Folding@home on laptop a good idea?

[blue_monkey]

hi guys!

i recently joined the folding@home project and i'm running it on my 12" iBook 1.2Ghz. the fan used to turn on almost never. it's turning on a lot more now...say every 10 to 15 minutes and it stays on for like 6 minutes until it cooled the iBook down. my question: does it any harm if the fan turns on that often? i don't wanna have a damaged fan in a couple of months..

other than that i love folding! i run it 24/7!! and i wanna go on doing that.

cheers

 

[bousozoku]

Most work units use AltiVec and AltiVec quickly heats up the processor. I've been running folding@home contiously for a few weeks now and it seems to be okay. I'm actually hoping to make sure that there isn't a problem when the warranty goes away--that anything would be fixed before that.

Still, you gotta make sure that the machine isn't going to get too hot that the fan can't fix things. Open space around the machine is important.

 

[daveL]

I've been Folding 24x7 on my 1 GHz TiBook for over 18 months, at home and while traveling; no problems (and I don't use any cooling aids).

 

[devman]

I've been Folding 24x7 on my 1 GHz TiBook for over 18 months, at home and while traveling; no problems (and I don't use any cooling aids).

wow, I've not been so lucky. I installed F@H on my Al PB15 and it is unbearably hot. So, I've left it perched on an iCurve while it finishes the one and only one work unit it will ever get to do.

 

[Lacero]

I've stopped Folding on my PB. Unlike DaveL who thinks I don't contribute shreds of information, I can tell you that my PB HD seemed to go wonky on me after 48 hours of folding. PB wouldn't start up after the initial gray screen. I don't think laptops are designed to be like servers running 24/7.

 

[Bear]

I've stopped Folding on my PB. Unlike DaveL who thinks I don't contribute shreds of information, I can tell you that my PB HD seemed to go wonky on me after 48 hours of folding. PB wouldn't start up after the initial gray screen. I don't think laptops are designed to be like servers running 24/7.

*DING* *DING* *DING* Laptops are not servers. Neither is the MacMini for that matter.

Also, I don't know how much disk I/O folding does, but you may be risking the life of your laptop disk, especially if it's either keeping it spinning constantly or adding a tremendous number of start/stop cycles. There are only a couple of laptop disks that are designed for heavy duty use and they're more expensive, so they will not be coming in a laptop by default.

 

[blue_monkey]

i'm just gonna go on with folding and see what happens..i think as soon as i get home (2 months) where my i curve is waiting it should be alrite temperaturewise and the fan shouldn't turn that often anymore.
and if something happens in like 5 months or so...that's a good reason to get a new powerbook g5! thanks for you answers though. if anyone has anymore thoughts or advice --> tell me!

cheers!