Volunteer Computing FAQ

In normal use you'll barely notice it. BOINC uses only the idle cycles your processor would otherwise waste. Every control is on by default in a conservative configuration: cap CPU usage at any percentage, restrict it to certain hours, or have it pause the moment you start typing. If in doubt, start at 50 % CPU and "only when idle for 3 minutes" — that's invisible in daily work.

Running full-tilt, a desktop computer uses roughly 50–150 W more than at idle, depending on whether the task is CPU- or GPU-bound. At typical US electricity prices (~$0.15 / kWh) that's about $5–15 / month if you run 24/7, and much less if you only run it while you're away from the machine.

Modern processors aggressively scale power down when idle, and GPUs deliver an exceptional amount of science per watt. If power cost is a concern, set a daily schedule or prefer GPU projects — you'll finish more work for the same energy.

Yes. BOINC is open-source middleware maintained at UC Berkeley and audited by a worldwide community. The projects on our Recommended Projects list are operated by universities or established research institutions — the broader Full Directory also archives community-run and historical projects, which you should evaluate case-by-case.

Projects cannot read your files. A work unit is a sandboxed computational task that receives some input numbers, crunches them, and sends a result back — no access to your documents, browser, or local network. Sticking to our Recommended Projects, or to BOINC's official project list, keeps you on solid ground.

By default, BOINC pauses automatically when your laptop is on battery and only runs when plugged in. You can also stop computation when CPU temperature crosses a threshold, or when the machine isn't idle.

Modern thermal throttling prevents any real hardware damage — your CPU/GPU will simply clock down if it gets too hot. That said, laptops that sleep often are a poor fit for this workload; a desktop, old PC repurposed as a cruncher, or an always-on mini-PC makes a better host.

No commitment. In BOINC Manager you can suspend at any time — in-flight work units finish, and nothing new is fetched. To leave a project, detach from it; to leave entirely, uninstall BOINC like any other application.

Your completed work stays on the research team's side — nothing is held hostage. You can come back weeks, months, or years later and pick up where you left off.

Yes. BOINC runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android. Most projects support all desktop operating systems; a small number of GPU-accelerated projects are Windows+Linux only because of driver support (macOS dropped OpenCL/CUDA years ago).

Android works well for lower-power CPU tasks — a phone plugged in overnight is a perfectly reasonable cruncher. See each project's hardware chip on the project directory to check fit.