Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Folding on a Macbook Pro

W

Wolfpup

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Sep 7, 2006
2,948
117
Hey guys, anyone Fold on a new Macbook Pro? I keep asking on tons of forums and no one seems to.

I'm wondering how well it holds up for running the CPUs at 100% all the time. A mid 2007 model got really loud...which might actually be fine, I mean it could be the thing can run 10 years like that without issue, but it sort of made it seem like it wasn't designed to be pushed hard.

Still trying to decide on a laptop :-/
 
On a related topic - I just replaced my 1.33 PB G4 with the new baseline 15" unibody MBP, and am wondering which Folding client I should install, and if it is safe to leave it running for extended periods.
 
im sure they engineer laptops to take heat for extended periods of time. i would be concerned about the hard drive getting hot. and i would definitely use a cool pad and/or run it with the lid open.

if it were my laptop that i spent my $ on, i wouldn't do it.

if you do decide to do it, make sure you get an applecare warranty
 
It looks like they actually have a single threaded version now for Intel Macs, but probably you'd want that 6.02 multithreaded version.
 
mc68k said:
...if it were my laptop that i spent my $ on, i wouldn't do it.
Click to expand...

QFT. if i could afford one of those, there is no way i would run folding on it, and i'll fold on almost anything! leave the laptop alone and get and cheap Core2Duo PC to run folding on... just my 2 cents.
 
I might get that cheap system too, but there's no way I'd own hardware that's not being used (or able to be used for that matter).
 
Wolfpup said:
...there's no way I'd own hardware that's not being used (or able to be used for that matter).
Click to expand...


me also.

all i meant is that i have blown up 2 laptops and several desktops running folding. they all use cheap fans with sleeve bearings that won't take the 24x7 abuse. the laptops i killed were dell, so that might be part of it...:eek: the desktops were p4 systems with decent fans/supplies and all died in a wonderful display of smoke and sparks.

that said, i think folding on laptops is like folding on the current gpu cards. they are all designed to take the heat, but only expect you to work/game for the length of a decent 'red bull buzz' and then stop. running 24x7 is fine, but will shorten the overall life of the system based on bearing wear, the single airflow line, and the additional heat on the rest of the system.

the above is based on killing the laptops and folding on apple mini systems. i can set my clock on the mini systems starting to heat up and get loud at 4-5 weeks. they pull air from one source, they get loaded up with dust/lint/?, start to heat up and then ramp up the fans. the average temp starts to climb a few degrees a day until i blow/clean them out, and then all is fine. if you decide to get the MBP and fold with it, keep the area clean, keep the laptop clean, blow out the in/out/fans every month.

keeping the nice lappy alive is all i was really getting at, best of luck, all folding is good folding... still wouldn't do it if i could afford a MBP! :apple:
 
I haven't folded long term on a laptop, so it does worry me a bit. I've got a bunch of desktop Dells and a couple of home built systems that have been Folding 24/7 for years with no issues. I've Folded on a low end Latitude I had for a few days, and it showed no signs of distress (didn't get warm, didn't even speed up the fans-it was running an Athlon 64 Sempron variant though).

So...I don't know, I'll hope for the best I guess :( I HATE cancer and these other diseases, and I just can't spend money like that and not work the hardware (heck, I often overbuy just for Folding @ Home!)
 
I hate to have the MBP sitting there when it could be Folding, but I hear what you say about the risk. I can't swear to it, but I believe I killed my 1st PS3 [60GB with complete b/c, too:(] by Folding 24/7 for over a year. I haven't tried Folding on the new PS3 because I don't want to burn it out. The same reasoning will make me very cautious about the MBP.

But I need a bump to get into [and stay in] the Top 10 on our team.:p
 
I've had my Mini running at 100% on BOINC for about a year and a half now. Though it's not a laptop, it's built a lot like one, and the only downside has been that the fan is on max all of the time.

I don't know if I'd trust a MBP to do the same, but if a Mini can handle it, I don't doubt they could too.
 
livingfortoday said:
I've had my Mini running at 100% on BOINC for about a year and a half now. Though it's not a laptop, it's built a lot like one, and the only downside has been that the fan is on max all of the time.

I don't know if I'd trust a MBP to do the same, but if a Mini can handle it, I don't doubt they could too.
Click to expand...

Hey, thanks! Yeah, the mini is basically a laptop without the screen, sorta, so that makes me feel better.

Everything must Fold! :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back