How much down time is advisable?

JunoNH

JunoNH

JunoNH

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Joined
16 Jun 2011
Posts
26
How often should i be turning off my machine and for how long?

i'm probably folding 12-14 hours a day and actually using for 5-6. rest of the time it's off.

could I be folding more, without damaging parts?

cpu socket 50 degrees at highest, 1.4v's

gpu reads 75 at max (still haven't fitted artic xtreme yet) 1.175v's

cheers
 
as long as the temps are good as they seem to be it will be then fine....i guess its off at night this is when you will have the coolest temps.. it getting to hot that kills stuff..
My temps are cpu max 42c day (was 50 until i de fluffed things) 35c at night
(i am in the uk my house is cold.. today 20c last night 12c in the room the rig is in)
 
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My PC runs 24/7. Most servers run 24/7 so why shouldn't folding PCs? Of course servers can often be built to different standards. However consider too that the pace of IT change means that most components are outdated relatively swiftly, even if say a five year expected life were to be reduced to say four year, would it matter when so many of us, at least on these forums, probably replace most of their kit well within such time?

As Snapshot says the application should get out of the way if you use the PC for other stuff, so you don't even need to shut down folding when you start other things. The only time I stop folding is whilst gaming when I find the PC trying to use any spare capacity can introduce a big of judder to the display.

If your temps are within tolerances there shouldn't be any big issue. If you have overclocked, especially to high levels, there might be a risk of some degradation due to the higher voltages. I suspect the biggest risk is to the few mechanical parts, cooling fans, where eventually there will be some wear.
 
Most of us fold or crunch (boinc) 24/7, some on multiple machines, the main concerns most of us have is electricity costs rather than the worry about components dying. If a component is going to die from distributed computing then its probably faulty anyway and will be replaced under warranty.
 
It wouldn't hurt to give the machine a strip down every once in a while if you fold 24/7. My last rig was going for almost a year without a break and the thermal paste on the CPU was very dried out (wasn't the cheap stuff either). Left a mark on the CPU and cooler but never affected performance.
 
awesome, cheers guys.

i've just got a new job so i may very well get a dedicated rig. or some butterfly labs stuff if that really works.

also i finally fitted the arctic xtreme 7970 and i'm maxing out at 56 degrees. much nicer.

and don't worry bro, i can't even find you on the lists, i haven't learned how to look people up yet! but this is my main machine so i don't really crunch on it as much as i should and maybe i spent a little to much making it xD
 
JunoNH said:
awesome, cheers guys.

i've just got a new job so i may very well get a dedicated rig. or some butterfly labs stuff if that really works.

also i finally fitted the arctic xtreme 7970 and i'm maxing out at 56 degrees. much nicer.

and don't worry bro, i can't even find you on the lists, i haven't learned how to look people up yet! but this is my main machine so i don't really crunch on it as much as i should and maybe i spent a little to much making it xD
Click to expand...

No worry's ...............i am a several pagers in front now as been F@H 24/7
 
I only turn off my pc to conserve leccy as I'm a poor student and 20 quid a week leccy eats into me :(

Would leave my pc folding 24/7 if I could afford it. Just make sure your temps are below safe. Mine folds between 60-70c and has about 30c safety headroom so this is ok.
 
The most likely thing to die in a PC by far is the (mechanical) HDD. Everything else will last pretty much indefinitely if run well within spec. With that in mind, a PC is most likely to die when being switched back on, as HDDs die most often when spinning up. Depending on how much down time the machine has, it might actually last longer being kept on 24/7.
 
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