I appreciate the additional comments and opinions:


Question of the Day:

"Is it ok to run a 1.60GHz Pent4 24/7 while crunching SAH & EAH?"

POLL RESULTS:

YES....6 (Added Alinator's above...thanks)

NO.....1

This is not a scientific poll...but is a poll of scientists.

I do this regularly (it is actually either a P4-1.5 or a P4-2.0. I also have several slower machines.

---

BOINC WIKI

I appreciate the additional comments and opinions:


Question of the Day:

"Is it ok to run a 1.60GHz Pent4 24/7 while crunching SAH & EAH?"

POLL RESULTS:

YES....6 (Added Alinator's above...thanks)

NO.....1

This is not a scientific poll...but is a poll of scientists.

---

Yep, my Intels are Dells, the AMDs are an HP, a Compaq, and the other 3 I built myself. All of them run 24/7/365 and the only hardware failures I've had are 2 fans. One was a CPU fan and the other was a PSU fan, and even that's not a big deal since they typically let you know they're getting sick long before they stop spinning.

Anyone who tells you running the CPU at 100% utilization is "bad" for it doesn't know what they're talking about. If anything it extends their service life by reducing their exposure to inrush current when being powered up and reducing thermal cycling of the interconnects. Those are the two most common "killers" of electronic devices.

Alinator

I have 4 Dells, P4 1.8G, P4 Xeon 1.5G, P4 Xeon 2.4 HT, and P4 2.8G all running 24/7. The P4 1.8G has been going for nearly 3 years at 100%. The others have been running since I got them. None have overheated, and I just make sure the power supplies and heat sinks stay clean. About once every couple of months, I go through all the machines, and clear the dust.

---

John McLeod VII wrote:

"There are many computers that run 24/7 at full CPU load with no problems. There are also some that have insufficient cooling that only last a few dozen minutes at full CPU usage."

Yep, I understand what you're saying John...depends on the particular unit.
Since I didn't build this DIM4400 of course, Dell did...I have to rely on the cooling system (fan) that I have installed to do the job.
Maybe I'll go so far as checking with their Support (OMG...not someone in India I hope..(after holding for 45 minutes)...lol)...or perhaps via their website to see if there's anything about running 24/7 @ 100%.
Thanks, Telstar

Not that it is representative of all Dell's but I have had 3 running 24/7 for more than 12 months as part of my 'ranch'.

---

John McLeod VII wrote:

"There are many computers that run 24/7 at full CPU load with no problems. There are also some that have insufficient cooling that only last a few dozen minutes at full CPU usage."

Yep, I understand what you're saying John...depends on the particular unit.
Since I didn't build this DIM4400 of course, Dell did...I have to rely on the cooling system (fan) that I have installed to do the job.
Maybe I'll go so far as checking with their Support (OMG...not someone in India I hope..(after holding for 45 minutes)...lol)...or perhaps via their website to see if there's anything about running 24/7 @ 100%.

Thanks,

Telstar

---

Howzat wrote:

"Hi,
running at 100% cpu isnt really good
due to heat reasons if ran for to long at 100% worst case senerio is your cpu could overheat and die i sugest if you are running your cpu at 100% not to run for a long period of time example 24 hour."

Thanks for your comment Howzat, but it seems to contradict what two other posters say:

Monkeydee wrote:

"SAH and EAH are designed to use all of your cpu's idle "power". so running at 100% cpu usage is what is supposed to happen."

OzzFan wrote:

"As long as you have sufficient cooling, every processor is designed to withstand 100% use, 24/7"

Any way to settle this difference of opinions?
I want to get the most out of my Processor, but not at the expense of seeing it burn up of course...I'd like to get a couple more years out of this thing.

Thanks,

Telstar

There are many computers that run 24/7 at full CPU load with no problems. There are also some that have insufficient cooling that only last a few dozen minutes at full CPU usage.

---

BOINC WIKI

Howzat wrote:

"Hi,
running at 100% cpu isnt really good
due to heat reasons if ran for to long at 100% worst case senerio is your cpu could overheat and die i sugest if you are running your cpu at 100% not to run for a long period of time example 24 hour."

Thanks for your comment Howzat, but it seems to contradict what two other posters say:

Monkeydee wrote:

"SAH and EAH are designed to use all of your cpu's idle "power". so running at 100% cpu usage is what is supposed to happen."

OzzFan wrote:

"As long as you have sufficient cooling, every processor is designed to withstand 100% use, 24/7"

Any way to settle this difference of opinions?
I want to get the most out of my Processor, but not at the expense of seeing it burn up of course...I'd like to get a couple more years out of this thing.

Thanks,

Telstar

---

Hi,
running at 100% cpu isnt really good
due to heat reasons if ran for to long at 100% worst case senerio is your cpu could overheat and die i sugest if you are running your cpu at 100% not to run for a long period of time example 24 hour

Windows XP Home SP2
1.60GHz Pent4/768RAM
BOINC 5.4.11
SAH & EAH
DSL

Now that I've added a second Project and am now running both SAH & EAH, I see that now when I open the Task Manager and check the CPU Usage, it's running at a constant 100% (while I perform other tasks).

Granted that I have adjusted some of the Preferences that now show:

SAH Resource Share @ 200% (66.67%)
EAH Resource Share @ 100% (33.33%)

I have also gone to:
Tools>Activity>Run Always (checked)
Tools>Activity>Network Activity always available (checked)
...Thus overriding my Preferences setting to:

"Do work only after computer is idle for 4 minutes"

Looking for any comments as to whether running at a constant 100% all the time is detrimental to the Processor.

I don't have a CPU Heat Monitor installed but my concern is along the lines of whether the 100% could cause the Processor to run hot/overheat and/or shorten the effective lifespan of the Processor.

Thank you.

Telstar

---

BTW, the time slice for each project defaults to an hour. So 66% for A and 33% for B would have A run for 2 hours followed by B for an hour...

---

BOINC WIKI

Monkeydee wrote:

SAH and EAH are designed to use all of your cpu's idle "power". so running at 100% cpu usage is what is supposed to happen.

OzzFan wrote:

As long as you have sufficient cooling, every processor is designed to withstand 100% use, 24/7

Ok great, just wanted to be sure it was nothing unusual...
thanks for the reassurance.

Telstar

---

SAH Resource Share @ 200% (66.67%)
EAH Resource Share @ 100% (33.33%)

The resource preference does not limit CPU usage. The resource share simply splits your time between projects (and note they are not percentages, but simply a numerical value).

The CPU limiter preference is displayed in the General Preferences section, under Use at Most: 100 percent of CPU time.

I don't have a CPU Heat Monitor installed but my concern is along the lines of whether the 100% could cause the Processor to run hot/overheat and/or shorten the effective lifespan of the Processor.

As long as you have sufficient cooling, every processor is designed to withstand 100% use, 24/7. As long as your CPU stays within the guidelines the manufacturer states for their product, there has been no known data to prove that is shortens the lifespan of a processor considerably (an example would be older Pentium servers that have been running at 100%, 24/7 since they were released back in 1993-4 [not necessarily running SETI@Home, obviously] and still run fine today).

Though these CPUs of today run much hotter, there's insufficient data to prove that they cannot withstand the test of time (until they become older technology). Chances are, you'll upgrade long before your CPU craps out.

---

SAH and EAH are designed to use all of your cpu's idle "power". so running at 100% cpu usage is what is supposed to happen. if you are concerned about heat you can get programs like Everest, Speedfan, or Coretemp to measure your cpu temperature.
i think the only way that running your cpu at 100% would reduce the lifespan of the cpu would be if it were running too hot.

i'm sure someone else here can provide a better answer.

---

Hi,

Windows XP Home SP2
1.60GHz Pent4/768RAM
BOINC 5.4.11
SAH & EAH
DSL

Now that I've added a second Project and am now running both SAH & EAH, I see that now when I open the Task Manager and check the CPU Usage, it's running at a constant 100% (while I perform other tasks).

Granted that I have adjusted some of the Preferences that now show:

SAH Resource Share @ 200% (66.67%)
EAH Resource Share @ 100% (33.33%)

I have also gone to:
Tools>Activity>Run Always (checked)
Tools>Activity>Network Activity always available (checked)
...Thus overriding my Preferences setting to:

"Do work only after computer is idle for 4 minutes"

Looking for any comments as to whether running at a constant 100% all the time is detrimental to the Processor.

I don't have a CPU Heat Monitor installed but my concern is along the lines of whether the 100% could cause the Processor to run hot/overheat and/or shorten the effective lifespan of the Processor.

Thank you.

Telstar

---