This forum contains information about 3rd party applications which may be of use to those who run the FAH client and one place where you might be able to get help when using one of those apps.
Hardware configuration: Intel i7-4770K @ 4.5 GHz, 16 GB DDR3-2133 Corsair Vengence (black/red), EVGA GTX 760 @ 1200 MHz, on an Asus Maximus VI Hero MB (black/red), in a blacked out Antec P280 Tower, with a Xigmatek Night Hawk (black) HSF, Seasonic 760w Platinum (black case, sleeves, wires), 4 SilenX 120mm Case fans with silicon fan gaskets and silicon mounts (all black), a 512GB Samsung SSD (black), and a 2TB Black Western Digital HD (silver/black).
Hardware configuration: Intel i7-4770K @ 4.5 GHz, 16 GB DDR3-2133 Corsair Vengence (black/red), EVGA GTX 760 @ 1200 MHz, on an Asus Maximus VI Hero MB (black/red), in a blacked out Antec P280 Tower, with a Xigmatek Night Hawk (black) HSF, Seasonic 760w Platinum (black case, sleeves, wires), 4 SilenX 120mm Case fans with silicon fan gaskets and silicon mounts (all black), a 512GB Samsung SSD (black), and a 2TB Black Western Digital HD (silver/black).
using 7zip i extracted "stresscpu2.tgz" and got another compressed file "stresscpu2.tar" extracted that also with 7zip and got use able files in folder "stresscpu2" and the "stresscpu2_win32.exe" is the file I was looking for, at 168kb it should be very easy for someone to post just the exe I would think......
on another note, perhaps some one could post directions (more clearly) on the main page to help noobs like myself out?? - like use 7zip to extract "stresscpu2.tgz" and then again to extract "stresscpu2.tar". for people unfamiliar with these procedures.
No stress test will void your warranty : computers are made to compute, and these applications are intensive computations. If your system fails while running it, it is considered as a normal failure.
But if you computer fails because of user modifications to the hardware (overclocking for example), it's another story ...
Folding@Home beta tester since 2002. Folding Forum moderator since July 2008.
In addition there is almost always an overheat protection build into both the bios as the processor itself. The cpu overheat protection should lower clock speeds and voltage, while the bios protection usually shuts down the system entirely. Both are designed to prevent physical damage to your hardware.
Not a laptop, but I once forgot to properly mount my water block, started f@h and went to bed. When I got downstairs the next day, I found my system almost frozen. My temperature was 105c and windows was so unresponsive I had to do a hard shut down. After that I mounted the block properly, rebooted ( since I didn't feel like hot wiring my pump ) and let it idle until the temps where back to normal. No obvious damage had been done, though it's likely this incident lowered the expected lifespan of my processor ( still running that q6600 though ).
So, even in a wurst case scenario where both the cooling solution and the user failed, the chance of irreversible damage is far from a certainty.
I had a similar experience (with watercooling). The pump cut out and with the CPU at the highest point of my loop even convection currents worked against the system. Eventually (well, fairly quickly) the water heated up and the CPU exceeded it's safe temperatures, where it cut out. I still use the CPU today with no noticeable damage. If anything, the biggest risk was associated with the temperature's effect on my water cooling tubing! Furthermore, laptop CPUs are designed to handle higher temperatures than desktop CPUs.
I'd go so far as to say that the newer the CPU the better it is at thermal management and the current families are particularly good at it. Poor laptop design does lead to greater thermal regulation on the CPU side (resulting in higher temperatures and greater down-clocking) but as Bruce said, the user has a responsibility to cooperate; if you're going to really stress your laptop it's a really good idea to give it the best airflow possible (propping it up a little bit does wonders) and avoid leaving it running on a mohair rug!
I've even had a laptop bought in 2005 run at maximum utilisation pretty much its entire life and now in 2012 is still going strong.
I would mention there are some situations where caution should be applied. For example, for laptops that contain a discrete GPU I would advise caution when stressing both components at once. The large power draw and heat generation from both components being maxed out can sometimes overwhelm the laptop's power brick and/or cooling system, though sometimes only with extraneous circumstances (mohair rug). The reason is that some laptops are designed for a particular level of performance (such as that commonly experienced in gaming) and stressing the whole system to the individual component's maximum can sometimes exceed those levels. But even in this situation I don't think that there would be any damage to your actual components. At worst it would likely it would result in a BSOD.
One other consideration: As I'm sure you know, laptop batteries have a shorter life than the computer, itself. The old recommendations don't necessarily apply to the newer types of batteries, but I still follow them.
> Constantly charging the battery (laptop always connected to the mains) might shorten your battery life.
> Keeping your battery at higher temperatures (such as running FAH) might shorten your battery life than keeping it at cooler temperatures.
Some folks recommend removing the battery if the laptop is expected to be folding and connected to the Mains for long periods of time. I've never done that but I've seriously considered it.