I built my computer about 6 months ago, already out dated but trying to protect it as long as possible. Just wondering can crunching for a long period of time like 24 hours straight really do any harm to it?

I built my computer about 6 months ago, already out dated but trying to protect it as long as possible. Just wondering can crunching for a long period of time like 24 hours straight really do any harm to it?

Mine 2 computers are running SETI non-stop for years - if temperatures are OK the CPU will be OK for years.

I don't think the CPU life is affected at all if it computes all the time.

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- ALF - "Find out what you don't do well ..... then don't do it!" :)
 

I built my computer about 6 months ago, already out dated but trying to protect it as long as possible. Just wondering can crunching for a long period of time like 24 hours straight really do any harm to it?

Josh,

I noticed one of your rigs has a graphics card that you use for crunching. You should monitor the GPU temperature for it. Some folks here feel that 24/7 CUDA crunching will shorten the card's life since it was never designed for continuous flat-out use.

Maybe others here can chime in about this...

I built my computer about 6 months ago, already out dated but trying to protect it as long as possible. Just wondering can crunching for a long period of time like 24 hours straight really do any harm to it?

I ran the original S@H on computers 24/7 from '99 to '03 w/o any problems. However YMMV.

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SETI@home classic workunits: 93,865 CPU time: 863,447 hours
Join the [url=http://tinyurl.com/8y46zvu]BP6/VP6 User Group[

I built my computer about 6 months ago, already out dated but trying to protect it as long as possible. Just wondering can crunching for a long period of time like 24 hours straight really do any harm to it?

Mine 2 computers are running SETI non-stop for years - if temperatures are OK the CPU will be OK for years.

I don't think the CPU life is affected at all if it computes all the time.

I tend to agree with the view that if the CPU temperatures are reasonable, then the CPU will last for years, regardless of 24/7 use. Like everything else though, more usage = more wear and tear. I suspect that the CPUs will become completely obsolete (like a i486 today) long before they get worn out.

Agreed. The enemy of Semiconductors is heat.

Semiconductors tend to have a long life as long as they are operating within their specified temperatures. What you will find is that any components with moving parts will wear out sooner.

What you need to do is to monitor the temperatures of the critical components, ie. CPU and GFX card, and then keep an eye on the moving part components, ie. fans and hard disks. It's basic maintenance, and worth doing if you intend to keep crunching.

Secondly, keep an eye on the dust bunnies in the computer. Unless you have a guaranteed clean room a'la Intel, AMD, or any other semiconductor manufacturer, your system will get clogged with dust, which needs to be cleaned out periodically. Even with dust filters, dust justs love to clog up your computer and it's moving parts. And it will get in. We've had pictures on here of CPU fans and heatsinks that could have only just been operating, they were that bad.

My main computer needs cleaning at least once a month, and the CPU temp varies from 50c to 58c in this time, slowly going up as the dust gets in. My other computer (in a different room), doesn't suffer nearly as badly and only needs cleaning about every 10-12 weeks.

regards, Gizbar.

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A proud GPU User Server Donor!

just a quick question in between:
what's better in regards to heat - open or closed tower?

my opinions:

closed tower
- air flow might be better as the case has been designed to be closed
- air will be sucked in better (not sure about that)

open tower
- fans get more air
- heat can get out better
- more dust

I left it open now and didn't see any heat difference

just a quick question in between:
what's better in regards to heat - open or closed tower?

my opinions:

closed tower
- air flow might be better as the case has been designed to be closed
- air will be sucked in better (not sure about that)

open tower
- fans get more air
- heat can get out better
- more dust

I left it open now and didn't see any heat difference

After extensive testing with all my machines the cases are open. All my boards are Asus and they have a handy temp app with all their boards and all mine run cooler open and I have played with a lot of fans. I have tiny fans to big fans, I take everything apart and gut before I toss. LOL Had to get a compressor as I would need too many cans of air around. I can usually tell by a machines RAC when a cleaning is getting close.

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Official Abuser of Boinc Buttons...
And no good credit hound!

just a quick question in between:
what's better in regards to heat - open or closed tower?

my opinions:

closed tower
- air flow might be better as the case has been designed to be closed
- air will be sucked in better (not sure about that)

open tower
- fans get more air
- heat can get out better
- more dust

I left it open now and didn't see any heat difference

My Thermaltake M9 showed cooler temperatures with the cover on. The changes was in the 2-3ºC range. I think it just comes down to how the chassis was designed to move air, or in same situations not being designed for it.

When I did some playing around running collatz on my ATI 4850 the increased fan speed of the video card was moving more air into the case. So much so that the extra being drawn across my desk caused my hand to nearly freeze. Also the hard drives * motherboard temps were a few degrees cooler.

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SETI@home classic workunits: 93,865 CPU time: 863,447 hours
Join the [url=http://tinyurl.com/8y46zvu]BP6/VP6 User Group[

I built my computer about 6 months ago, already out dated but trying to protect it as long as possible. Just wondering can crunching for a long period of time like 24 hours straight really do any harm to it?

Josh,

I noticed one of your rigs has a graphics card that you use for crunching. You should monitor the GPU temperature for it. Some folks here feel that 24/7 CUDA crunching will shorten the card's life since it was never designed for continuous flat-out use.

Maybe others here can chime in about this...

Since February two manufacturer OCed GTX260-216.
Since May two more of the same.
All in the same PC case.

All 24/7 crunching.

And to now they are happy.

Fan speed on AUTO.
In summer I had max. ~ 84 °C. For a nVIDIA GTX2xx GPU well.


People which say CUDA is dangerous, maybe they have the 9800GX2 or GTX295 (2x PCB series). Both have two chips in the GPU case. They could be dangerous. Because only one heatsink for two chips.
The one chip GPUs should be O.K.


Because of CPU. You have AMD, so AFAIK (not at my Phenom II X4 940 BE) CoreTemp don't show Delta to TjMax. . If for the new.. (and for the Intel guys out there.. ) ~ 20 °C Delta to TjMax. for 24/7 crunching, if you would like to have long fun.
For AMD you should look on the AMD site the max. CPU temp. Then you can take also CoreTemp and if you're ~ 10 °C under the max. you should be well.

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Because of opened or closed PC case.

It depend which case, how much fans, which heatsinks and so on..

My systems run cooler with some 120mm fans in the left door (airflow in and out).

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just a quick question in between:
what's better in regards to heat - open or closed tower?

My Thermaltake M9 showed cooler temperatures with the cover on. The changes was in the 2-3ºC range. I think it just comes down to how the chassis was designed to move air, or in same situations not being designed for it.

Yep, it depends on how well the case was designed, and how much people have affected that design with added fans, vents etc.

A well designed case with suitable fans in the correct locations will always be cooler with the case on than a poorly designed one with it's case on, or off.
It's not unusual for people to add fans in all sorts of places reducing the case temperature, but increasing the temperature of some of the components in the case due to their location in relation to the added fans.

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Grant
Darwin NT

just a quick question in between:
what's better in regards to heat - open or closed tower?

My Thermaltake M9 showed cooler temperatures with the cover on. The changes was in the 2-3ºC range. I think it just comes down to how the chassis was designed to move air, or in same situations not being designed for it.

Yep, it depends on how well the case was designed, and how much people have affected that design with added fans, vents etc.

A well designed case with suitable fans in the correct locations will always be cooler with the case on than a poorly designed one with it's case on, or off.
It's not unusual for people to add fans in all sorts of places reducing the case temperature, but increasing the temperature of some of the components in the case due to their location in relation to the added fans.

You are sure absolute about that, mine still needs a house fan with both my Cudas and my overclock no matter what you say.

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Official Abuser of Boinc Buttons...
And no good credit hound!

just a quick question in between:
what's better in regards to heat - open or closed tower?

My Thermaltake M9 showed cooler temperatures with the cover on. The changes was in the 2-3ºC range. I think it just comes down to how the chassis was designed to move air, or in same situations not being designed for it.

Yep, it depends on how well the case was designed, and how much people have affected that design with added fans, vents etc.

A well designed case with suitable fans in the correct locations will always be cooler with the case on than a poorly designed one with it's case on, or off.
It's not unusual for people to add fans in all sorts of places reducing the case temperature, but increasing the temperature of some of the components in the case due to their location in relation to the added fans.

You are sure absolute about that, mine still needs a house fan with both my Cudas and my overclock no matter what you say.

I see water cooling in your future.

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SETI@home classic workunits: 93,865 CPU time: 863,447 hours
Join the [url=http://tinyurl.com/8y46zvu]BP6/VP6 User Group[

Actually I can run with case closed but with HT off my MB temps go into the 50's and even though no alarms go off with my small house fan they go down to the low 40's. Plus it circulates the warm air in the room and I don't need heat. I have the small H50 water in it also. That stuff will slow air flow in the best designed case.

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Official Abuser of Boinc Buttons...
And no good credit hound!

Yep, it depends on how well the case was designed, and how much people have affected that design with added fans, vents etc.

A well designed case with suitable fans in the correct locations will always be cooler with the case on than a poorly designed one with it's case on, or off.
It's not unusual for people to add fans in all sorts of places reducing the case temperature, but increasing the temperature of some of the components in the case due to their location in relation to the added fans.

You are sure absolute about that, mine still needs a house fan with both my Cudas and my overclock no matter what you say.

The key here is "well designed"....

For example, some of the mini HP machines are very carefully ducted so the CPU heat is immediately blown out of the case.

My P4 machines both have ducts to bring cold air in to the processor.

Of course, neither of those cases properly address a really hot GPU, but that doesn't mean it isn't possible.

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Yep, it depends on how well the case was designed, and how much people have affected that design with added fans, vents etc.

A well designed case with suitable fans in the correct locations will always be cooler with the case on than a poorly designed one with it's case on, or off.
It's not unusual for people to add fans in all sorts of places reducing the case temperature, but increasing the temperature of some of the components in the case due to their location in relation to the added fans.

You are sure absolute about that, mine still needs a house fan with both my Cudas and my overclock no matter what you say.

The key here is "well designed"....

For example, some of the mini HP machines are very carefully ducted so the CPU heat is immediately blown out of the case.

My P4 machines both have ducts to bring cold air in to the processor.

Of course, neither of those cases properly address a really hot GPU, but that doesn't mean it isn't possible.

I spent big bucks on one case that promised Air Flow and has some cone thing with a fan on it pointing at the CPU, it is now in the closet as it works better without the door on in the small cabinet under the counter where it has to live. Most of my computers are where they will fit and probably not the best locations....

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Official Abuser of Boinc Buttons...
And no good credit hound!

I spent big bucks on one case that promised Air Flow and has some cone thing with a fan on it pointing at the CPU, it is now in the closet as it works better without the door on in the small cabinet under the counter where it has to live. Most of my computers are where they will fit and probably not the best locations....

Hiamps, Have you any experience with this case:

Aerocool S9 Pro ATX

Honkin' big fan...

I spent big bucks on one case that promised Air Flow and has some cone thing with a fan on it pointing at the CPU, it is now in the closet as it works better without the door on in the small cabinet under the counter where it has to live. Most of my computers are where they will fit and probably not the best locations....

Hiamps, Have you any experience with this case:

Aerocool S9 Pro ATX

Honkin' big fan...

Nope but that one may work...Maybe I should modify my case to put the house fan in the door. Actually not a bad price if it works. Would probably work in a cabinet. It sure has been a long time since I bought a new case........

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Official Abuser of Boinc Buttons...
And no good credit hound!

I spent big bucks on one case that promised Air Flow and has some cone thing with a fan on it pointing at the CPU, it is now in the closet as it works better without the door on in the small cabinet under the counter where it has to live. Most of my computers are where they will fit and probably not the best locations....

If you have the "cone thing" with a fan blowing in, and the CPU fan blows "up" then it most definitely won't do what you want.

Turn the fan on the "cone thing" so it blows out, and your results will likely be different.

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