I am new to SETI @ Home. I installed BOINC on my Windows 7 computer. After running about 3 to 5 minutes, the mouse hangs up and the computer shuts off. The computer has an AMD chip with 8 CPUs, 16 Gig of RAM and a 2 TB SATA drive. Before installing BOINC, the computer runs 24/7 with no problems.

Is there a version of BOINC which is known to work with Windows 7??

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Windows 7 is fine with any recent version of BOINC (as is 8/Vista/10). Go here and it will automatically pick the latest stable version for you. If you have an AMD 8 core (I have an FX series one myself) it seems from the symptoms as though the CPU is overheating. You can install CoreTemp or SpeedFan to monitor the temps. I like SpeedFan as it also shows the GPU temps.

If that is the case that it is overheating (if it goes over 100C it will usually turn off) you can throttle the CPU usage in BOINC under Tools > Computing Preferences > Processor Usage until you get a better cooler. The tiny stock heatsink and fan bundled with the AMD CPUs is completely insufficient for running at 100% for long periods. I recommend Noctua fan/heatsink combos myself, and have them on a few of my higher-end machines including the AMD FX 8-core. I recommend running at 60C or lower if you can.

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Hi, you can also try to limit usage of seti app with this utility http://efmer.com/b/?q=tthrottle_download_version

it will throttle the app to respect a temperature limit for your CPU and GPU separatly .. [/url]

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I originally had a similar issue with my FX8350, managed to get it stable then 4 months later my motherboard exploded! I am now running my CPU with water cooling and using only 4 cores at 50% of the CPU's at 90% of the time! I Process with 3 direct cores and one other is in use to support my graphics card and it is fully stable, no need for throttle or the like. I monitor my cores using Core Temp, which varies between 28 degrees and up to 66 degrees depending upon usage and what type of work unit is being worked upon.

I am also limiting my usage of the processors through app_info and app_config manipulation. I hope that helps a little.

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The problem is not the heat sink. I have a liquid cooled one on the AMD, and the system runs at room temperature or cooler. I tried both of the BOINCs recommended and the both caused the same problem. I was able to remove them by getting to my Control Panel befor the freeze up and shut down. That is why I asked if there was an earlier version of BOINC that was known to be compatible with Windows 7.

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I am currently running BOINC version 7.6.33 on a computer with the same CPU yours - with no problems. The only difference being I'm running Windows 7 Pro, but the differences in the o/s do not affect the things that BOINC uses.

I have had problems in the past when various components have got too hot, even with liquid cooling.
Check that your radiator is not blocked, that the CPU is not hot, with the cooling block cool, that one of the pipes from the cooling block to the radiator is warm , and that the other is cool, if possible that coolant is circulating.
That everything is plugged in correctly. I've just had an issue on one of my other computers where the extra CPU power cable was not making proper contact and would fail after a few minutes. The other "favourite" for not being plugged in properly is the 24-way ATX power cable - especially the "extra" block of 4 connections....
Also make sure the CPU isn't overheating - running BOINC with SETI produces a lot more strain on PSUs than just gaming.

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

BOINC itself is a managing program, it does not do any science, it does not actively use the CPU or GPU. That's all done by the project science applications.
So if anything should be compatible with your CPU, it's the project science applications.

And here you have to wonder if it's any use to use a Geforce 8400 GS for the project. At this moment they're just using a lot of power, for not much return. You'd be better off replacing that one with a GTX 750ti or a GTX 1050, if you want a budget card with a great output.

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Thank you all for your advice, but I think I have solved the problem. I may have set my CPU usage too high. I reduced it to 25% and the computer is running fine now. BOINC now tells me that it will be using only 2 of my CPUs. As I gain experience, I'll slowly increase the percentage to find out the breaking point. Thanks againg to all of you.

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