A SINGLE Graphics Card = 1 teraFLOPS

Author	Message
mikey Send message Joined: 5 Jan 06 Posts: 1895 Credit: 9,214,047 RAC: 1,450	Message 59724 - Posted: 22 Feb 2009, 11:13:13 UTC - in response to Message 59716. have seven more gpu's (all 9600 series, got 'em cheap) eventually to come online. They ARE cheap right now aren't they! Tiger has 9600GSO cards for $89.99US right now. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4415427&sku=P450-9618 Of course if you REALLY want to up your gpu processing Tiger also has these: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?CatId=4044&name=GPU-Computing& There are quite a bit beyond what I want to spend but maybe someone else... ID: 59724 · Rating: 0 · rate: / Reply Quote

The_Bad_Penguin Send message Joined: 5 Jun 06 Posts: 2751 Credit: 4,271,025 RAC: 0	Message 59726 - Posted: 22 Feb 2009, 14:11:16 UTC Last modified: 22 Feb 2009, 15:01:35 UTC EDIT--> Whats the deal with gpugrid time-counter in Boinc Manager increasing 1 sec per ~ every 10 sec real-time? (Yes, I see it says 0.10 cpu, but I thought gpu wu's were supposed to be independent of cpu's? Does 0.10 cpu really imply that gpugrid time-counter only increases 1 sec per 10 secs of real-time ?!) got three 9600gso's and four 9600gt's @ an average cost of < $35 each !!! when the 295's come down to that price range, i'll swap 'em out, lol !!! re tesla and firestream, iirc, one of the reasons they're so expensive is the amount of fast ram they have, and again iirc, boinc projects (currently) don't use most of that gddr ram. ID: 59726 · Rating: 0 · rate: / Reply Quote

Paul D. Buck Send message Joined: 17 Sep 05 Posts: 815 Credit: 1,812,737 RAC: 0	Message 59736 - Posted: 22 Feb 2009, 21:16:32 UTC To answer this question here... :) Paul's explanation ... :) The GPU is not a device that exists on its own. It is a commanded device. As such it needs the intervention of the CPU to load it with data and to tell it what to do with that data. So, the CPU runs an application which loads programatic information and data into the GPU, tells it to run and then does other things ... while the GPU is running the CPU can be applied to other tasks like Rosetta ... but, when the GPU is done with the task at hand, it signals the CPU that it needs "grooming" and the CPU halts what it is doing and attends to the GPU ... reloaded the GPU goes off on its own and the CPU can turn back to other tasks ... So, 1-3% of the time, my CPU is attending to the GPU core that is running a GPU Grid task ... the rest of the time it is running tasks for other CPU intensive projects. In my "largest" system I am running 4 GPU Grid tasks on two GTX 295 cards (2 GPU "cores" per card) and 8 CPU intense tasks on the 8 virtual CPUs in the i7 processor ... toss in FreeHAL and QCN and I am running 14 tasks at the same time ... As in all things, the 9600 cards will take longer to do work, but, if that is Ok with you then that is the way to go ... they will be slow and POSSIBLY may miss deadlines ... the advantage of the 295 cards is you have twice as much compute power as a 260/280 card in the same footprint... As the come down in price and I can afford it, I will likely be looking to add some in place of the 9800 GT and the 280 card I currently have... On the flip side there is the ATI cards for Milky Way ... so .. decisions ... decisions ... I hope this helps ... if not, ask more ... ID: 59736 · Rating: 0 · rate: / Reply Quote

The_Bad_Penguin Send message Joined: 5 Jun 06 Posts: 2751 Credit: 4,271,025 RAC: 0	Message 59739 - Posted: 22 Feb 2009, 22:32:49 UTC yeah, i get the idea that a cpu has to "feed" a gpu. my "assumption", which appears to be incorrect, is that since gpugrid is a Boinc project, and Boinc projects make use of the Boinc Manager, so that when the column labeled cpu time (elasped) has a value in it, it represents that amount of time that the GPU HAS CRUNCHED ON THE WU. again, this seems to be an incorrect assumption, and i am really not certain how to tell from Boinc Manager just how much GPU WORK has been done on my Boinc project. also "with you" on the idea that as gpu prices decrease, i'm willing to swap in newer cards, but i suspect my budget currently is a little more modest :) ID: 59739 · Rating: 0 · rate: / Reply Quote

Chilean Send message Joined: 16 Oct 05 Posts: 711 Credit: 26,694,507 RAC: 0	Message 59742 - Posted: 23 Feb 2009, 3:55:07 UTC - in response to Message 59736. Last modified: 23 Feb 2009, 3:57:07 UTC To answer this question here... :) Paul's explanation ... :) The GPU is not a device that exists on its own. It is a commanded device. As such it needs the intervention of the CPU to load it with data and to tell it what to do with that data. So, the CPU runs an application which loads programatic information and data into the GPU, tells it to run and then does other things ... while the GPU is running the CPU can be applied to other tasks like Rosetta ... but, when the GPU is done with the task at hand, it signals the CPU that it needs "grooming" and the CPU halts what it is doing and attends to the GPU ... reloaded the GPU goes off on its own and the CPU can turn back to other tasks ... So, 1-3% of the time, my CPU is attending to the GPU core that is running a GPU Grid task ... the rest of the time it is running tasks for other CPU intensive projects. In my "largest" system I am running 4 GPU Grid tasks on two GTX 295 cards (2 GPU "cores" per card) and 8 CPU intense tasks on the 8 virtual CPUs in the i7 processor ... toss in FreeHAL and QCN and I am running 14 tasks at the same time ... As in all things, the 9600 cards will take longer to do work, but, if that is Ok with you then that is the way to go ... they will be slow and POSSIBLY may miss deadlines ... the advantage of the 295 cards is you have twice as much compute power as a 260/280 card in the same footprint... As the come down in price and I can afford it, I will likely be looking to add some in place of the 9800 GT and the 280 card I currently have... On the flip side there is the ATI cards for Milky Way ... so .. decisions ... decisions ... I hope this helps ... if not, ask more ... I can just wonder at what your electric bill looks like... and your wife's look on her face upon looking at said electric bill. ID: 59742 · Rating: 0 · rate: / Reply Quote

The_Bad_Penguin Send message Joined: 5 Jun 06 Posts: 2751 Credit: 4,271,025 RAC: 0	Message 59743 - Posted: 23 Feb 2009, 4:45:15 UTC On the basis of points per watt ("ppw"), i'm pretty certain that what he has is very efficient. Much more so, ppw-wise, than my "old" monocore amd a64 3800+ and one gpu. Wring every point possible out of each watt I say !!! ID: 59743 · Rating: 0 · rate: / Reply Quote

Paul D. Buck Send message Joined: 17 Sep 05 Posts: 815 Credit: 1,812,737 RAC: 0	Message 59746 - Posted: 23 Feb 2009, 5:41:15 UTC - in response to Message 59739. my "assumption", which appears to be incorrect, is that since gpugrid is a Boinc project, and Boinc projects make use of the Boinc Manager, so that when the column labeled cpu time (elasped) has a value in it, it represents that amount of time that the GPU HAS CRUNCHED ON THE WU. Sadly, we have to wait on this as the developers make up their minds how to present this information to us ... again, this seems to be an incorrect assumption, and i am really not certain how to tell from Boinc Manager just how much GPU WORK has been done on my Boinc project. At this time the only indicator is the % complete bar and the information on the web site as to the actual numbers and timing ... step time and total time ... also "with you" on the idea that as gpu prices decrease, i'm willing to swap in newer cards, but i suspect my budget currently is a little more modest :) Well, not sure I would use the term budget ... I just spend money ... :) I can just wonder at what your electric bill looks like... and your wife's look on her face upon looking at said electric bill. Um, well, she was just in here the other day asking why I can't just turn on the computers a few hours a day ... my reply ... doesn't make it worth while ... but, yeah, she does not like our electric bill ... But BOINC is about all I have left to keep me alive ... Anyway, as to the efficiency, yes, it has been rising steadily ... the i7 pulls about what some of my old systems pulled but does 4-5 times the work ... The GPUs are going to be a big draw .. but, even there ... if I replace my one GTX 280 with a GTX 295 I will see almost a doubling of work done for the same watts spent ... replacing the 9800 GT will likely see more juice pulled, but 3-5 times the work done ... In any case, I am not likely to be making substantial changes until later this summer when I hope to retire the Dells and start up another i7 ... though most likely I might not change my GPU set ... it will depend on how the projects go between now and then ... Will BOINC "see" ATI cards? Will MW have an OpenCL application? Nvidia Application ... will Einstein have a GPU application out? Some other project? I have lots of questions ... few answers ... ID: 59746 · Rating: 0 · rate: / Reply Quote

The_Bad_Penguin Send message Joined: 5 Jun 06 Posts: 2751 Credit: 4,271,025 RAC: 0	Message 59749 - Posted: 23 Feb 2009, 6:12:08 UTC - in response to Message 59746. Last modified: 23 Feb 2009, 6:13:59 UTC what will Larrabee REALLY be like? stay tuned for the next episode of "As Boinc Crunches", same Bat time, same Bat channel... Will BOINC "see" ATI cards? Will MW have an OpenCL application? Nvidia Application ... will Einstein have a GPU application out? Some other project? I have lots of questions ... few answers ... more than you will ever know... But BOINC is about all I have left to keep me alive ... ID: 59749 · Rating: 0 · rate: / Reply Quote

Orgil Send message Joined: 11 Dec 05 Posts: 82 Credit: 169,751 RAC: 0	Message 59838 - Posted: 27 Feb 2009, 4:09:44 UTC Let's deam an year later we all begin to use our gpu's for r@h! :) ID: 59838 · Rating: 0 · rate: / Reply Quote

Paul D. Buck Send message Joined: 17 Sep 05 Posts: 815 Credit: 1,812,737 RAC: 0	Message 59841 - Posted: 27 Feb 2009, 7:37:54 UTC - in response to Message 59838. Let's deam an year later we all begin to use our gpu's for r@h! :) Until then, and maybe after, I am happily using them on GPU Grid and MW ... :) ID: 59841 · Rating: 0 · rate: / Reply Quote

mikey Send message Joined: 5 Jan 06 Posts: 1895 Credit: 9,214,047 RAC: 1,450	Message 59873 - Posted: 28 Feb 2009, 13:45:02 UTC - in response to Message 59749. what will Larrabee REALLY be like? stay tuned for the next episode of "As Boinc Crunches", same Bat time, same Bat channel... And here I thought it would be 'same Ice time, same Ice channel'! Or something similar, you ARE a Penguin after all NOT a bat!! ID: 59873 · Rating: 0 · rate: / Reply Quote

th3 Send message Joined: 20 Jun 06 Posts: 11 Credit: 540,609 RAC: 0	Message 59875 - Posted: 28 Feb 2009, 15:51:52 UTC - in response to Message 59873. you ARE a Penguin after all NOT a bat!! He is a very special penguin, a Windows penguin: https://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/hosts_user.php?userid=89694&show_all=1 ID: 59875 · Rating: 0 · rate: / Reply Quote

mikey Send message Joined: 5 Jan 06 Posts: 1895 Credit: 9,214,047 RAC: 1,450	Message 59888 - Posted: 1 Mar 2009, 12:27:58 UTC - in response to Message 59875. you ARE a Penguin after all NOT a bat!! He is a very special penguin, a Windows penguin: https://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/hosts_user.php?userid=89694&show_all=1 He is a FAKE penguin? NO WAY! I wonder if he is just a bat in disguise then? Maybe his true identity came out and I caught him?! Even me, a Windows guy from waaaaay back has a couple of Penguin machines running!!! I have had the wool pulled over my eyes for too long!! Or is it the feathers? ID: 59888 · Rating: 0 · rate: / Reply Quote

The_Bad_Penguin Send message Joined: 5 Jun 06 Posts: 2751 Credit: 4,271,025 RAC: 0	Message 59901 - Posted: 2 Mar 2009, 1:12:41 UTC waddle waddle waddle... ID: 59901 · Rating: 0 · rate: / Reply Quote

Greg_BE Send message Joined: 30 May 06 Posts: 5691 Credit: 5,859,226 RAC: 0	Message 59927 - Posted: 2 Mar 2009, 16:22:10 UTC - in response to Message 59901. Fore! waddle waddle waddle... ID: 59927 · Rating: 0 · rate: / Reply Quote

mikey Send message Joined: 5 Jan 06 Posts: 1895 Credit: 9,214,047 RAC: 1,450	Message 59938 - Posted: 3 Mar 2009, 11:26:49 UTC - in response to Message 59927. Last modified: 3 Mar 2009, 11:29:18 UTC Fore! waddle waddle waddle... OH NO, was that a 3 wood you used? Maybe a pitching wedge? I am pretty sure you one doesn't say "fore" when putting! ID: 59938 · Rating: 0 · rate: / Reply Quote

mikey Send message Joined: 5 Jan 06 Posts: 1895 Credit: 9,214,047 RAC: 1,450	Message 59939 - Posted: 3 Mar 2009, 11:27:46 UTC - in response to Message 59901. waddle waddle waddle... Okay..time to tell us how the name came about. Why the Penguin look, and name, but no Penguin machines? ID: 59939 · Rating: 0 · rate: / Reply Quote

The_Bad_Penguin Send message Joined: 5 Jun 06 Posts: 2751 Credit: 4,271,025 RAC: 0	Message 59949 - Posted: 3 Mar 2009, 19:53:06 UTC well, back in the days of the Commodore Pet 4032's, it had to do with a girl (of course, lol !) and a Monty Python skit... ID: 59949 · Rating: 0 · rate: / Reply Quote