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I’m running BOINC Manager on my iMac, allowing it to use the full processor. I’m just running SETI@Home, though considering other projects.

I’ve downloaded iStat Menus to monitor it, and I’m noticing my CPU cores are each running around 200°F (93°C). I gather that’s not unusual if a CPU is under heavy load, but my question is whether this is sustainable.

If I leave BOINC running all the time, will it significantly decrease my CPU’s lifespan? If so, what can I do that would make this a safer process?

For example, is there a temperature at which CPUs won’t get damaged? (I could regulate how much CPU time BOINC can use, for example.)

Giacomo1968
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Skeptic
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1 Answers1

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You can manage the usage of all resources used by BOINC. The example here is SETI@Home but I think it's identical or similar for others. I run Rosetta@Home and it looks the same.

Under the Your account page, go to Preferences → Computing preferences.

Your account

Scroll to the bottom and click the green Edit preferences button. Now you should be able to edit all of the values.

Change the CPU time to 50% or whatever suits your system. I use 40% and get reasonable temps. If you hover over the box, it gives you an explanation of the usage.

Computing preferences

In BOINC Manager you'll have to update the project. It should then reflect these changes.

MC10
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