SETI BOINC seems to throttle on time. For instance, I've got my preferences 
set to 75% of both CPU cores. It seems that it works on quarter-second (or 
similar) chunks of time, 75% being 100% load for 3/4 of a second, then 0% 
load for the other 1/4, resulting in 75% average over the whole second.

With my CPU having a variable multiplier (11x or 6x) that is decided by code 
within the CPU it makes for a lot of switching of mutiplier/CPU speed. Using 
the RightMark CPU Clock Utility to minitor it shows the speed of the CPU 
jumping up and down like a frog on methamphetamine on a hotplate. Surely 
this can't be good for the CPU and the motherboard voltage regulators? 
(vcore changes as well when multiplier does.)

Also, the temperature of my cores fluctuates by approximately 10�C each 
power-cycle, roughly each second. I'm pretty sure that the constant, rapid 
thermal cycling isn't doing my CPU any favours either. Why can't these 
code-monkeys write code that simply uses 75% of the CPU constantly and 
smoothly rather than just switching between 100% and 0% load?

I'm seriously considering stopping crunching, my PC is my precioussss, I 
don't mind using it to do some work for SETI but I don't want to torture it. 
What do others think?
-- 
TTFN

Shaun.