Can regular encoding damage one's PC ?

[Realms]

Hi, this may seem like a stupid question but if I regularly use encoding programs which consume 90+% of my CPU power, am I in danger of damaging my CPU or any other component in my PC ?

I would appreciate any detailed advice on this topic.

Thanks for your help everybody. :)

[unskinnyboy]

If that's true, then my PC would have been dead ages ago.

[jggimi]

Moving to PC HW/SW forum...

[squid_80]

If you run one of those background programs like SETI or folding@home then the cpu is practically always at 100% usage. I've been doing this for 7 years and haven't had anything die on me. As long as the heatsink/fan is good enough to keep the temp down you shouldn't have a problem.

[DarkNite]

Encoding 24/7/365 is a lot less dangerous than installing modular water-cooling kits.

[Realms]

So I have to assume a standard pc bought from Dell will probably be constructed with low end components. I can sure as bet that my fan and heatsink (if there is even a heatsink crammed in there) won't be able to take such a beating for so long.

And since it's my sisters pc as well, I have to be a bit careful and not ruin anything.

Thanks for the help.

[dani82]

only be worry if your overclock your cpu while encoding

according Sandra, my 2500+ is as fast as a 2200+, my 2200+ is as fast as a 2000+, and my neighbor's 2400+ is normal (he doesn't overclock), but that's just me

biggest danger you will ever have to worry about is: fire, act of god, and static electricity

[squid_80]

So I have to assume a standard pc bought from Dell will probably be constructed with low end components. I can sure as bet that my fan and heatsink (if there is even a heatsink crammed in there) won't be able to take such a beating for so long.

And since it's my sisters pc as well, I have to be a bit careful and not ruin anything.

Thanks for the help.
If it's a Dell it should have a warranty, so if it fries under normal use you can get a refund and buy something decent.

[CWR03]

Most times damage is caused by overheated components - many aftermarket motherboards have built-in protection for this, so if the heat sink fan fails or if it exceeds a specified temperature it just shuts down and nothing is harmed. It's kind of like using your smoke alarm as an oven timer, but it's protected mine from several meltdowns already.

[Nematocyst]

100% CPU usage 24/7 shouldn't be a problem. If it is too much a burden on your system, then I would expect to see the issue very soon after starting. So, if you bought a Dell or other complete system, it ought to show problems well within the warranty period.

If you built your own system, then hopefully you know what you're doing and did a successful burn-in to ferret out any such issues.

But yes, components can fail anytime. I'd be most worried about my CPU fan failing. If the CPU fan goes, you're in about the same boat regardless if you are at 100% or not, IMO. Power supply issues can cause all sorts of quirky behavior, including damage to the motherboard or CPU.

[theReal]

As long as your encodes are fine (no glitches/errors) and the computer doesn't hang you can be relatively sure the cooling is good enough. If you want to be 100% sure you could install monitoring software like Motherboard Monitor (though it seems to be uncontinued since 2004??) and monitor the temperature of CPU and chipset constantly.
Other than temperature, constant 100% will not do any harm. It might shorten the lifetime of your CPU from 10 years to 9 1/2 years, but what the heck :rolleyes:

[trolltuning]

By the time you add on some extra drives for video storage and maybe an external capture device you may overtax your power supply. I have worn out mine on my last two computers. Once you replace it with one rated 100 watts higher you should be good too go.

[HardwareGeek]

... if I regularly use encoding programs which consume 90+% of my CPU power, am I in danger of damaging my CPU or any other component in my PC ?

It can, if you do not have a well-ventilated system. Encoding hammers the CPU like almost nothing else. When this happens, the CPU fan revs up on systems that a heat sensor attached. If cool air is not coming in from the outside, the CPU fan just blows hot air over the CPU, which doesn't do a good job of cooling, which just makes the CPU spin faster and faster. It's a vicious circle. I've seen systems sound like a jet engine trying to take off, from the fan furiously trying to cool the CPU. If the system overheats, it could lock up--something all of us are probably familiar with--or it could simply come crashing down.

It's important to have an exhaust fan, usually in the back, and an good intake fan, usually in the front or side. And not a whole lot of clutter inside the PC, so the air can move about.

Older CPUs tend to overheat less. This shall probably change, since the processor companies are now focused on making their products power-efficient.

All the best

[theReal]

...but you usually notice a heat problem before there is any real damage done because your encodes will have errors and/or your system crashes.

HardwareGeek, you say older cpu's tend to run cooler - I remember an Athlon 1400 I once had which was running very hot, also my current Athlon XP2700+ is not that cool. I have watercooling which is very efficient, but when the room temp hits 35° C in summer nothing less than that will keep the 2700+ below 50°C (and 50°C - measured from a board diode, not from inside the core - is in my experience where Athlons tend to become unstable)

[HardwareGeek]

...but you usually notice a heat problem before there is any real damage done because your encodes will have errors and/or your system crashes.That may be. I have never overheated a system to the point of it crashing because of encoding. My experience has been with other systems that get too hot and crash ungracefully because of it. Nonetheless, overheating a system is not good and can shorten the life of your computer.

you say older cpu's tend to run coolerYes, as a general rule. This should change very soon, this year, in fact. In the past, however, Intel and AMD have worked very hard to increase clock speed, which has let to warmer running CPUs. That being said, they also shipped more efficient cooling solutions to compensate. Just because a system is old does not mean that it can't get hot.

... when the room temp hits 35° C in summer nothing less than that will keep the 2700+ below 50°C ...Similarly, I have noticed that even small increases in room temperature make my CPU fan work significantly harder when doing an encode or transcode. Because the intake from the air outside is a little warmer, it makes the CPU fan work alot harder. That's my interpretation, anyway.

[LightningFire]

Yes, as a general rule. This should change very soon, this year, in fact. In the past, however, Intel and AMD have worked very hard to increase clock speed, which has let to warmer running CPUs. That being said, they also shipped more efficient cooling solutions to compensate. Just because a system is old does not mean that it can't get hot.

Though, when we keep it to current and previous generation (athlon XP, athlon 64, Pentium 4 Willamette to Prescott) processors ,it tends to go like new (die shrink or optimisation) core means less voltage. Less voltage means cooler. As they scale the clock speed closer its physical tolerance it might get hotter than the last model. For example Athlon 1400 was last model before Athlon xp which brought with it a die shrink and cooler operation.
Newer models tend to have greater thermal tolerance, though I can think of a Palomino Athlon XP that can sustain 90 degrees (AMD specs), yet a more advanced Thoroughbred can only sustain 85 degrees celcius max (I wouldn't advice anyone to test or go near the maximum specified tolerance of a core however).

Having a shutdown temperature enabled in the bios safed my computer more than once too. And leave "state after powerfailure" or similar things to off- you do not want your pc powering up again and again when the cpu cooler is broken. After monitoring your cpu a while under different loads and enviromental conditions you get a good picture of what is normal and sustainable (relating to stability). If the normal temperature readings change over time I would first clean the dust from the heatsinks and fans- heatsinks with fine and dense fins should be banned, what a change cleaning it made -and then find out wether motherboard and PSU are still supplying the correct voltages (very important for stability).
If the temperature would change abruptly, auto shutdown would kick in and damage is unlikely, then you can investigate the cause with your mind at peace while your computer is off and not in any risk of damage.


Greetings.

[theReal]

Similarly, I have noticed that even small increases in room temperature make my CPU fan work significantly harder when doing an encode or transcode. Because the intake from the air outside is a little warmer, it makes the CPU fan work alot harder. That's my interpretation, anyway.

That's my experience too - room temp and CPU temp are not linear to each other. 10°C more room temp will increase the CPU temp (under full load) by significantly more than 10°C. And as soon as the room temp is above ~31°-32°C, good cooling is getting extremely difficult.
As for me, nothing else than watercooling is good enough on hot summer days with my Athlon XP2700. Air cooling can be pretty effective too, but then the fans are as loud as starting jet-planes...

[foxyshadis]

Odd, I have a 2800+ and overclock it 25%, and even at full load it gets cooled fine with one low-flow 5V fan (and another on the case) and a good heatsink. And I live in the desert where it gets past 40C regularly, if not quite that high inside. :p Then again, it is an XP-M, must be designed for that.

[Oline 61]

Like everyone else said keep it cool and don't overclock while encoding. I overclock for gaming, but put it back at stock for encoding jobs. My Athlon 64 3200+ maxes out at 47C during encoding. Heat, voltage, and static electricity kill processors. And remember electric stuff runs on smoke, and if you let the smoke out, it will never work again.

[DarkNite]

And remember electric stuff runs on smoke, and if you let the smoke out, it will never work again.

Wow, that's a classic! Haven't heard that one in a while. Still makes me laugh though. :)

By the way, I've had a batch encode that ran for a few hours over 72 days on a box with nothing more than the stock hsf combo, and a 92mm fan that was in the Sparkle 400W psu. That PC still works just fine, and is in the middle of another long run right now.

[zilog jones]

So I have to assume a standard pc bought from Dell will probably be constructed with low end components.
Not necessarily - Dell usually use decent enough motherboards and power supplies (DVD drives and other peripherals can vary greatly in quality though -_-) and they've always taken airflow and heat dissipation seriously. Since their Pentium IIIs they've always used these big plastic intake things going over the CPU heatsink straight to a case fan just above. They might do something different with their new higher-end systems - they've got fans on the front of the case too.

So I wouldn't worry about heat ^_^