Peter Smithson wrote:

In article <g5cnn0hfb7eu5u37r9qtjkubud4u9i662q@4ax.com>,
george@yourplace.com says...

The fan cuts in because the alptop is using its cpu and therefore
creating heat that then needs to be expelled, that is what the fan
does.

Thanks - I know what a fan is for.  Why is the laptop generating the
exta heat is my question.

The FAQ say this

"The CPU on most computers is always executing instructions (often the
operating system's "idle loop") whenever the computer is turned on.
It's no additional strain to execute SETI@home."

I realise it won't do the computers any harm to process data - that's
what they were built for.  It's just that the FAQ entry suggests they
would use the same amount of power / generate as much heat if they
were not running SETI.  Yet other evidence (including yours) suggests
otherwise.

I agree. Emphatically. Otherwise. This current box I'm on runs with a CPU
die temp of around 34�C using office apps/net surfing etc. Start up SETI or
BOINC and that quickly climbs to above 50�C. At a guess I'd say it uses 40
watts more power at least to run SETI and from the above figures you can see
that it certainly generates more heat.
--
~misfit~