How bad is folding for laptops?

[babadoctor]

The title, just wondering how bad it is compared to gaming on a laptop, etc... (gaming we are assuming it is fully utilizing the laptops CPU and GPU)

 

How badly would it damage the lifespan?

[Kobathor]

very, cooling in laptops isn't made to cool parts pegged at 100% usage 24/7. Parts would overheat and die.

[pagani123]

if its properly cooled it wont damage the lifespan but no laptop is properly cooled so i would advise against it. plus it would thermal throttle and probably wont be very efficient 

[Lotus]

Depends on the laptop. In most laptops that are not properly cooled, it will damage it.

[babadoctor]

Depends on the laptop. In most laptops that are not properly cooled, it will damage it.

Which laptops would it be okay to fold on?

[boarder2k7]

Which laptops would it be okay to fold on?

 

I would think any laptop that supports thermal throttling of its components (which should be everything). A competently designed computer, even if inadequately cooled, will not damage itself with heat, because safetys should kick in and throttle it down to avoid damage.

[Sauron]

Even if the cpu/gpu don't overheat, the circuitry inside a laptop isn't designed to endure stress for a long time. The lifespan of your laptop can get much shorter by folding on it.

[Sauron]

I would think any laptop that supports thermal throttling of its components (which should be everything). A competently designed computer, even if inadequately cooled, will not damage itself with heat, because safetys should kick in and throttle it down to avoid damage.

 

Is that why 99% of laptops with a dedicated gpu die in 3-4 years because the soldering in and outside the gpu fails? Yeah, they SHOULD be able to prevent damage. But in reality pretty much no laptop can do so effectively under constant load, the only exception being the huge portable desktops with full gtx 980s in them.

[boarder2k7]

.

The only laptop I've had fail that death was my Asus G2S, but it turned on in my backpack several times and ran the battery flat with no venting. I don't think the thermal stuff worked right with the non stock OS load it had. (PO upgraded it to Vista Ultimate)

If the failures really are that common then I'll retract my statement. I didn't realize the market as a whole was that bad.

[Enderman]

I would think any laptop that supports thermal throttling of its components (which should be everything). A competently designed computer, even if inadequately cooled, will not damage itself with heat, because safetys should kick in and throttle it down to avoid damage.

throttling does not magically make temperatures go down

 

throttling keeps temperatures from getting higher

 

since throttling usually happens at about 90-100C the laptop will stay at those temperatures

 

no, that will not kill the laptop, but it is not designed to run above 90C for hours or days

this will reduce the lifespan and damage components over time

 

TLRD no it is NOT safe to fold on a laptop for long periods of time

[babadoctor]

throttling does not magically make temperatures go down

 

throttling keeps temperatures from getting higher

 

since throttling usually happens at about 90-100C the laptop will stay at those temperatures

 

no, that will not kill the laptop, but it is not designed to run above 90C for hours or days

this will reduce the lifespan and damage components over time

 

TLRD no it is NOT safe to fold on a laptop for long periods of time

lol chromebooks probably are horrible for folding

[Kaws]

excuse me but what is folding?

[GSTARR]

excuse me but what is folding?

using your computer to calculate problems for other organizations; they use your computer power to make up for their lack (not that they don't have alot, but you just can't have enough computing power eh?)

[Sauron]

The only laptop I've had fail that death was my Asus G2S, but it turned on in my backpack several times and ran the battery flat with no venting. I don't think the thermal stuff worked right with the non stock OS load it had. (PO upgraded it to Vista Ultimate)

If the failures really are that common then I'll retract my statement. I didn't realize the market as a whole was that bad.

 

Of course it depends on how often and how hard you use them, but let me tell you, it's pretty damn common. That's why I try to avoid laptops with entry level gpus like the plague - they offer pretty much no benefits and add points of failure.

[HrutkayMods]

also mobile GPUs don't tend to have a whole lot of folding horsepower, I folded on my laptop for a week, each WU (worth about 24K-35k each) took 1.5 days on a 460M and it ran HOT (over 90C)... eventually the Chip hiccuped and the PC crashed, bad driver issues, artifacts, I think the chip got damaged. After I stopped folding on it it seemed to fix itself and I also had to reinstall the drivers. I still fold on it sometimes but CPU only for about 4400 PPD and when I try the GPU it says 1 WU will take 10 days and it's not worth more damage and this is with a "high end" gaming laptop from late 2010 it has heavy duty cooling and new thermal paste. So I personally wouldn't recommend doing it