I finally gave in and ordered a Laptop to replace my Desktop PC, but I am curious if I can run BOINC on the laptop without damaging it?

I'll still let my desktop crunch, of course, but if it has a huge effect on a Laptop's components I don't think it'd be worth it. The CPU is a 2ghz Intel Centrino Mobile, if that makes a difference.

I finally gave in and ordered a Laptop to replace my Desktop PC, but I am curious if I can run BOINC on the laptop without damaging it?

I'll still let my desktop crunch, of course, but if it has a huge effect on a Laptop's components I don't think it'd be worth it. The CPU is a 2ghz Intel Centrino Mobile, if that makes a difference.

CPU of my DELL Inspiron 2200 (Celeron M 1,3 GHz) is working at 100% from the first day (1 june).
I've only spaced out it from the desk (about 1cm), and periodically clean the fan window with a vacuum cleaner.

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I finally gave in and ordered a Laptop to replace my Desktop PC, but I am curious if I can run BOINC on the laptop without damaging it?

I'll still let my desktop crunch, of course, but if it has a huge effect on a Laptop's components I don't think it'd be worth it. The CPU is a 2ghz Intel Centrino Mobile, if that makes a difference.

Most elements of a laptop are as robust as a desktop, so this should not be an issue. Parts like the hard drive are worth testing intensively anyway, so that if they fail they do so before the warranty runs out! On desptops and laptops new hard drives are slightly more likely to fail than old ones till you have weeded out the rare ones that have slight manufacturing faults.

The cpu may overheat - but will shut down the laptop safely before any harm is done. On modern laptops you can sometimes check the cpu temperature (tho on mine I hvae to reboot to do it, as it is only available from the BIOS). If you get this problem then there are programs available that will slow down the crunching to keep the cpu cooler.

Standing the laptop on a metal surface (tin tea tray inverted, upside down empty tin from the christmas chokkies) will help keep it cooler than putting it on a wood or plastic table.

There is a setting in the preferences that will prevent BOINC running when the box is running on batteries - I'd advise all laptop users to set this to yes. Your laptop battery has only so many charge cycles before it starts losing capacity, and it is not (in my opinion) worth wasting them -- the idea of DC is to lend that hardware, not wear it out. T

Running BOINC while recharging can be good for the battery - my laptop takes longer to recharge when BOINC is running, but still gets to full charge overnight. As the gentler the charge the better for the battery, this is actually doing my machine a favour, as I'd have left it on charge overnight anyway, likeif you need to recharge it over lunch say. (By the way, don't fast charge a laptop unless you really *need* it to be charged up in the minimum time. Overnight charging is always better done with the machine running, whether you run BOINC or just leave it idle).

In short - go for it, and if the machine does not cut out, and does not start to feel uncomfortably hot to the touch, keep with it. If you get either of those issues, decide then if you want to put time into finding out how to slow down the cpu or give up at that point.

Good Luck
River~~

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same here, I've been running a P4 2,8HT laptop for over a year now. Only thing I do is to open the fan covers once a month and remove the dust besides having the laptop elevated on a solid surface to allow better air flow.

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The Apple iBook G3 is known as a "lap warmer", so mine sits on a USD$25 "cooling pad", with 3 USB-powered fans, and the CD tray cracked open just a bit (to provide a convection outlet; internal fan rarely runs). That keeps the temp down nicely; as I type this, the temp says 48.0C/118.4F. Sitting on wood desk, it gets uncomfortably warm. Left sitting on a bed for a couple of hours, half-buried in the quilt, it almost fried itself, and that was w/o BOINC. It's a two-year old machine, been running BOINC 24/7 for about five months now. No probs.

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Left sitting on a bed for a couple of hours, half-buried in the quilt, it almost fried itself, and that was w/o BOINC.

Running a computer (or any heat generating appliance) on a soft surface is a serious fire risk. The surface should be hard enough so that the little feet on the box create at least some airspcae underneath.

Likewise don't pile up papers on and around all the sides and front of a desktop - most need air input at the front as when as air out at the rear.

Using a laptop in bed? Fine, but please put it on a tray.

River~~

Using a laptop in bed? Fine, but please put it on a tray.

The iBook (being a Mac...) is intelligent enough to automatically "go to sleep" when you close the lid. Close lid - place on bed while putting shoes on - forget to pick it up and hide it in hotel dresser under clothes - come back from dinner - see iBook on bed - realize that latch on lid didn't catch and it's 1/8" open and not sleeping... Human error! :-/

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I run BOINC on a laptop also with no problems. You can see the spec's on my accountpage, I haven't hidden my computer here.

The fan is running all the time, so I log off before I go to bed (the noise is annoying for me while falling to sleep). And yes, it's pretty dirty, so I'll have to clean it from time to time. And the cathair have a tendency to clog up under it, so I'll have to check and remove it, when there's a little "cake" gathered. I have it placed on a metal wire rack, so there's aircirculation under it.

For the battery, I always have it running on the main electricity adaptor, as I always sit at my desk with it. So a little while ago I needed to bring it with me to use it on the battery, I found out that it was flat. I called Fujitsu-Siemens and spoke with a guy there, and was told it's not covered under the guarantee, and he told me, that the battery is worn out even when it's under the main electricity. He advised me to not put the new one in, before I'll need it.

I have Speedfan installed to monitor the temp. You can download it from here:

http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=893

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[b]"I'm trying to maintain a shred of dignity in this world." - Me[/b]

Thanks a lot for all the suggestions. Time to download BOINC and put the little machine to work hehe ;)

Thanks a lot for all the suggestions. Time to download BOINC and put the little machine to work hehe ;)

Good luck!

I'm running a Compac Presario 2500 with BOINC 24/7. I use SensorView to track the CPU temp.

I keep it near an open window (winter here - free a/c) and propped up on a trivet (can't get a cookie cooling rack here in Korea).

I've had it shut down 1 or 2 times b/c of temp before I propped it up, but now it runs between 45 and 50C (sometimes a bit higher if I close the window so I don't get frostbite while typing).

Put that little baby to good use and start a-crunchin'.

Kathryn

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Kathryn :o)
The BOINC FAQ Service
The Unofficial BOINC Wiki
The Trac System
More BOINC information than you can shake a stick of RAM at.

I have 6 machines running boinc, 2 of which are laptops. One laptop is a Dell Latitude D610, the other one is an ancient no-name P3 800.
I have no problems with heat on either one. They run 24/7/365. On the dell I have a program called "centrino speed control - CHC" (www.pbus-167.com). I have it set for maximum performance, so the cpu is set at 2GHz all the time. The cpu runs at about 75 C, 90 is the limit according to dell so I have ample headroom I believe. The only thing I have to do occasionally is remove the dust and dog hair (we have lots of doggies) that accumulates on the fan grill on the underside of both laptops. I do that every couple of weeks, when the fan grill on the dell gets clogged up, the cpu temp gets up to about 80 C, but still well below the 90 C limit. According to dell, at 90 C the unit will shutdown.

meatWAD

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