Crunching on a laptop

Amp34

Amp34

Amp34

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I just recieved a nice new XPS M1330 today and am contemplating putting it into the fold (well SETI at least:p) but i'm a bit concerned about what issues it could cause due to it being a laptop. Can anyone with a crunching lappy reduce my fears and give any pointers?:)
 
i have been crunching on laptops for a while, with various degrees of success. my first laptop (PM 1.73gig) crunched for 2 years before the bearings in a fan went, also had a hard drive fail, but can't really blame Boinc for that.

my new laptop (coreduo 1.66gig) i have had more issues with, i use RMclock to undervolt it to 1.025v which really helps keep the temps down. fan never goes to 100% hoover mode.

where as with normal volts running boinc the temp will rise so the fan goes to 100%, but then due to its stupid fan control it turns the fan off (and i mean off) once it cools it down below 60 oC ish, then waits for around a minute to heat back up to 75 oC then turns the fan back on at 100%, repeat.

the only problem i have is probably an acer specific thing, RMclock only runs when you are logged in and dispite my best efforts when i leave my laptop logged in but just running boinc after 3 (i think) hours of inactivity the laptop starts to throttle (it is not heat related) and the cpu goes to 1 gig i think (obviously not great for crunching)

if i log out boinc crunches at 100% (no throttling) but without RMclock the fan does its ramp up/ramp down thing and i can't imagine it will last that long.

but enough of my ramblings, i'd say go for it, assuming its a proper laptop cpu. plus check out rmclock. if on at 100% my coreduo laptop willl get around 800ppd with an optimised client.

both laptops were Acer travelmates by the way.
 
Cool, thanks. It's a bit of a worry with the bearings giving way though. Can you make it so it only crunches when it's attached to the mains or do you need to specifically turn it on and off?

The CPU is a T7500, which according to windows is more powerful than my X2 4400+, which is why i'm so tempted. :D
 
I've run the WinSMP folding client full tilt on a lappy for a few months. No special issues noted, provided you didn't get your fingers to close to the tiny exhaust port at the rea when swapping USB cables!
 
there is also that option on the F@H client

I have a Dell 1210, and it doesn't like folding or any other CPU intensive app, currently at idle it is running at 45-50 C if i were to start folding on it the temp would rise to 70 in about 2 seconds, speedstep would then kick in and cut it down to 1Ghz from 2, it would then not meet smp deadlines, only give 100PPD for a normal client and i wouldnt be able to do anything else on it
 
MGP said:
provided you didn't get your fingers to close to the tiny exhaust port at the rea when swapping USB cables!
Click to expand...

This has been a weakness on larger, more complex systems than your lappy.
ds15uw4.jpg

"It's a small thermal exhaust port located right below the main port."

:D

Yes it will crunch when only connected to the mains. You can also tell it to only crunch during certain times of the day or use a small app to throttle the CPU load below 100%.
Personally I'd lift the laptop up from a desk using matchboxes or similar to allow extra air to circulate underneath. Helps dissipate heat quite nicely :)
 
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mattbrown91 said:
My T5500 hits 80deg when crunching. It's fine though.
Click to expand...

it goes to 70 very quickly but then cycles between 70 to 100. does speedstep kick in for you when you fold?

it also starts to slow the system down. when i tryed it i left it overnight and it had locked up when i tryed to use it in the morning
 
Surprised how many laptops are having problems with F@H.. they can't be very well designed from a thermal point of view. Mind you, two of my housemates had Acer Aspires, and both started to overheat during standard Windows tasks, never mind Folding...

I've done quite a few SMP units on my Vaio with T2300 CPU (CoreDuo 1.66) without any problems. At standard voltage it got pretty hot (75c) and the fan was really noisy - never crashed though. Then I reduced the vCore at full load from 1.2625 to 0.975 - it's still 100% stable and doesn't go over 55c when folding as long as the ventilation isn't blocked. Still don't fold on it very often as the whining from the fan gets on my nerves.
 
you would think that out of the better part of a grand most laptops cost that they would spend a little more on thermal management.

although supposedly they have a new material that will agitate the heat away from it, cant remember the specifics but that laptops would be an ideal use for it
 
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