Hi All,
Since we are able to sustain large-ish task caches again, For the benefit of those who may not know, I thought I'd point out that leaving Boinc manager open with 'Show All tasks', and a lot of tasks, does sap CPU power, which in turn reduces GPU throughput to some degree.

My 'normal' GTX 480 utilisation running 3 tasks (x32f application ) is 93-99% . When Show all tasks is enable it drops to ~70-80%.

Jason

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"Living by the wisdom of computer science doesn't sound so bad after all. And unlike most advice, it's backed up by proofs." -- Algorithms to live by: The computer science of human decisions.

Had noticed a drop in speed on CPU, since upgrading GPU's, did not realise this could be a factor.

Thank you.

Kevin

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Kevin

Well I'll be darn. Jason, you are right as usual. Thank you for posting that, as I never checked GPU utilization when I had just active tasks enabled. If you posted that elsewhere, then I missed it. Excellent information!

Steve

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Warning, addicted to SETI crunching!
Crunching as a member of GPU Users Group.
GPUUG Website

..and how big is your Cache? In Workunits? With 1000 WUs on one Rig
i don't see any decrease in GPU Load...

Perhaps - how long did someone has open BOINC Manager? Hours? :D

Helli

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A loooong time ago: First Credits after SETI@home Restart

..and how big is your Cache? In Workunits? With 1000 WUs on one Rig
i don't see any decrease in GPU Load...

Perhaps - how long did someone has open BOINC Manager? Hours? :D

Helli

My cache is about 3500 wu. As soon as I switched to show only active tasks, my GPU usage shot up, and stayed there. I usually have BM open, but minimized so I can check it quickly. That was in impressive change on my rig.

Steve

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Warning, addicted to SETI crunching!
Crunching as a member of GPU Users Group.
GPUUG Website

Well, i have no big Cache. Have reduced 5 Days ago from 5 Days
to only one Day. My Big Gun had 5000 Wus stored but now only 1000. ;)

...and i don't open BM very often a day. On the "second" Crunchers never. ;-)

Helli

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A loooong time ago: First Credits after SETI@home Restart

I knew something was not right, as my crunch times were not what others had reported, but I didn't know what was holding me back. I just dropped from about 22 minutes to do 3 tasks to 18 minutes. That was the missing piece, and I never would have thought that would have made that kind of difference.

Steve

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Warning, addicted to SETI crunching!
Crunching as a member of GPU Users Group.
GPUUG Website

Presumably you could see the effect more directly, by noting the combined CPU usage of boinc.exe and boincmgr.exe in Task Manager. Both programs will be implicated, because every second, boinc.exe will have to generate the list of tasks, and boincmgr.exe will have to parse and display it. It would be mildly interesting (but probably just a waste of a holiday afternoon) to see which component uses more resources, and whether displaying tasks with/without sorting makes any difference.

Of course, for most efficient crunching, close BOINC Manager entirely, and just let boinc.exe get on with its work without getting pestered by management every second....

...
I just dropped from about 22 minutes to do 3 tasks to 18 minutes.
...

Whoa! Really? Did you have the BM Window open the whole Day? :D

Helli

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A loooong time ago: First Credits after SETI@home Restart

...
I just dropped from about 22 minutes to do 3 tasks to 18 minutes.
...

Whoa! Really? Did you have the BM Window open the whole Day? :D

Helli

Yes, I had in on the whole time, but minimized. I had never read where it made a difference. I would pop it up and see what tasks were coming next, count how many AP units I had, or just mess around with it. I figured that video usage would be minimal at best, and non existant if it was minimized. I was wrong!

@Richard. I may play around with it today, and see how much impact it has on both CPU and GPU. Either way, I learned something very valuable, and am grateful.

Steve

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Warning, addicted to SETI crunching!
Crunching as a member of GPU Users Group.
GPUUG Website

I have BM also open 24h - but also minimized and Task Manager shows no CPU Load. Nothing. Nada. ;-)

If i open the BM Window and show all (1000) Tasks the CPU-Load will be 0 to 1%, mostly 0%.

Maybe it's because you use the whole CPU AND GPUs. I don't use the CPU, so enough power to built the Task List.

Helli

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A loooong time ago: First Credits after SETI@home Restart

You might be right. My CPU is at 100% no matter what I do. The only effect I am seeing is with the GPU's. I would think that the GPU controlling the monitor might have some difference, but it is both GPU's. Now I'm wondering at the exact mechanism that is causing it. The second I set BM for just active tasks, GPU usage shot up on both GPU's exactly as Jason stated. I'm still a bit dumbfounded, but very happy!

Steve

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Warning, addicted to SETI crunching!
Crunching as a member of GPU Users Group.
GPUUG Website

Very good information indeed.

Thanks Jason.

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With each crime and every kindness we birth our future.

Whoa! Really? Did you have the BM Window open the whole Day? :D

Helli

Some of us have been checking on whats happening on a regular basis.

You don't check yours every 30 sec or so.

Kevin

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Kevin

Whoa! Really? Did you have the BM Window open the whole Day? :D

Helli

Some of us have been checking on whats happening on a regular basis.

You don't check yours every 30 sec or so.

Kevin

I check mine only if my RAC drops. LOL

Helli

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A loooong time ago: First Credits after SETI@home Restart

With this latest change, I should pass my previous personel best RAC of 47,000 in a few hours. Even though I am crunching AP units at the moment, the GPU's are dominating by a large margine, and my RAC is climbing fast.

Thank You Jason!

Steve

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Warning, addicted to SETI crunching!
Crunching as a member of GPU Users Group.
GPUUG Website

@Richard. I may play around with it today, and see how much impact it has on both CPU and GPU.

Steve

One other thing might be worth checking. Does it make any difference whether BOINC Manager is displaying the 'Tasks' tab, or is CPU usage lower when it's displaying somthing simple like 'Projects'?

I don't know whether BOINC Manager is intelligent enough to delay updating hidden tabs - I'm remembering something ancient from BoincView, which certainly saves CPU time by not updating un-needed tabs (and conversely, wastes a lot of time if you have it constantly updating a full tab).

Well, best thing then would be we shut down all BM and control
boinc.exe over our Mobile Phone. hehe

Helli

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A loooong time ago: First Credits after SETI@home Restart

@Richard. I may play around with it today, and see how much impact it has on both CPU and GPU.

Steve

One other thing might be worth checking. Does it make any difference whether BOINC Manager is displaying the 'Tasks' tab, or is CPU usage lower when it's displaying somthing simple like 'Projects'?

I don't know whether BOINC Manager is intelligent enough to delay updating hidden tabs - I'm remembering something ancient from BoincView, which certainly saves CPU time by not updating un-needed tabs (and conversely, wastes a lot of time if you have it constantly updating a full tab).

From everything I am seeing, CPU usage stays pegged at 100%, and never drops. When I do other tasks, BOINC gives up whatever CPU power is needed for the other task, but it stays at 100%. When I was crunching Einstein, it stayed at 100% also. Except for suspending BOINC, nothing seems to change that. I will play around with the GPU's to see what happens, but the CPU stays pegged.

Steve

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Warning, addicted to SETI crunching!
Crunching as a member of GPU Users Group.
GPUUG Website

Had noticed a drop in speed on CPU, since upgrading GPU's, did not realise this could be a factor.

Looking at task manager it looks like it is mainly the extra load from the GPU's but I have also had a 5 to 6 fold increase in tasks as well.

Einstein and Astopulse to completion times have increased since before GPU upgrade.

Kevin

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Kevin