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World Community Grid Forums
Category: Support
Forum: BOINC Agent Support
Thread: Cycling CPU Fan |
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Thread Status: Active Total posts in this thread: 15
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Hello,
I've been having a problem with my laptop for some time, a problem that I've finally been able to trace to WCG through BOINC. The problem is that my CPU fan keeps cycling up and down. That is, while WCG is running, it speeds up and slows down every few seconds. Not only this is *very* annoying (a constant fan speed, even if it's high, is much less noticeable than a fan speed that keeps changing), but I wonder if it could be harmful to the fan and the cpu as well. I have an Intel i5M with Turbo Boost. (More detailed system specs are given below.) The problem seems to be in BOINC's method of using x% (say, 60%) of the CPU. As I understand it, it does this by running the code 60% of the time and not running it the other 40%. My guess as to the problem runs like this. It seems that as BOINC tries to run code, Turbo Boost increases the CPU speed to deal with the additional load, which in turn causes the fan to speed up in anticipation of additional heat. A few seconds later when BOINC stops running code, Turbo Boost decreases the CPU speed, and the fan slows down because there wasn't and shouldn't be much more heat. I'm probably off on some details, but I'm wondering if anyone else has faced similar problems, if I should be concerned about the health of my cpu and fan, and if there's a way to fix this. Detailed System Specs: Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600) (7600.win7_gdr.110408-1633) Language: English (Regional Setting: English) System Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard System Model: HP ENVY 14 Notebook PC BIOS: Default System BIOS Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU M 540 @ 2.53GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.5GHz Memory: 6144MB RAM Thanks, Perceivence |
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gb009761
Master Cruncher Scotland Joined: Apr 6, 2005 Post Count: 3010 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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Hi perceivence, the solution you're looking for, is a little peice of software called TThrottle - as with that, you can set a temperature and this software will manage your computers fan speed far, far smoother than BOINC's 60% "throttle" can. I installed it just over a week ago, and it's been far better than I could have hoped...
----------------------------------------Edit : Have a look/read at this thread TThrottle+BOINCTasks for BOINC: CPU Auto-Temp...on & Tasks Management  [Edit 1 times, last edit by gb009761 at Jun 11, 2011 12:48:20 PM] |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
perceivence,
The [default] 60% was a bad choice IMHO because that equates to 3 seconds running, 2 seconds pause. 75% works out to 3 seconds running, 1 second pause. Much better is 50% which is 1 second on, 1 second off for a better temperature balance. But, the tool recommended by gb009761 is superior, for it will stop the Fan cycling, which really would wear-out the cooler. If it's hot in the room, BOINC will be slowed down more, if it's cold, BOINC will run faster. --//-- |
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sk..
Master Cruncher http://s17.rimg.info/ccb5d62bd3e856cc0d1df9b0ee2f7f6a.gif Joined: Mar 22, 2007 Post Count: 2324 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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Most computers allow you to control Cool and Quiet (fan speed) settings via the Bios.
I recommend turning Turbo off; if you set the system to use say 2 of your 4 HT threads this might result in turbo turning on and off and changing quite a lot (the projects processes will run on different cores/threads, always changing and causing turbo to continually change from off 2.53GHz stepping all the way up to 3.066GHz). This could well result in lots of fan speed changes. Running 4 projects @ a steady 2.53GHz should result in a steady fan speed and thus noise. Better for you and also better for the fan, CPU and other system components. You can also turn off Turbo in the Bios. |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Thanks guys.
SekeRob, I did change the proportion of CPU usage to 50% some time back. I think I was fiddling with the settings to try to reduce the fan cycling and I found that that gave less cycling than other settings that I tried, but it still cycles quite a bit. I'm not keen on turning off TurboBoost, so I'll try the utilities in the thread gb009761 linked to and see if they help. |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Using TThrottle, it's a good idea to experiment with temperatures and find out at which temperatures fan speed goes up.
For instance, my notebook fan increases cycling at ~61°C and ~86°C. Setting TThrottle to these exact values results in cycling changes. So I keep it at 60°C if i want it constantly quiet or max. 82°C for high efficiency on summer days. I would try setting Boinc CPU usage to 100% though if you use TThrottle. I think, a more constant temperature should be better for the CPU lifetime. |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Hi herna,
Yes, BOINC then is best set to 100%, or alternate to "Run always" else you might get a double whammy effect. cheers --//-- |
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kffitzgerald
Senior Cruncher USA Joined: Jan 29, 2011 Post Count: 222 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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I installed ttrottle on two units last night around 7PM, by 10PM my server (w2k8r2sp1 coreI7, 6gb RAM 64bit had crashed had to do a hard restart. this morning it was down again, along with my netbook D525, 2gb ram, win7sp1 had also crashed - both required a hard reboot in order for me to uninstall TTrotle on both. Both have been running fine (hotter than I would like) but no more crashes since. The app worked great while it did work... anyone have a suggestion for another?
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
threadmaster, has worked for me in the past
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
threadmaster, has worked for me in the past Yes, ThreadMasterGUI to be more convenient with an interface [See Start Here FAQs]. Set it to a default of 75% (37% for a duo) for any new science apps/versions and then decide for those when discovered if wanting it higher. Don't think it can control GPU apps though, but it is even smoother than TThrottle in crunching. (TMG is fit for W2K, XP, Vista, W7, workstation and server 03/08) @kffitzgerald, If you think it's still too hot, set TThrottle to a lower temp... mine is set to 70C, which on Laptop is that it's currently not needing to put breaks on... i.e. Threadmaster doing the controls. --//-- |
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