Hello,

I am running BOINC now since 1109 hrs. and meanwhile something funny happened:
My power supply smoked and died the other day when I started my computer. Rather young (it was just 6 months old) I brought it back to the shop and got another one, but was worried though.
Somebody I know who is down with computer hardware told me that it\'s better to give the PC a \'little break\' before shutting down to give him some time to get rid of all the hot air in the case. My CPU is of course getting hotter than usual (now 53°C instead 44°C w/o running BOINC), and so does the rest of the system too. I\'d like to run it 24/7, but am worried to do so while it\'s unattended. (Specially while summer is coming)

Since a few weeks I logout from my Windows session for 10 min before I shut down to give him the time to cool out, but know I read again that I need to shut down the client before shutting down the system due to hold stable results.

Now it would be really nice to hear how you all treat your system to satisfy BOINC as much as your hardware. After more than 1100 hrs. I still only have 46% of my model, so I\'d be really happy for any suggestion so I can finish the model properly.

Thanks,

Michael

BTW: My hardware is: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3700+ [x86 Family 15 Model 39 Stepping 1] [fpu tsc pae nx sse sse2 3dnow mmx]

I have had systems running for years on projects (July 2003 - about a month ago - machine is still running, but in someone else\'s house and no projects), 24/7 without issue. I never stop the projects before shutting down. I keep very stable systems, with good ventilation, cleaning, etc.

Things to remember:
Dust is NOT your friend. Clean out the PS, fans, etc. Dust can slow down the fans, which will cause overheating, etc. Dust can also contain small metal pieces which can cause havoc.
Keep them well ventilated. Away from walls, under desks, etc. Keep them in as open area as possible. Trapped in a closed computer desk draw is not smart.
If you keep a room with a few computers, keep a fan running in the room to help circulate the air. Ceiling fans help, or just a nice sized box / room fan. Again, DUST is needed to be watched / cleaned.
If room in the box, add an extra case fan, or two. Helps move air around more.

Some power supplies are cheap, or under powered. If you blow another one, I\'d suggest making sure you have one large enough for your system under full load. As for the 6 months, that is actually someone a magical number in the computer world. If an item last for 6 months, it tends to last a long time (not always the case, but more likely than not). It takes about that amount of time for the electronics to settle. Kind of like a new car. The first 3000-5000 miles it takes time for the engine to get into a smooth running mode.

Good luck with things.

---

Hello Pooh Bear,

thank you very much for your post.
Currently I have 3 fans in my case - two in front cooling the HD\'s and a large at the back. All of them are running full speed since I have BOINC. Before then I just turned them up when I was playing 3D games or constructing or photoshopping.
For my system / CPU health I have the ABIT nGuru Software which maintains all of it quite well, only I don\'t know if it monitors the power supply.
After that I clean my system about every 3-4 months depending how I can take my time for that. The case is about 6 inch away from the wall and about 9 inch away left from the next object.

So far I never had any problems. Just ½yr ago I bought several new parts and this case where my old power supply didn\'t fit, so I bought a new one. Certainly there are better out there, however, I paid 40 EUR (~50 USD) for it and was sure that would fit my needs.

Good to learn that there is not any more to watch when shutting down the system. Maybe I\'ll let the project run over night once in a while in the future too.
How much more electricity do you need with the project? Is it just like a few percent or really knowable more?

Thanks again,

Michael

How much extra electricity is required does depend on your system (intel vs. amd, quad core vs. single core, etc), but (a wild guess) say 10% is what I\'d expect.

Remember to turn off your monitor when you\'re away from the PC, and disable the screensaver (set to \'blank\'), and this will save a little.

---

I'm a volunteer and my views are my own.
News and Announcements and FAQ

Thanks, yes - I usually turn off my monitor now when I leave. Not really for energy reasons, though, however, to save myself from buying a new screen. I just have the feeling that a screen dies after a certain amount of hours in duty and/or months in duty. After that my Windows has the odd habit not to turn into screensaver mode (I\'ve set the standard xp) but to stay \"up\" for several hours on some days...
I don\'t know what other people are talking about that BOINC only runs in screensaver mode - mine is on 100%. The task may be rather unimportant in hirarchy because I can easy play 3D games without any issues and do photoshopping without having any feeling that my system may be slower than it somehow would be.
No, I am really happy with my decision to contribute my pc-time to BOINC. The only thing I worry a little is the amount of heat what defiantly has increased and the electricity bill at the end of the year (o-god-o-god-o-god...). After that it\'s just a pitty that with the CPnet the workunits go over months. When I started I was so anxious to see results and get credits and everything. It was like life in slooooow-motion... *grin*
Meanwhile I just check in like once a week to see if it\'s still alive. Now 46% - is it good, is it bad? I have no idea, but I hope he\'ll be done before I go for my vacation trip because then I\'ll be offline for 14 straight days...

There\'s a lot of confusion over how the word screensaver is used. Some people seem to refer to the project workunits as \'screensavers\' which is not really the case at all. Some projects like cpdn offer a real screensaver (static or moving pic/photo on the desktop) as a useful or fun extra facility.

But we advise disabling it. I think it\'s more trouble than it\'s worth, though some crunchers love it.

There\'s certainly no point in leaving a screen display on if nobody\'s there to look at it. Flat screen off when possible = pixels can rest/recover and there\'s less burn-in.

By the way, if you intend to leave the computer crunching while you\'re on holiday, before going away make sure that in the boinc manager Activity menu you suspend network activity.

When your colder weather comes, you can turn the heating down or off in the room where the computer is, letting the computer keep the area warm. That partly offsets the expense and CO2 emissions.

46% is very good. Some people take a year or more to complete a model!

---

Cpdn news

Hello mo.v,

thank you very much for your reply, sorry that I just come back today and not earlier.
However: Your post was helpful, just this here gave me something to think about:

By the way, if you intend to leave the computer crunching while you\'re on holiday, before going away make sure that in the boinc manager Activity menu you suspend network activity.

I was inaccurate about my holidays. We\'ll be not at home for two weeks and nobody will be using the computer. It\'ll be off (I even thought about turning off the power completely for the time) and nobody will be using it.
I\'m torn between letting it on or not. If I knew a trustworth program which could start the computer daily and let it run for 12 hours ... ah, I don\'t know - rather leave him off.

However: If it\'ll be OFF for two weeks, is there anything I need to set up?
Thanks,
Michael

I\'d either leave it on for the two weeks, or off entirely - having it on a timer is increasing the risk that something goes wrong.

Doing a backup just before you go is a good idea.

---

I'm a volunteer and my views are my own.
News and Announcements and FAQ

Thanks,

yes, it\'ll be off for that time. I\'m now @ 77.01%, I suppose I\'ll be done somewhen in Fall, deadline is somewhen April so far I can recall - so these two weeks pause won\'t hurt.

Make a backup - have to look this up, haven\'t made any yet. I suppose I just copy the \'projects\' folder and restore it while BOINC is not running IF there would be any problem.

Okay, thanks again!

It needs to be the entire Boinc folder (while Boinc is shut down). Otherwise the backup will be missing files and won\'t work :-(

There are some posts regarding backups if you follow the link in my signature.

---

I'm a volunteer and my views are my own.
News and Announcements and FAQ

Oh, okay ;-)

I was looking for this board, knew I\'ve seen it somewhere. The whole BOINC is just not always very easy to Navigate and find the right content (in my humble opinion...)

However, thanks again - and while my question was answered (really good too) I\'ll close this thread. Thanks to you all,

Michael