Download SpeedFan 3.33 (Freeware) for real time monitoring. Supports almost every PC I've used (Windoze).

Sure, maximum CPU temps can be inferred from the manufacturer documents, but how does one go about getting the current CPU temp on a given system?

The only way to do that is to find out if the motherboard supports thermal monitoring. Most motherboards these days do, but so many manufacturers use different thermal monitoring chips, each with their own specific set of instructions to use that there are literally hundreds of different types to program for. The same motherboard manufacturer alone could use two dozen different thermal monitoring chips, depending on which third party they got a deal from or if one is simply newer/more advanced than another.

Thermal monitoring chips don't necessarily use the same instruction sets across all brands/types/models as they are not standardized in the industry.

Getting the temp would require getting the programming access codes for each and every thermal monitoring chip used on every motherboard to ensure maximum compatibility (otherwise I guarantee you there'll be complaints here! LOL) It's just too complex and too much for a project like BOINC to handle.
Now, if there were a standardized API for getting the temperature. Then BOINC could assume a standard max temp with the option for the user to override that. Keeping up with the max temp for the literally hundreds of different CPUs is not something that the very small number of programmers can do.

Doesn't the P3 and P4 have an on-chip temp sensor? If they do then I presume AMD also would have one in their chips. I understand motherboards usually have a bunch of their own and as I said that would be all too hard to do. If the cpu has its own then that shouldn't be too hard to code.

My AMD K7 has a temp viewer/monitor on it, with the COP system working for you, system shutsdown when temp goes over 79 Celsius, to protect the sytem. Had run the system to on a attic, in summer gets to hot. Later on I bought a 12inch fan in my system for cool airflow and had a BIOS upgrade, my CPU never went up the 65 Celsius again. It's all in your mainboad and the protection within the software.

Cheers mate.

Mark

Doesn't the P3 and P4 have an on-chip temp sensor? If they do then I presume AMD also would have one in their chips. I understand motherboards usually have a bunch of their own and as I said that would be all too hard to do. If the cpu has its own then that shouldn't be too hard to code.

The CPUs have a thermal sensor that is designed to work with the thermal monitoring chip on the motherboard. All programs must get the data out of the thermal monitoring chip on the motherboard, not the sensor in the chip itself.

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Sure, maximum CPU temps can be inferred from the manufacturer documents, but how does one go about getting the current CPU temp on a given system?

The only way to do that is to find out if the motherboard supports thermal monitoring. Most motherboards these days do, but so many manufacturers use different thermal monitoring chips, each with their own specific set of instructions to use that there are literally hundreds of different types to program for. The same motherboard manufacturer alone could use two dozen different thermal monitoring chips, depending on which third party they got a deal from or if one is simply newer/more advanced than another.

Thermal monitoring chips don't necessarily use the same instruction sets across all brands/types/models as they are not standardized in the industry.

Getting the temp would require getting the programming access codes for each and every thermal monitoring chip used on every motherboard to ensure maximum compatibility (otherwise I guarantee you there'll be complaints here! LOL) It's just too complex and too much for a project like BOINC to handle.
Now, if there were a standardized API for getting the temperature. Then BOINC could assume a standard max temp with the option for the user to override that. Keeping up with the max temp for the literally hundreds of different CPUs is not something that the very small number of programmers can do.

Doesn't the P3 and P4 have an on-chip temp sensor? If they do then I presume AMD also would have one in their chips. I understand motherboards usually have a bunch of their own and as I said that would be all too hard to do. If the cpu has its own then that shouldn't be too hard to code.

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BOINC blog

As you pointed out there are numerous motherboard combinations. I am suggesting getting the cpu temp, which as far as I know is cpu specific. Please correct me if I'm wrong as I am no expert on these things. Other temps would be too hard to obtain as you say, but the cpu temp shouldn't be that hard to return or require a motherboard-specific version of code.

Sure, maximum CPU temps can be inferred from the manufacturer documents, but how does one go about getting the current CPU temp on a given system?

The only way to do that is to find out if the motherboard supports thermal monitoring. Most motherboards these days do, but so many manufacturers use different thermal monitoring chips, each with their own specific set of instructions to use that there are literally hundreds of different types to program for. The same motherboard manufacturer alone could use two dozen different thermal monitoring chips, depending on which third party they got a deal from or if one is simply newer/more advanced than another.

Thermal monitoring chips don't necessarily use the same instruction sets across all brands/types/models as they are not standardized in the industry.

Getting the temp would require getting the programming access codes for each and every thermal monitoring chip used on every motherboard to ensure maximum compatibility (otherwise I guarantee you there'll be complaints here! LOL) It's just too complex and too much for a project like BOINC to handle.

Now, if there were a standardized API for getting the temperature. Then BOINC could assume a standard max temp with the option for the user to override that. Keeping up with the max temp for the literally hundreds of different CPUs is not something that the very small number of programmers can do.

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BOINC WIKI

As you pointed out there are numerous motherboard combinations. I am suggesting getting the cpu temp, which as far as I know is cpu specific. Please correct me if I'm wrong as I am no expert on these things. Other temps would be too hard to obtain as you say, but the cpu temp shouldn't be that hard to return or require a motherboard-specific version of code.

Sure, maximum CPU temps can be inferred from the manufacturer documents, but how does one go about getting the current CPU temp on a given system?

The only way to do that is to find out if the motherboard supports thermal monitoring. Most motherboards these days do, but so many manufacturers use different thermal monitoring chips, each with their own specific set of instructions to use that there are literally hundreds of different types to program for. The same motherboard manufacturer alone could use two dozen different thermal monitoring chips, depending on which third party they got a deal from or if one is simply newer/more advanced than another.

Thermal monitoring chips don't necessarily use the same instruction sets across all brands/types/models as they are not standardized in the industry.

Getting the temp would require getting the programming access codes for each and every thermal monitoring chip used on every motherboard to ensure maximum compatibility (otherwise I guarantee you there'll be complaints here! LOL) It's just too complex and too much for a project like BOINC to handle.

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What I really need is something to monitor the cpu temp and reduce % allocated until the temp gets back down.

The couple of add-on programs I saw only seem to throttle back a set amount and don't actually monitor the temp. Boinc can throttle itself so really would be nice to have boinc do it, but just something for the wish-list.

I'll have a google and see if I can find a 3rd party app that monitors and throttles based upon cpu temp.

Issue with this is each MB manufacture does their own thing, plus then you have how many different OSes out there. BOINC needs to stay compatible with as much as possible. So, it's kind of hard to be that specific when you have to be so generic.

You might look for something in the 3rd party Add-On programs and see if you can find something that may help.

Another thing to remember is BOINC <> SETI. The boards here are SETI and it's application, BOINC has their own boards, etc.

As I mentioned above the couple of add-ons on here don't actually monitor the cpu temp. I did find a few via Google though.

Agreed Boinc is not = Seti, so this probably should go off to the Boinc Wish List. Boinc is there so projects (Seti just being one of them) can do number crunching. Boinc already establishes what CPU one has (and therefore can infer its max temp). Boinc also has a parameter to use % of CPU. So if we tie the cpu temp monitoring in we could then get Boinc to drop back cpu use when temp gets too high.

As you pointed out there are numerous motherboard combinations. I am suggesting getting the cpu temp, which as far as I know is cpu specific. Please correct me if I'm wrong as I am no expert on these things. Other temps would be too hard to obtain as you say, but the cpu temp shouldn't be that hard to return or require a motherboard-specific version of code.

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BOINC blog

What I really need is something to monitor the cpu temp and reduce % allocated until the temp gets back down.

The couple of add-on programs I saw only seem to throttle back a set amount and don't actually monitor the temp. Boinc can throttle itself so really would be nice to have boinc do it, but just something for the wish-list.

I'll have a google and see if I can find a 3rd party app that monitors and throttles based upon cpu temp.

Issue with this is each MB manufacture does their own thing, plus then you have how many different OSes out there. BOINC needs to stay compatible with as much as possible. So, it's kind of hard to be that specific when you have to be so generic.

You might look for something in the 3rd party Add-On programs and see if you can find something that may help.

Another thing to remember is BOINC <> SETI. The boards here are SETI and it's application, BOINC has their own boards, etc.

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What I really need is something to monitor the cpu temp and reduce % allocated until the temp gets back down.

The couple of add-on programs I saw only seem to throttle back a set amount and don't actually monitor the temp. Boinc can throttle itself so really would be nice to have boinc do it, but just something for the wish-list.

I'll have a google and see if I can find a 3rd party app that monitors and throttles based upon cpu temp.

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BOINC blog

That option does do that. It's meant to keep the processor a little cooler if you are having or worried about heat. The only way for that option to stay compatible with all computer times is to run 100% then drop to non-processing for the period of time you request. Since no systems are ever at 0%, you saw it down to 5-7%. If I understand it correctly it's a 10 second cycle, so 90% would hit 9 seconds on, and 1 second off.

It is not a fixed 10 second cycle. 90% would be 9 on and 1 off, but 80% would be 4 on and one off (a 5 second cycle). 50% would be a 2 second cycle at 1 on and 1 off. 99% would be 99 seconds on and one off of a 100 second cycle. 1% (which was the default early on because of a bug) was one second on and 99 seconds off.

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BOINC WIKI

That option does do that. It's meant to keep the processor a little cooler if you are having or worried about heat. The only way for that option to stay compatible with all computer times is to run 100% then drop to non-processing for the period of time you request. Since no systems are ever at 0%, you saw it down to 5-7%. If I understand it correctly it's a 10 second cycle, so 90% would hit 9 seconds on, and 1 second off.

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What do you have your "Use at most ???%" set to under Computing preferences?

Ahh, well that was set to 90%. I've now bumped it up to 100% and according to task manager they are going flat-out.

Thanks,
MarkJ

What do you have your "Use at most ???%" set to under Computing preferences?

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Hi all,

I've been looking in task manager as my machines process w/u's and it seems strange to me that about every 5-7 seconds the cpu usage drops from 100% to 5% and then shoot back up to 100%. It does this on all 4 cores of my quad core machines and on my single core machine consistently.

At first I thought it might have been saving to disk (and awaiting the IO to complete), so I adjusted the save time from the default (60 secs) to 90 seconds but that made no difference.

I'm running boinc 5.10.30 and S@H enhanced version 527 on XP Pro machines.

Any ideas?

MarkJ