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World Community Grid Forums
Category: Support
Forum: BOINC Agent Support
Thread: CPU Temperatures |
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Thread Status: Active Total posts in this thread: 11
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
I've been running WCG on BOINC for a few weeks on my laptop (CoreDuo T2300, which according to the Intel website [http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SL8VR] has a thermal specification of 100C); according to SpeedFan, the temperature of the two cores average at around 80C. So I quitted because such high temperatures might ruin my CPU.
Should I continue to run BOINC on my laptop if the temperatures will reach this level again? P.S. I live near the equator and the room temperature is quite high (at LEAST 32C during the day, a little lower at night)..so I guess this contributes to the overall high temperature. |
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Sekerob
Ace Cruncher Joined: Jul 24, 2005 Post Count: 20043 Status: Offline |
Hi man near equator,
----------------------------------------The thermal rating is as you found 100C for the Intel. If Speedfan, which i use on all my crunchers, shows 80C at the height of day, you are well within margin, though suggest than not to use it too long as 'lap'top while crunching, as posterity might be in jeopardy ;o) No adverse effects are known on CPU's running 24/7 at those temps, but if it concerns you, you can use a setting "Use no more than: XX % of processor time" on the WCG Device Manager, Device Profile website. That allows for the CPU percentage use to be reduced to for instance 90% and take it down in steps.... it is provided you use BOINC 5.8.15 as 5.4.x does not support the feature. Added: Forgot all about that, but the new profile settings page includes a 'minimal performance option. Like with the old WCG agent, the BOINC CPU percent is than defaulted to 60%.
WCG
----------------------------------------Please help to make the Forums an enjoyable experience for All! [Edit 2 times, last edit by Sekerob at Apr 5, 2007 8:32:46 AM] |
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Dirk Gently
Senior Cruncher England Joined: Mar 1, 2005 Post Count: 153 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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You could also use one of the commercial Laptop coolers that are available. I use one of these and it does help.
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
My suggestion is to avoid running BOINC on any notebook. During peak work periods, notebooks rev up and their fans begin to run incessantly in an attempt to cool down. But, BOINC keeps them running flat out for very long periods of time.
About a year ago, I burned out a MotherBoard on a Dell Inspiron 600m with an Intel mobile P4 processor. It cost me $600 to replace the board, half the price of a new machine at the time. Most desktops and towers have good airflow. Notebooks just don't, and heat kills CPUs in a hurry. /*tom*/ |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
There are three ways this is mitigated:
1) It is important to give laptops the ventilation and airflow they need. Never leave it on a soft surface, or on anything giving out heat. Most laptops have vents underneath and at the back, so leaving it on a hard surface with plenty of room around it is advisable. 2) WCG throttles its applications by default - so your processor won't be running at 100%. The default setting is 60%, and this was arrived at particularly with laptops in mind. Watch out for SpeedStep, though - unexpected things may happen. If you have been running BOINC for a while you should probably review this, since the throttle is a new feature. 3) UD and BOINC don't run when you are on battery power. (BOINC can be configured to do so, but it's not recommended.) |
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Tom WCG
Cruncher Joined: May 30, 2006 Post Count: 31 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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Now I am beginning to worry. I have been running BOINC version 8.5.15 at 70-90% of max. CPU on my Windows XP Acer Aspire 5595 notebook with Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz T7200 and 1GB RAM. The air that is blown out of the vent feel VERY HOT to my hand.
I only own a notebook and would like to continue participating in the WCG program. 1. How do I keep track of the temperature of my CPU, my HDD, and the internal of my notebook? 2. Earlier posts mentioned SpeedFan and SpeedStep. What are they and where I can download them? Thanks  |
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Sekerob
Ace Cruncher Joined: Jul 24, 2005 Post Count: 20043 Status: Offline |
Speedfan is mentioned in the Start Here forum, Useful Utilities thread. This link: http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php explains what it can measure in temperatures and does in terms of fan speed control. For laptops it often does not permit the fan control, which is best left to the Laptop BIOS or the software that came with it.
----------------------------------------Speedstep reduces the actual CPU speed due for instance temperature or running on battery. It's particular to Intel CPU's. It should come with the laptop and show in the System tray indicating if the CPU is on saving or high performance. A short excerpt "You don’t actually need additional software to control SpeedStep in Windows XP, unlike in previous operating systems. Instead, you configure it from the Power Options menu in the Control Panel. Click Performance and Maintenance and select Power Options. Choose Laptop/Portable from the drop-down Power Schemes menu. This setting keeps both AC Power and Battery to an ‘Adaptive’ policy, which changes the processor speed to meet demand by throttling it down if it’s not needed. SpeedStep only works if the processor itself has the function built-in and if the laptop supports it."
WCG
----------------------------------------Please help to make the Forums an enjoyable experience for All! [Edit 5 times, last edit by Sekerob at Apr 10, 2007 9:47:56 AM] |
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Tom WCG
Cruncher Joined: May 30, 2006 Post Count: 31 Status: Offline Project Badges:
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Thanks Sekerob for your very quick and helpful response. Sorry for asking questions that is in the Start Here forum.
By the way, what is your opinion (or WCG official position for that matter) on longcall911's earlier post that recommends against running WCG on laptops at all? [Note: After reading this thread, I reduced the load on my CPU from 90% max. to 30%, just to be on the safe side.] |
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Dirk Gently
Senior Cruncher England Joined: Mar 1, 2005 Post Count: 153 Status: Offline Project Badges:
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I have run BOINC on three laptops now (all actually company machines - not mine). The first was stolen. The second I gave back after 1 year because I left the company. The third (new company) is happily crunching away now. They were all Dells - not very exotic - only Lattitude D600, D610 - I am only a lowly engineer, not a company exec
---------------------------------------- . I have always let them steam away at full throttle. I do use a laptop cooler when at home. I do not always crunch while at work - for safety reasons - the laptop is used to configure machines.I don't have a laptop of my own - never quite justified buying one - but if I did I would not have a problem with using it for crunching. The biggest dangers for laptops are 1) theft 2) being dropped! 3) becoming obsolete. Looking at other teammates machines - I think I see quite a few laptops! It is a pity there is not a field in WCG's database to indicate that the machine is a laptop - then the stats could show us exactly how many laptops are in use. ---------------------------------------- [Edit 1 times, last edit by Dirk Gently at Apr 9, 2007 11:29:29 PM] |
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Sekerob
Ace Cruncher Joined: Jul 24, 2005 Post Count: 20043 Status: Offline |
Tom WCG,
----------------------------------------everyone is entitled to her/his opinion. For 2 years none stop been running at 90% on laptop, UD agent fist, now BOINC using the Threadmaster as a refined control. The old WCG agent default was reduced in 2006 to 60%, particularly with Laptops in mind and CPU's developing a habit of their own with new technologies. Similarly, now with the CPU speed control added to BOINC, the new predefined profile selection, Minimum Load earlier mentioned, BOINC is now also set by that to 60%. I think that IBM knows what they talk about. Anyway, Speedfan reads out 57 and 60C here from the 2 cores when on a table and 62 when used as laptop.....slightly poorer heat dissipation. I feel comfortable with that, if heat-specs are 100C. The fan does go full tilt at 90%, but is still below my audio disturbance level. ciao
WCG
----------------------------------------Please help to make the Forums an enjoyable experience for All! [Edit 1 times, last edit by Sekerob at Apr 10, 2007 8:50:46 AM] |
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