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World Community Grid Forums
Category: Support
Forum: BOINC Agent Support
Thread: power usage VS. BOINC's computing preferences setting |
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Thread Status: Active Total posts in this thread: 7
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Hi all,
I'd like to get at least two local libraries to start running W.C.G. in their computer lab, but what I ran into with the first computer lab manager I talked to were concerns over an increase in the electric bill. Alright, I get that, the computer that was idle before is now churning away. But what just occurred to me is that I'd seen in the BOINC client's "Computing preferences" the option to set "Use no more than X% of the processor", where it's able to be set in 10% increments. Ooh, now I'm thinking that mightcould be a way to help cut down on the electricity spend. Is that simply a trade-off between how long it takes to complete a unit of work and how much electricity is used? Could this be used as a way to have the library not see a painful increase in their electric bill (or any increase ideally) BUT ALSO provide good useful CPU cycles to W.C.G? Is there a percentage setting below which it's not really even worth bothering with? Could I find anywhere a table that lists power consumption vs. X% of processor being used? I guess that would depend on the computer hardware, not sure... Any other suggestions re: things to suggest to my power bill wary library friends are welcome. Thanks, Jeff Knox |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Hello JeffKnox,
The CPU usage instruction sets the number of seconds (out of 10) that the BOINC project runs. So the kilowatt-hours expended per work unit does not change. The minimal power usage would be for 1 BOINC project that uses integer math rather than FP math. But that will be hard to guarantee since most of our work is floating-point. I would suggest trying an installation on one computer that will only run 1 thread in the office where the librarian can get a feel for it. The first step is the hardest. (No opt-in projects like Beta or CEP2.) Lawrence |
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nanoprobe
Master Cruncher Classified Joined: Aug 29, 2008 Post Count: 2998 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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There too many variables like default speed of processor, TPD of processor and even make of processor to consider. Any processing done on normally idle or shut down computers is going to raise the electric bill and the temperature of the lab which may also raise the electric bill to cool it. I would expect the lab manager would have to consult with whoever is paying the bills before he could even think of doing this. There was a county employee here that lost his job because he ran WCG on county computers without permission.
----------------------------------------I would suggest getting yourself a watt meter, hook it up to 1 computer running WCG and see what the meter tells you. Then you'll have a basis to compute how much the electricity will cost per computer. If it's a lab of computers it probably won't be cheap. Good luck.
In 1969 I took an oath to defend and protect the U S Constitution against all enemies, both foreign and Domestic. There was no expiration date.
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Coleslaw
Veteran Cruncher USA Joined: Mar 29, 2007 Post Count: 1343 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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It may help to add to your selling point that cost of electricity is less in the evening for most places too. Since BOINC has the option to run during certain times of day, that may be an option if they don't shut them off. Not all libraries shut them down at night.
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Bearcat
Master Cruncher USA Joined: Jan 6, 2007 Post Count: 2803 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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If they do shut them down, run them during the day with just one thread (if multicore) or only if CPU usage for regular programs is greater than 50%. Don't think you would get many complaints from users yackin about sluggish computers. they are on anyways during the day would be something to point out.
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Crunching for humanity since 2007!
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martin64
Senior Cruncher Germany Joined: May 11, 2009 Post Count: 445 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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Hi Jeff,
----------------------------------------3 views from my side: #1 - if you want to save energy, hibernate your computer automatically after a certain idle time, or manually. #2 - BOINC points vs energy - again, let BOINC run full speed until you have achieved the amount of work you wanted to achieve, then switch off your computer. Power supplies are more efficient when they run close to their nominal power. #3 - if your computer needs to run 24/7 for whatever reason, just let it do as much work as you like and you think you can afford. There will be not much difference in the way you restrict the load. Regards, Martin  |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
On hibernation, power saving mode: There was a tech comment to say that no use needed to be made of the "Stop work after computer is idle for: 20 minutes" function for W7 (option only available in the website device profiles). The machine would hibernate regardless if the OS was set to do that after X minutes without user input. (Something I'm sure that was tested at IBM with their thousands of business machine crunching away at WCG work units during office hours).
------------------------------------------//-- [Edit 1 times, last edit by Former Member at May 13, 2012 8:30:27 AM] |
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