Folding On A Laptop - Temperature and Clients

[Mini-Geek]

Hi,

I'm fairly new to the forum, and have been folding for about a week under the name HovR, as I had only completed 3 WU's, I changed my folding name to the same as my forum name when I signed up. I would describe myself as a casual folder. As much as I would like to run dedicated folding machines, I just can't afford it So I am currently folding on my laptop.

My question(s) mainly go out to people who are also folding on laptops, and it would be great if I could get responses from people running (or have run) similar systems to mine.

I am currently running a HP G60-214EM Laptop

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core QL-62 (2.0GHz)
NVIDIA GeForce 8200M
3GB RAM
250GB SATA HDD (5400 RPM)
Upgraded to Windows 7 HP

Which client do you recommend I run on this system? At the moment I am only running a single Uniprocessor client.

Am I right in assuming that this system won't be able to meet the tight deadlines of the SMP client? And since it isn't really a powerful graphics card I guess the GPU client is out of the question. So would I be right in thinking that running multiple Uniprocessor clients would be the best option for my system?

My second question regards overheating, and normal temperatures of a laptop when folding. What sort of temperature does your laptop run at when folding, and with which client(s)?

What would you recommend to be the maximum safe temperature when folding for a laptop? When I have a couple of inches clearance at the bottom of the laptop for the vent it will generally fold at around 60°C, or when flat against the desk, only raised by its rubber feet it will run between about 66°C and 70°C. If it goes above 70°C I will generally pause F@H.

Finally, in your experience, have you noticed that those "Fan Pad" laptop stands make a significant difference to your laptops temperature, and are they worth buying?

Thanks for your time,
Mini-Geek.

[Zagen30]

Welcome to the forum, Mini-Geek.

If you're not going to run the laptop all the time, then 2 uniprocessor clients is the right setup. Even if it ran 24/7 it might have trouble making the SMP deadlines.

Laptop components are designed to run at much higher temperatures than desktop components. For instance, a laptop CPU is often rated to run up to 100C safely, while a comparable desktop CPU will probably only be rated up to around 70C. I have a laptop i7 running the SMP client that I let run in the high 80's - low 90's and I feel comfortable leaving it at that temperature. 70C is safe. If you add a second classic client your temperatures will rise, but they shouldn't go up too much.

I've never used a fan pad, so I'm afraid I can't help you there.

[Mini-Geek]

Thanks for the reply. I think I am going to try adding the second client once this WU is completed.

[uncle fuzzy]

Another benefit to 2 CPU clients rather than the SMP is the ability to back off on cpu usage to help regulate the temp. I like to keep mine (C2D T6400@2.0) below 80C, and sometimes that means dropping the usage to 90% on one WU and 85% on the other. This laptop idles around 60C @ 70F ambient, and usually folds 70-75C.

Next time it goes over 70C, stop the client, go into the advanced configuration settings, and change cpu usage from 100% to 95%. You'll drop a few PPD this way, but less than you lose by pausing the client.

[P5-133XL]

Since it hasn't been already mentioned -- Strong suggestion for laptops: Enable the folding option to stop folding when on battery.

I think that is at least as an important as temperature for laptops. Batteries are expensive, and constantly discharging the battery because it was folding shortens their lifespan significantly. Further, every once in a while you will be thinking that the machine is AC powered, when it was not (perhaps because the AC cord accidentally pulled out?) and then you plan on taking the machine out but the battery became discharged which may be quite inconvenient depending upon your plans.

With laptops, you should always have a temp sensor (like real temp) on you systray to monitor CPU temps. While they can handle higher temps than a desktop, they are also more dependent upon a single air intake that can get clogged over time. If you are going to run the machine more because of folding, then you will find it will accumulate more dust bunnies over time. If it is convenient to monitor those temps, you are more likely to see a temperature problem before it causes a serious problem.

I don't generally worry excessively about the CPU (or GPU's) because they have built in mechanisms that prevent damage. First they will decrease clocks, when over temp, and if that is not sufficient they will actually shut themselves off to protect themselves. However, with laptops, if the CPU is hot then it is likely that the entire interior is too hot and you may overheat other components that don't have temperature protection like capacitors on the motherboard (some can dry out and fail over time).

Most modern laptops are spec'ed for CPU and GPU temperatures for 100C+ and for an older laptop 90C+. For a modern laptop, I would feel totally comfortable maintaining core temps of 70C- 80C for continuous operation.

[PantherX]

I have a fan-pad and it reduced my laptop temperatures by ~5C (best case scenario). I run a single instance of Classic Client on my C2D T8300 @ 2.4 and temps max temp is 98C with ambient temp of 31C. I have had instances were the CPU would be 101C and the GPU would be 115C and it worked fine without any issues.

[P5-133XL]

I have a fan-pad and it reduced my laptop temperatures by ~5C (best case scenario). I run a single instance of Classic Client on my C2D T8300 @ 2.4 and temps max temp is 98C with ambient temp of 31C. I have had instances were the CPU would be 101C and the GPU would be 115C and it worked fine without any issues.

I'd be rather uncomfortable with those temps. Those temps indicate there's something wrong. Typically the air intake is blocked. I'd at least try to clean the air intake with a can of compressed air. Note, you may actually need to take the machine apart (make sure you DL the technical manual first) to do a good job of cleaning though.

[Mini-Geek]

Thanks for the information everyone.

I have now finished my first WU under this name, and have installed a second client which seems to be working fine! With the second client (and both cores working at 100%) my temp does not exceed 80°C when flat on a desk, and when raised by a few inches runs at around 67 to 70°C. So I am happy with that.

Unfortunately my battery is already dead on this laptop (only a year old - And just out of warranty ) So I don't have to really worry about that, but thanks anyway.

Mini-Geek

[Mini-Geek]

I think something is going wrong here? I have just added the new client to FahMon to check it's progress, and they both show the same PRGC. (P11271 (R2, C213, G2)) I thought these were supposed to be different?

I believe I followed the guide exactly, and when finished, I started up the first client, let it get to 2/250, and then started up the second client. Am I doing anything wrong here?

Thanks,
Mini.

[PantherX]

For the Second Client, please do the following:
Delete the Work folder
Delete the queue.dat file
Change Machine ID

When you start the Client with those changes, you will get a different WU.

[Mini-Geek]

Ah Thanks! I had tried deleting the work folder and queue.dat file, however I didn't know I also had to change the Machine ID.

Thanks Very much.
Mini.

[k1wi]

also, one more thing, be careful where you rest your laptop. I have an old Dell Inspiron, and the tick that I've learned is to prop the laptop up a little bit at the back, so that it is raised just enough for some air to get between the desk and the bottom of the laptop. probably only half a centimetre, but it does the trick. Obviously, leaving it on a duvet/doona/comforter (depending on your nationality) wouldn't be the smartest of things to do

[Mini-Geek]

Yeah, I have cut out a half inch thick rectangle of polycarbonate which I sit my laptop on when it is on bed covers or a sofa/couch to give the vent some clearance, which seems to work OK, however sitting a book on top of that rectangle, and my laptop on top of the book to give the vent a couple of inches clearance keeps it nice and cool. (Up to 20 Degrees (C) cooler than only being raised by the laptops rubber feet.)

I also have a 12V desktop computer fan which I tried to use to blow under the bottom of the laptop, and into the intake vent, to keep it even cooler, but this strangely brought the temp up 5 or 6 degrees?

[bruce]

I have two pencils at 45° under the back corners. That's about your half a centimeter.

Excluding the fan vent (which might have a lot of heat coming out) if you can feel a little heat escaping, it's working. If you feel a lot of heat escaping, find a better alternative.

[bretth603]

You might be able to run the GPU client. I and a few others are running low-performance 8400 GS or equivalent GPUs with the same number of shaders as yours. How much memory does your GPU have available to it? If it has at least 256MB you should be OK. Caveats:

1) Don't expect great performance. The 8400 GS cards get ~400 ppd. I'm not going to win any contests with mine, but I'm happy to be contributing.
2) The 8400 GS card crashes on some WUs, specifically 66xx and 101xx series. I'd be curious to see if yours has a similar problem. So far I've been able to exclude these WUs by blocking specific Work Servers.