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David Goldenberg

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Message 989220 - Posted: 15 Apr 2010, 2:58:48 UTC

I just added BOINC to a third computer on the network in my house. It is a 3 yer old Pentium and is on about 5 hours a day so it can help a little.

For some reason this computer has gone crazy and downloaded hundreds of jobs from Seti and started downloading a big bunch from Einstein@home before I set it to "No new tasks". My other two computers work as they shoud and have 5 to 10 tasks in the Que

I removed BOINC and reinstalled but it eneregetically downloaded another hundred projects before I could turn it off. Also in the preferences under network usage I reduced the "Additonal work buffer" to 1 day. This I thought was the thing that set how big the work que is but my machine still chugged along and downloads hundreds of jobs.

My little computers happily complete a job or two or three every day or two on four different projects. I would like to add this third computer to my group. How can I make this computer behave?

Here I'm running BOINC 6.10.43 on a 3 year old Pentium with Windws 7.

David
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Dena Wiltsie
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Message 989232 - Posted: 15 Apr 2010, 3:26:53 UTC
Last modified: 15 Apr 2010, 3:51:53 UTC

I am not an expert on this subject, but it looks like you have a card that supports CUDA and your system is trying to make sure it has enough work. This computer could do more than a little work.
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Message 989234 - Posted: 15 Apr 2010, 3:47:14 UTC - in response to Message 989220.  

My little computers happily complete a job or two or three every day or two on four different projects. I would like to add this third computer to my group. How can I make this computer behave?

Well, you could start by setting "connect every" to 0.05 days, and "extra days" to zero.

Let it run though some work so BOINC gets an accurate idea of how this machine runs (so there is time for the Duration Correction Factor to dial in).

... then raise the cache size.
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Message 989237 - Posted: 15 Apr 2010, 3:59:56 UTC - in response to Message 989220.  

Dena's right. You have a CUDA-capable card in that machine, and that thing will usually eat through dozens of workunits in 20 minutes or less. This is why BOINC is downloading so many for that machine.
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David Goldenberg

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Message 989261 - Posted: 15 Apr 2010, 5:21:02 UTC - in response to Message 989237.  

What is CUDA?

This is a Windows computer. My other computers are MACs. Do they have the CUDA or should they?

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Dena Wiltsie
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Message 989264 - Posted: 15 Apr 2010, 5:30:06 UTC

CUDA uses the graphic processor instead of the regular processor for work units. It is many times faster and you will join the top crunchers in score very shortly. This link will give you some information and if you go to the home page and click on Questions and Answers you will find a group of threads for CUDA.
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Message 989267 - Posted: 15 Apr 2010, 5:39:02 UTC - in response to Message 989237.  
Last modified: 15 Apr 2010, 5:46:18 UTC

Dena's right. You have a CUDA-capable card in that machine, and that thing will usually eat through dozens of workunits in 20 minutes or less. This is why BOINC is downloading so many for that machine.

He said this is a Pentium.

When I look at his machines, there is an apparently retired Core 2 (with the CUDA card) and two machines running Darwin (Mac OS).

So I suspect something else is going on, and that's why I suggested a really tiny cache and just let 'er run until DCF worked out whatever needed to be worked out.

Edit:

Correction: I think it's this one 1222452.

Still, no CUDA on this machine.
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David Goldenberg

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Message 989270 - Posted: 15 Apr 2010, 5:49:32 UTC - in response to Message 989267.  

Sorry

Where is "extra days"?
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Message 989271 - Posted: 15 Apr 2010, 6:06:06 UTC - in response to Message 989270.  
Last modified: 15 Apr 2010, 6:06:24 UTC

Sorry

Where is "extra days"?


He's referring to the "Additional work buffer", found in the <network usage> tab under <Advanced> <Preferences>.
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Message 989272 - Posted: 15 Apr 2010, 6:07:00 UTC - in response to Message 989270.  

Where is "extra days"?

In the local preferences it's called "Additional work buffer".

Could you tell us the Computer ID of the newly added computer, since the pentium in your host list has not connected to SETI since 8 Mar 2009.

You can find that ID in the Messages tab of BOINC manager after a restart. Mine looks like this:
15/04/2010 00:12:13|SETI@home|URL: http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/; Computer ID: 3282456; location: home; project prefs: default

Gruß,
Gundolf
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Message 989282 - Posted: 15 Apr 2010, 8:38:23 UTC - in response to Message 989272.  
Last modified: 15 Apr 2010, 9:26:20 UTC

He (David Goldenberg) said in the first post
"Here I'm running BOINC 6.10.43 on a 3 year old Pentium with Windows 7."

BOINC 6.10.43, Windows 7, Created 12 Apr 2010, "Many" Tasks 702 - all match for:
Computer 5369024
http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/show_host_detail.php?hostid=5369024

I think he calls
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6600 @ 2.40GHz
"3 year old Pentium"

Obviously he does not know "The Power of the Dark Side" :) (CUDA)
- this is the fastest of his computers (if I am right guessing the number 5369024)

David, almost all (99%) of the tasks for this computer are
SETI@home Enhanced v6.08 (cuda)

They will be computed by the video card
NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS (256MB)
many times faster (than the tasks v6.03 computed by the CPU)

Read
GPU computing
http://boinc.berkeley.edu/wiki/GPU_computing

Get
GPU-Z Video card GPU Information Utility
http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/

Also get
Temperature Monitoring Programs
http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=59292

.
 


- ALF - "Find out what you don't do well ..... then don't do it!" :)
 
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Message 989312 - Posted: 15 Apr 2010, 12:09:00 UTC

Or read my Nvidia CUDA & ATI Stream (CAL) FAQ, which explains things in a more down to Earth, though not completely untechnical style.
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Message 989337 - Posted: 15 Apr 2010, 14:10:41 UTC - in response to Message 989267.  

Dena's right. You have a CUDA-capable card in that machine, and that thing will usually eat through dozens of workunits in 20 minutes or less. This is why BOINC is downloading so many for that machine.

He said this is a Pentium.

When I look at his machines, there is an apparently retired Core 2 (with the CUDA card) and two machines running Darwin (Mac OS).


Right, but he said the Pentium was only 3 years old. The only machine running Windows 7 on his account is the Core 2 with a CUDA card. That type of machine would downloads lots of work, fitting his concern.

I could be wrong, but I think that's the answer.
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Message 989358 - Posted: 15 Apr 2010, 15:59:32 UTC
Last modified: 15 Apr 2010, 16:00:18 UTC

His host 5369024 has 791 tasks. As it is a core 2 duo E6600 with Nvidia 9500 graphics this is a lot of tasks.

We need to know cache details and DCF.

My core 2 quad Q6600 (therefore same default speed) with Nvidia GT240 graphics only has 375 tasks, that's on 7 day cache.

It was upped it from normal 3 day cache because of recent troubles and I have been and will be away from home.
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Message 989361 - Posted: 15 Apr 2010, 16:09:04 UTC - in response to Message 989272.  

OK I set the additional work buffer to 0

The ID of this computer is 5369024. Its been offline for a while but was recently upgraded to Windows 7 and I use it because my Fuji Scansnap scanner only works on windows.

I don't know exactly what the CUDA is but I know that the MACs run Photoshop and Lightroom better than this Windows machine. They seem to handle the large files better than the Windows computer.

Back in 2009 this was my main computer; it was running XP then. I don't think it chewed up dozens of work units back then and it has the same hardware now that it did last year. I do have the NVDIA 8600GTS video card which I bought because it is quiet (doesn't have a fan). Is it possible this card is doing the CUDA now but didn't before when XP was my operating system?

David
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Message 989366 - Posted: 15 Apr 2010, 16:16:55 UTC - in response to Message 989361.  

I don't know exactly what the CUDA is but...


From my FAQ I linked to earlier:
What is CUDA or CAL (Brook+)?
CUDA and CAL (Brook+), the next best thing since sliced bread... or so they want you to believe.

Both these versions are a method of doing calculations with the use of your videocard's GPU, or Graphics Processing Unit. CUDA is used by Nvidia GPUs only, while CAL is used by ATI/AMD GPUs only.

Inside the GPU there are multiple stream- or shader processors. While these are usually used to render 3D graphics in detail onto your monitor, they can also be used for doing other sorts of calculations.

That's what is being used on some of the projects running under BOINC. Using CUDA & CAL calculations will go much faster than on your CPU, since all the stream processors inside the GPU will attack the task at the same time, running all the calculations in parallel. This in contrast with how they normally run on your CPU, where one task runs on one CPU or core only, multi-threaded projects excluded.

While running work on your CPU(s) can already slow your computer down, imagine what will happen when you also run work on your GPU. It's already in use by your system to show you everything that happens on your screen, thus adding a load of work onto that, it can cause severe stability problems.

While different GPUs can be mixed used in computers, in general the work you get for projects cannot be exchanged between GPUs. Most projects use CUDA only, which cannot be done on ATI GPUs. Some projects use CAL only, which cannot be done on Nvidia GPUs.

Why do you keep asking things when you don't read the thread or any of the answers and links in it anyway?
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Message 989372 - Posted: 15 Apr 2010, 16:26:36 UTC - in response to Message 989337.  

Dena's right. You have a CUDA-capable card in that machine, and that thing will usually eat through dozens of workunits in 20 minutes or less. This is why BOINC is downloading so many for that machine.

He said this is a Pentium.

When I look at his machines, there is an apparently retired Core 2 (with the CUDA card) and two machines running Darwin (Mac OS).


Right, but he said the Pentium was only 3 years old. The only machine running Windows 7 on his account is the Core 2 with a CUDA card. That type of machine would downloads lots of work, fitting his concern.

I could be wrong, but I think that's the answer.

I tend to believe people when they say things, so when he says "Pentium" I expect to see a Pentium.

.... and when I look at his machines, he has a Pentium that has been inactive.

Instead, we have a great example of two different problems:

1) BOINC is pretty good. It downloaded lots of work because it could potentially get through lots of work. The panic is unfounded, and the advice I should have given (let it go and see what happens) is right, again.

2) Bad information almost always leads to bad answers.

This is a Core2. They're pretty hot to start with. It has a video card that can be used to crunch a prodigious amount of work. That means it's going to download a lot.
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Message 989387 - Posted: 15 Apr 2010, 17:06:27 UTC

Also don't forget we are getting quite a few shorties thrown in to the mix lately. Shouldn't take him long at all to run through a bunch of those on his GPU.


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Message 989389 - Posted: 15 Apr 2010, 17:35:08 UTC - in response to Message 989372.  

I tend to believe people when they say things, so when he says "Pentium" I expect to see a Pentium.

That depends whether the people in question are people, or advertisers.

Looking at my local trade distributor's website tonight, I see Intel E5300, E5400, E6500 and E6600 all in stock - and all described as 'Pentium': there are a whole lot more at Wikipedia. So the OP's "6600 @ 2.40GHz (2 processors)" could well have arrived with a 'Pentium' marketing sticker on the box.
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Message 989423 - Posted: 15 Apr 2010, 19:28:56 UTC - in response to Message 989361.  
Last modified: 15 Apr 2010, 19:30:10 UTC

I don't know exactly what the CUDA is <snip>


CUDA is nVidia's marketing name for their unique ability to run certain math-intensive applications on the GPU or Graphics Processing Unit. To do so, it requires a specialized application and a compatible card. Normal applications can't take advantage of such an ability.

Back in 2009 this was my main computer; it was running XP then. I don't think it chewed up dozens of work units back then and it has the same hardware now that it did last year. I do have the NVDIA 8600GTS video card which I bought because it is quiet (doesn't have a fan). Is it possible this card is doing the CUDA now but didn't before when XP was my operating system?


It depends on which version of BOINC you were running then since CUDA crunching required BOINC v6.6.x or later. It may also be possible that you had an older driver installed that didn't support nVidia's CUDA. XP itself doesn't really care about CUDA - only the drivers and application matter.
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