gpu not folding - cpu at very high temperature

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folder3
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gpu not folding - cpu at very high temperature

Post by folder3 »

Hello,
i have just started folding, but i got some worries about the temperatures.
i do it on my laptop, when its set at ''light power'' cpu temperature is around 92-94 degrees celcius.
as far as i know this is very high temperature and could damage my laptop.
also at this light power option, gpu doesnt fold, only cpu.

is there a way to make CPU work at lower temperature? like lower than 85 degrees, 80degrees? at lower performance?
and is there a way to also make gpu work at light power option?

many thanks in advance
PaulTV
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Re: gpu not folding - cpu at very high temperature

Post by PaulTV »

Hi, welcome to the forum!

On the light power setting, it's folding on only one core/thread (unless you fiddled with the core count in FAHControl). It's really stressing that core, but still, only one. When you fold on the GPU, it really stresses the entire GPU, not part of it. Given that you have those high temps on the light setting, I'm not sure your laptop is really suitable. If it's an older laptop, it may need cleaning to increase airflow / cooling.

For GPU folding, you'll need an nVidia or AMD discrete GPU in your laptop - folding on iGPU on Intel doesn't work at all, and folding on iGPU on AMD doesnt' work well. That GPU shouldn't be too old or too slow, otherwise it won't finish current GPU jobs. If you can give the specs, you'll probably get an answer to if it's useful to try. It is possible to fold only on the GPU and not the CPU (there are several ways to disable CPU folding - I prefer pausing the CPU slot after it's finished with a job in such a way that it doesn't resume on power on), or you can limit the core count to whatever you like.
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JimboPalmer
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Re: gpu not folding - cpu at very high temperature

Post by JimboPalmer »

My understanding is that light uses 1/2 of the threads of your CPU, which we can't guess.

So if that is too hot you can reduce the number of used threads in FAHcontrol. (F@H calls them CPUs)

This by memory at 3 am on a tablet, but it goes something like configure then slots then CPU, then change to the number of threads you want. (-1 means let the software decide)
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Re: gpu not folding - cpu at very high temperature

Post by PaulTV »

Oops, I stand corrected, thanks to Jimbo and Neil telling me :)

Light setting by default means half the number of threads your CPU is offering are used. If your CPU is single-threaded, that means half the CPU. If your CPU is multi-threaded all your cores will be used, which will still stress the entire CPU.

You can set the number of threads yourself using FAHControl (like Jimbo said).
* Start FAH Control
* Click on the Configure button
* Go to Slots
* Double-click on the CPU slot
* Set the number of threads, which FAHControl calls CPUs
* -1 is auto, meaning whatever is configured using the power slider setting. Any other number overrides the power slider setting

This way you can fold on only one CPU core/thread if you want, regardless of the power slider. That may enable you to fold with the CPU a bit cooler.

Some additional info:
* If you reduce the number of threads (or CPUs), it's applied immediately.
* If you increase the number of threads, it's applied only on the next job.
* It's best to keep at least one thread for the OS. If you also use the GPU for folding, you should reserve one thread for that also (when using the power slider, the latter is kept into account).

If you do want to enable GPU folding, the power slider must be on medium or high, but given the instructions above, you can still manage the CPU load.
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Re: gpu not folding - cpu at very high temperature

Post by Neil-B »

The only thing I would add to @PaulTV guidance (which is nice and clear) is that gpu folding is (due to the nature of how gpus work a binary approach of on or off - it isnt at this time (or likely to be in the near future) possible to run the gpu at 50% capacity ... for desktops with dedicated gpus there are a number of options where power usage can be set and/or fans controlled and/or voltages/etc. adjusted where a gpu can be fettled to run cooler however for most laptops there simply isnt this level of control.

Some rambling thoughts on fah and laptops:

Unfortunately laptops by their compact design find heat dissipation a challenge - many share cooling pipes (if you are lucky more than one) for both cpu and gpu and even the better "gaming" ones just aren't designed to cope with sustained 100% gpu load ... doesn't mean they aren't good folders just they need a bit of care/management/setup to find a sensible sweet spot ... and they really need to have their cooling system regularly cleaned - it may not be an issue when using a device for browsing or word processing but if the cooling ducts are clogged with detritus (which can happen in weeks dependant on where used) it will make a big difference and at least give the laptop a chance to breath and cool a bit better than just badly ;)

An old laptop simply being used to fold 24/7 until it dies in a room where noise isn't an issue will probably quite easily run even at the temps you first mentioned for years - It may eventually suffer and die but hey if that is all it is doing then it is a choice some people make.

A nice new (expensive) laptop folding part time in the living/bedroom and hey different factors come into play - fans spinning full speed on laptops can be distracting (I guess could act as white noise and help some people sleep!!), and naturally people are more concerns about roasting their device which they may need to last a long time and might be critical to their daily needs other than FaH.

@PaulTV's guidance should help you begin to find where you comfort point is on temps/usage ... Do make sure you have one of the monitoring packages that let you watch what is happening to temps - Although sometimes the monitoring is less than ideal dependant on the laptop - Some of these programmes may also be able to help adjust gpu power usage/clocks (if this is possible with your laptop) ... You will find different projects will work you kit is different ways so you may see some variability in temps between projects ... and always feel free to come back to the forums and ask for help/guidance/ideas - we have all had our own learning journeys (which are still ongoing) and will try to help as we can.
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Re: gpu not folding - cpu at very high temperature

Post by Joe_H »

PaulTV wrote:* -1 is auto, meaning whatever is configured using the power slider setting. Any other number overrides the power slider setting
I will add one clarification to the excellent summary of settings by PaulTV. Setting a specific number in FAHControl for the number of CPU threads will override the slider setting as far as how many threads will be used. But it does not override a feature of the Light setting that will always pause work if a laptop or desktop connected to a detected UPS goes on battery power. This is the default for the client, it can be overridden on the Medium and Full settings only.

Overriding the setting to be able to run on battery is not a usual change, you do not want to run on the battery for long as F@h will rapidly drain it. But under some circumstances it can make sense.
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folder3
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Re: gpu not folding - cpu at very high temperature

Post by folder3 »

Hello everybody, i truely appriciate all the support you provide. i wasnt expecting that much.
thank you all, sincerely..
regarding my situation, yes, i have found out that fah client was using the all cores at maximum.
my laptop is msi stealth 15m, has rtx3060,
after i disabled the cpu from the settings as you described, my temperature problem is solved.
i regret the hours i septn waiting and hoping for nothing to happen at those temperatures.
now i am running the fah client at full power - only gpu.
now both temperatures of cpu and gpu are around 75degrees celcius.
is it okay and would be stable this way?
do you suggest me to do mining such way with laptop 24/7 ? would there be any damages to laptop?
gunnarre
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Re: gpu not folding - cpu at very high temperature

Post by gunnarre »

75C junction temperature is perfectly fine for modern GPUs and CPUs. They can run at that temperature for years, though there might be some theoretical degradation through electron migration etc.

The real issue for you is dust and fan wear. The fans will wear out eventually, and both the fans and radiator fins will get clogged by dust if you run it in a dusty environment. Depending on the design of the laptop, you might also wear out your battery faster if the battery is located near the hot parts of the laptop. If you have extended periods where you're not gaming on your notebook, and you want to maximize its efficiency and longevity, I'd recommend this:
  • Fold only on the GPU, iGPU/APU or CPU part (unless your laptop has great cooling - experiementation might be warranted here to see if iGPU or CPU folding harms GPU folding speed).
  • If you have a new Intel CPU with "E cores" check if you can process lassoo some folding threads to the E-cores.
  • Keep it in dust free environment
  • Put it on a laptop cooling pad with a fan, especially if it's made of metal (like unibody MacBooks, where the body works as a heat sink too).
  • Remove the battery if it's removable and gets warm during use.
  • Consider reducing the power limit of the GPU in e.g. MSI Afterburner. Gaming GPUs are often factory set for maximum performance, not efficiency, so a slight power limit might give great benefits in temperature and power dissipation without greatly impacting PPD (folding points per day)
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Re: gpu not folding - cpu at very high temperature

Post by JimboPalmer »

https://xoticpc.com/collections/msi-lap ... a11uek-220

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en ... tions.html

Your CPU has 4 cores and 8 threads. It might be possible to use a setting of 2, but as stated, it might limit the RTX 3060 GPU, and reduce overall Points Per Day.
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folder3
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Re: gpu not folding - cpu at very high temperature

Post by folder3 »

thanks everybody,
another question,
what about boompow??
can we do both foldathome and boompow?
gunnarre
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Re: gpu not folding - cpu at very high temperature

Post by gunnarre »

This forum can only help you with Folding@Home - distributed protein folding for science. We can't help you with any of the various reward schemes or cryptocurrency. There are various schemes which give you cryptocurrency, gift cards or whatever in exchange for your Folding@Home points, but you need to get support for that on their forums - we can't help you with that.
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MeeLee
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Re: gpu not folding - cpu at very high temperature

Post by MeeLee »

I would disable any Hyperthreading/SMT that might be enabled in Bios, and just fold on the GPU.
With just 4 cores active, boost frequencies should bump up considerably.
And if you want to prevent L-cache swapping as GPU tasks switch between core 0 to 3, disable 2 more cores (running just a dual core system).
This, because most systems use shared L-cache between at least 2 cores/4 threads.
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