kept it cool, so that the fans wouldn't kick in.

Me too!
I installed BOINC on a laptop but a couple of seconds after the client began the numbercrunching the fan began to increase the RPMs. As far as there is no setting in the manager which limits the CPU-usage, so that the thermal load can dissipated with a now-noise fan speed, there is no fun having BOINC running all the time in the background while you're sitting in front of numbercrunching hair-drier.

Gunnar

Thanks to the developers for adding the CPU usage limit to the beta client. Now I created a profile for my laptop that limits the usage of the CPU for BOINC to 25% and it crunches projects without spinning up the fan.

Way cool!

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