Where do you get your video drivers from + Folding @ Home on m51Sn

Two (main) questions:

-Where do you guys resort to getting video drivers from? I assume laptopvideo2go or just forcing Nvidia's regular reference drivers to install?
Are there any consequences to doing that in terms of overheating or anything, specifically on the m51Sn? (I guess sometimes the GPU cooling fan doesn't ramp up correctly with unofficial drivers.)

-Also, can the m51Sn hold up to running Folding @ Home on both CPUs whenever it's on (probably 15 hours a day on average)? I want any system I buy to be running Folding whenever it's in use, but I get the impression that a lot of laptops really can't handle hitting both CPUs at 100% all the time.
So...can the m51Sn handle it without shortening it's life, and hopefully without getting super loud?

-Anything else I should know about? It's nice to know the hard drive is easily swapable, and I assume I can just use the restore CD to reinstall the OS to a new drive (I plan to swap in a nice 7200RPM drive so that if I need to send it in for warranty service, I can just swap drives and not have my personal data on the system).

I was actually going to spend a crazy amount on a Dell XPS 1730. But...this system seems like it would be a decent low end system that would run today's games okay, and at worst I could get a new one in a year or two...and I could buy almost FIVE of them for the price I was going to pay for the 1730.
For the time being my main monitor runs at 1280x1024, and personally I don't really care about running games higher than that (geez, it's already higher than the console systems do!) So I think this might do me okay even though gaming is one of my primary hobbies. Not sure how well that CPU can run Supreme Commander though, or the GPU run Crysis...

This thing also has a DVI port, which is rare, and a great thing! I plan to attach it to an external monitor most of the time, so I don't want to put up with an analog connection. Sounds like Asus really packs a lot of value into this thing (if it doesn't go up in smoke in 6 months ). I think I can even hook it up to my old composite TV (for Netflix streamed movies)!

 

There isn't a single notebook made that's designed to be running at 100% load 12+ hours per day, either the cooling system will crash from having all the gunk and goo in the fans etc or there will be bad consequences on the internal components from having the system running at 70+C constantly. The thermal management system can't handle that much stress over an extended period of time, that's what water cooling etc are for in desktop systems . And yes, every notebook will be loud under such conditions because the BIOS will be pushing the fan at max rpm to try and keep up with the heat generated by full cpu load.

Better to offer your altruistic tendencies through the desktop realm

 

Desktops normally handle it fine with standard cooling.

At least some of Dell's notebooks apparently handle it fine too. I know some people are Folding on Dell's 1730, as well as some Latitudes...one guy's even left a 12" laptop Folding 24 hours a day for over 8 months now. The 1730 (and I'm assuming Toshiba's x205 series) have pretty huge cooling systems where I'm hoping it shouldn't be an issue...but I guess that may not apply to the smaller m51Sn

EDIT: That same guy who's folding on a 12" Latitude is also folding on a Macbook Pro-but that HAS killed it. I guess he's had the GPU replaced multiple times.

IMO any system should be designed to handle having it's components used 100%-or else it should have a clear warning that it can't be. I mean even aside from Folding, people could peg the CPU at 100% from gaming, or from video editing, etc. Not unreasonable things to expect a modern computer to do

 

Realistically speaking, it is not feasible for companies to design computers for usage patterns that have a very small probability of arising -- unless the computers have mission-critical applications like satellite or Mars rover computers -- and even there you can't plan for everything.

That being said, assuming that a laptop is of reasonable quality (many ASUS laptops usually are... although there are exceptions and some people will argue to that) it will run at full-blast 100% of the time for a significant while.

That will most likely shorten its life, however -- say instead of 3 years you can only expect 1 or 1 and a half, this is just a wild example I have no precise idea how the MTBF (mean time between failures) is affected by heat in notebooks.

Also, to make sure that the life of the notebook is reasonable you need to take special care: e.g., use a cooling pad, clean up the ventilation system once every month or so, and change the thermal paste at least once every 6 months.

Keep in mind though that the M5 series seems to be more on the budget side, so there will be some quality compromises...

 

Okay, thanks. Darn, well I guess technically that means I probably should just go ahead with "plan a" and get that 1730...and hope for the best. 4 year complete care warranty...IF Dell actually honors it :-/