CUDA units hogging CPU

I've noticed that though BOINC (6.6.36) states in the Status section that CUDA units are "Running (.04 CPUS, 1 CUDA)", a check on Windows Task Manager reveals that "setiathome_6.08_windows_intelx86__cuda.exe" is using 50% of all CPU cycles.

Furthermore, BOINC is reporting that 3 tasks are running. Task Manager reports that the CUDA unit uses 50% CPU always, the other two tasks are either at 25% CPU each, or one will get 50% CPU and the other will run at 0% CPU, even though BOINC says that the workunit is running, and the time elapsed for that unit increases.

Is something wrong here? Or is this normal? I thought that CUDA units would run on the GPU, and show very little CPU time, but the current CUDA unit has run only 16% of the way so far and has 1hr 13min clocked on the time elapsed.

I am running Vista Premium 32-bit, an Intel Core 2 Duo at 2.4Ghz, no overclock. The GPU is a Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS, 256MB VRAM, no overclock.
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Are you still using CUDA 2.1? That is a known bug. Upgrade to CUDA 2.3 and Nvidia 190.x and enjoy a 30% increase in speed.
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Are you still using CUDA 2.1? That is a known bug. Upgrade to CUDA 2.3 and Nvidia 190.x and enjoy a 30% increase in speed.

Your driver version is apparently 190.38 (just set the dots right:-).

If your video memory suffers from "congestion" (sometimes caused by BOINC scheduling) the GPU tasks "fall back" to the CPU. That condition can only be resolved by a reboot (full power cicle).

Gruß,
Gundolf
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Computer sind nicht alles im Leben. (Kleiner Scherz)

SETI@home classic workunits 3,758
SETI@home classic CPU time 66,520 hours

hey, take a look at my thread

http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=56074
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hey, take a look at my thread

http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=56074

If your graphics card is low on memory, disabling fancy windows themes and such crap does more to help than anything else.

One more observation. When the BOINC Service is stopped then restarted, it fails to detect the CUDA device and takes a drastic action to wipe out all CUDA tasks stored in the data directory. But it forgets to inform BOINC Master Database of such action, and as a result, there is a long list of task got stuck in "Your Results".

Use the latest 6.10.17 version of Boinc to prevent the tasks from getting wiped when the cuda device disappears.

Are you using remote desktop?

Hello

I am having a similar problem after I upgraded Boinc and my video driver. Currently I am running Boinc 6.10.18. From the Boinc messages, all my hardware is recognized fine

NVIDIA GPU 0: GeForce 9600 GT (driver version 19562, CUDA version 3000, compute capability 1.1, 512MB, 243 GFLOPS peak)

I have run through all the suggestions on this thread to try to correct this problem. Here's what I have noticed on my machine, I have a dual screen setup and when Boinc manager is open on one screen, the cuda task as seen from the task manager is using 20-23%. The GPU temp is also at the idle temperature. If i open a web browser, I'm using Chrome, then the cuda task immediately drops to 2-3% of cpu use and the GPU temp increases. As soon as I close Chrome, the cuda task returns to using 20-23% and the GPU temp drops. Sounds strange, but it happens every time. Anyone heard of this problem, and possible solutions?

In the mean time I guess i'll be leaving Chrome open if i want my GPU to crunch

Sounds more like you have some problem with that card and the tasks are falling back to the CPU to be crunched on that.
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Jord

- BOINC FAQ Service
- BOINC User Wiki

Real is just a matter of perception.

Ageless seems to be right. See tasks 1430761436 and 1430761387. Though, not all of your CUDA tasks error out.

Gruß,
Gundolf
____________
Computer sind nicht alles im Leben. (Kleiner Scherz)

SETI@home classic workunits 3,758
SETI@home classic CPU time 66,520 hours