Been here since 1999, can you believe it?!
I recently built something new, thought I'd try and do a bit more SETI:

Win 10 X64 Pro. BOINC manager 7.6.9
GPU GEFORCE GT 740 + Intel HD 4600 integrated on Gigabyte GA-Z97p-D3
Intel i5 4690k @3.5GHz
SETI V7.0 for the CPU and Cuda32, V7.07 for OpenCL on the 4600.

I seem to be getting a lot less work than when I first started with this new system. This is what is currently happening on my PC.

And this is what my chart of results looks like in BOINC.

But below is what appears on the SETI site for my account.

There appears to be a lot missing here - what about the 22nd, 23rd, 26th August etc? I know that bottlenecks mean that validation is taking a while (a month though?).

From the details given, my results etc, does everything look "right" here?

And am I using everything optimally, or should I be using a Lunatics SETI build to max out those GPUs when I'm not doing anything else with the PC?

'scuse the newb questions. Just getting back into it all!

Task
click for details
Show names	Work unit
click for details	Computer	Sent	Time reported
or deadline 
explain	Status	Run time
(sec)	CPU time
(sec)	Credit	Application
4372309792	1895435472	7649088	9 Sep 2015, 9:02:38 UTC	1 Nov 2015, 14:02:20 UTC	In progress	---	---	---	SETI@home v7 v7.00
4372309972	1895435420	7649088	9 Sep 2015, 9:02:38 UTC	1 Nov 2015, 22:07:01 UTC	In progress	---	---	---	SETI@home v7 v7.00 (cuda32)
4372309982	1895435692	7649088	9 Sep 2015, 9:02:38 UTC	29 Sep 2015, 20:12:20 UTC	In progress	---	---	---	SETI@home v7 v7.00
4372309984	1895435235	7649088	9 Sep 2015, 9:02:38 UTC	29 Sep 2015, 20:12:20 UTC	In progress	---	---	---	SETI@home v7 v7.00
4372309987	1895435432	7649088	9 Sep 2015, 9:02:38 UTC	29 Sep 2015, 20:12:20 UTC	In progress	---	---	---	SETI@home v7 v7.00
4372309921	1895435175	7649088	9 Sep 2015, 9:02:37 UTC	29 Sep 2015, 20:12:19 UTC	In progress	---	---	---	SETI@home v7 v7.07 (opencl_intel_gpu_sah)
4372309922	1895435638	7649088	9 Sep 2015, 9:02:37 UTC	28 Oct 2015, 6:47:04 UTC	In progress	---	---	---	SETI@home v7 v7.07 (opencl_intel_gpu_sah)
4367247807	1893014948	7649088	7 Sep 2015, 4:44:49 UTC	7 Sep 2015, 5:45:10 UTC	Completed, waiting for validation	2,952.88	290.16	pending	SETI@home v7 v7.00 (cuda32)
4308458699	1864976142	7649088	10 Aug 2015, 14:56:51 UTC	10 Aug 2015, 17:29:17 UTC	Completed, validation inconclusive	3,768.35	155.03	pending	SETI@home v7 v7.07 (opencl_intel_gpu_sah)
4299242180	1860594681	7649088	4 Aug 2015, 22:31:40 UTC	5 Aug 2015, 5:51:31 UTC	Completed, waiting for validation	3,798.61	152.34	pending	SETI@home v7 v7.07 (opencl_intel_gpu_sah)
4299242184	1860594693	7649088	4 Aug 2015, 22:31:40 UTC	5 Aug 2015, 4:48:14 UTC	Completed, waiting for validation	3,646.92	149.11	pending	SETI@home v7 v7.07 (opencl_intel_gpu_sah)

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That's a lot of questions in one go :D
I'll try answer a few, starting with the basics and we'll gradually fill you in.
I'm sure you'll end up with even more questions :)

Ok, so first basic BOINC functionality:

According to your cache settings, BOINC will request work, crunch it and return it.
The returned work then needs to wait for the wingmate to validate. If both results are in and agree, the workunit (WU) is validated and the results (signals found) are added to the science database (we don't get to see that one).
24 h after validation the validated tasks are purged (deleted) from the database, i.e. they disappear from your task list.
Older tasks remaining are either still waiting for the second result 'waiting for validation' or the other result disagreed and they become 'inconclusive'. Inconclusives get send out again until a consensus is reached or the unit is deemed faulty. Inconclusives usually turn into valids. You may see the occasional error. Unless you get a lot of errors or invalids it's nothing to worry about. If in doubt about something, ask.

BOINC has a set of policies how it uses your computer. These can be set over the web interface or locally. NB local settings override web ones. if you are trying to change something over the net and it doesn't appear to work, check if you have local preferences set.

You may want to uncheck 'suspend when in use' and 'suspend GPU when in use' - else BOINC will only run if you are not using the computer at all. Unless you have really heavy usage of you machine you won't notice BOINC running in the background. IF you have GPU intense applications, special exceptions can be made locally (e.g. boinc gets suspended only when you play game XY).

'Suspend when non-boinc CPU usage is above x%' can be used - but 'use at most X % of CPU time' is best left alone - if you set that to e.g. 50% boinc will run one second, stop one second, run one second... should you need to throttle boinc (e.g. for temperature control on a laptop) there are far better 3rd party programs around.
'use at most x % of CPUs' can be used to 'leave a core free' (or several) some of the applications benefit if you don't devote everything to boinc and some CPU is left free to 'feed the GPU(s)'.

on the seti preference page you can adjust which applications you would like to run and whether or not you want to use the CPU or the GPU(s) at all. some people use only their GPUs on SETI and crunch other projects on the CPU.

Lunatics offer optimised applications. If you have Windows, this is done via a handy installer. (everythig is available seprately too, should ypu want to update an app before a new installer is out).

ATM the GPU apps offered by Lunatics are the same as those you get directly via SETI (commonly referred to as 'stock'). That's because all current GPU apps are developed by volunteers and then implemented into stock. That may take a while, so with stock you tend to lag behind the newest developments. If you want easy, stay on stock.

CPU apps are a different matter. There you will most likely get something more efficient if you use Lunatics. The downside is that you have to keep an eye on the boards, because you won't automatically get new applications, but have to install those yourself.

I hope that answered a few questions :)

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A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read. (Mark Twain)

That's a lot of questions in one go :D
I'll try answer a few, starting with the basics and we'll gradually fill you in.

[...]

24 h after validation the validated tasks are purged (deleted) from the database, i.e. they disappear from your task list.

[...]

I hope that answered a few questions :)

Ahh! OK, many thanks! I kind of had the majority of how the BOINC bit works OK in my head, but the bits about Lunatic, and particularly about validation and "missing" (or not!) work units was very helpful.

Thanks! I'll carry on crunching as I was, then!

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Lunatics have nothing to do with validation - "The Lunatics" is a common name for a set of optimised applications, which do the same things as the standard applications, but a bit quicker and with more control options.
Validation is a server process and no users, or their applications have any direct interaction with that process.

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

My apologies - it was the way I wrote it. I hadn't intended to suggest I thought that Lunatics and validation were related!

Anyway, all good now. Thanks!

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