in non technical speak please, just installed 6.4.5, and come back home to discover one of the work units has this in the status column


Also, can someone explain in the meantime, why I have a load of 1 to 4 minute work units?

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the truth is out there

Hello,

the message shows that your Geforce card runs the task/workunit and 1 on your cores prepares the data for it.

If you do not want to use your Geforce (CUDA) to work for Seti, check your preferences and disable the option.

Ah, no wonder what that was all about, thanks, now disabled from using my gpu. WTF? GPU usage?

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the truth is out there

You haven't seen the several dozen post about CUDA (GPU) usage being brought to SETI? They're all over the place here in Number Crunching.

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You haven't seen the several dozen post about CUDA (GPU) usage being brought to SETI? They're all over the place here in Number Crunching.

Yeah, but for Boinc to use our GPU for number crunching, now that is insane is it not? I use this computer, Windows Vista, for online gaming, no wonder why some of my game experience of late has been crummy

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the truth is out there

lynxtra, no offence mate but ozzfan is right. Surely all the posts about GPU usage must have twigged something. Anyway if you got to yur preference files you can now turn it off and go back to crunching on your CPU, which given the number of VLAR units is probably the best thing to do.

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lynxtra, no offence mate but ozzfan is right. Surely all the posts about GPU usage must have twigged something. Anyway if you got to yur preference files you can now turn it off and go back to crunching on your CPU, which given the number of VLAR units is probably the best thing to do.

I have turned off the GPU option, just don't like any other applications using my gfx card for any other reasons than for graphics (gaming) purposes

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the truth is out there

You haven't seen the several dozen post about CUDA (GPU) usage being brought to SETI? They're all over the place here in Number Crunching.

Yeah, but for Boinc to use our GPU for number crunching, now that is insane is it not? I use this computer, Windows Vista, for online gaming, no wonder why some of my game experience of late has been crummy

Insane? Really? Folding@Home has been using the GPU to crunch for (I think) two years now. The entire Distributed Computing tech industry has been abuzz with the increases in performance gained by using the GPU to crunch data.

Why not use the GPU? It is merely a specialized processor that excels in certain math computations that can be benefited by compute-intensive science applications. Not to mention the fact that the GPU has a much larger bandwidth to its own pool of memory than your CPU has to its own main memory. ...and think of the GPU as an optimized hardware chip for certain math computations. Instead of simply having an optimized software executable that runs on the CPU (like the Lunatics app), you have an optimized, specialized (G)CPU that has been designed especially for such intense operations.

I'm a gamer myself, but I think the advances provided by GPU crunching, barring the heat issues that GPUs have been suffering in recent years (worse than CPUs), are great.

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I think you're missing lynxtra's point.

Most people buy expensive graphics cards for a specific reason not related to crunching numbers for BOINC Projects.

However, the default setting for the project is to use the GPU if available.

It is pretty presumptuous to just assume that a participant is going to want to use the GPU in this fashion.

IMHO, even if CUDA, etal, cards were as common as air, the default setting should still be 'No' in the global prefs, and the choice left up to the owner of the equipment. Doubly so given the 'crude' nature of the state of coprocessing currently in BOINC.

Alinator

No, I'm not missing that point. I can understand and even respect that some users don't/won't want to use their graphics card for crunching, especially if that crunching will slow down gaming performance and/or typical OS calls from Vista.

All I'm arguing is that using the GPU isn't so "crazy" as he implied. There's nothing inherently "wrong" with using your GPU to analyze data.

If it is considered to be presumptuous to assume that everyone with a CUDA capable card wants to use it to crunch, perhaps the project should consider making the default option to not use the GPU.

However, nowhere in lynxtra's posts did he indicate that this was his problem - only that he thought using the GPU for crunching was "insane".

LOL... Sorry... I didn't mean to make it seem like I was taking you to task about the merits of coprocessing. :-)

I was deliberately overlooking the OP's personal opinion that GPU crunching is 'insane'. I took that part as being they just didn't like 'surprises' like that and were venting. :-D

However, it was fairly easy to deduce from the progress of the thread that they already had a CUDA capable card installed, upgraded to a CC version which supported coprocessing, and bada bing, bada boom, without even a CC warning message about it they started in on CUDA. I'm assuming anything which is mentioned in the BOINC message log about it is an unhighlighted 'routine' info message in BOINC Manager and/or BOINCView, and thus easily overlooked at first glance. The part about his game graphics performance going into the toilet right after that is more than a pretty good clue. ;-)

As far as I'm concerned, it's neither good, bad, or indifferent. It's just another tool for the projects to use if they so choose, and an option which should be solely up to the owner to decide if it's to be enabled.

Like I said, the default for coprocessing should be 'No', and not 'Yes', since the projects do not own the equipment, by definition (not to mention common courtesy)! ;-)

Alinator

the default for coprocessing should be 'No', and not 'Yes', since the projects do not own the equipment, by definition (not to mention common courtesy)! ;-)

Alinator

Agreed.

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Daniel

Which is why I am keeping my quad core gaming machine with an 8800GT on 5.10.45. I can still crunch and get decent games performance.

Yes it should be "off" by default.


Bernie.

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I think that ALL new features/functions/etc should be defaulted NO

Remember some of the outrage vented when AP suddenly started running on all (Non-opti) hosts, even those that didnt have a snowballs chance in hell of completing inside the deadline.

This was just as 'wrong' and if any of my hosts had been fitted with compatible
video cards and automatically activated I would be a lot more vocal as well!~!

IMHO the problem with setting the default options to 'NO' is that 98% of the users rarely visit the website or the Message boards and would never know about the newer applications.

Many, if not most of the set and forget types probably still haven't realized that Astropulse apps even exists. Heck, every now and then we still get someone that was running Classic finally notice that it is no longer crunching.

The CUDA app is definitely more problematic but the same logic applies. If adversely effected a user is likely to come looking for answers and catch up with what is new to the project.

IMHO the problem with setting the default options to 'NO' is that 98% of the users rarely visit the website or the Message boards and would never know about the newer applications.

Many, if not most of the set and forget types probably still haven't realized that Astropulse apps even exists. Heck, every now and then we still get someone that was running Classic finally notice that it is no longer crunching.

The CUDA app is definitely more problematic but the same logic applies. If adversely effected a user is likely to come looking for answers and catch up with what is new to the project.

I disagree. It seems like many set it and forget it users tend to not even notice that there's a problem. I think, just like AP, it should have to be manually turned on. I think this is especially important with the possible destruction of CUDA capable cards. A set and forget user might have a passively cooled CUDA card (the only one I have is) and not notice until it's too late that the CUDA app has over-heated it...

-Dave

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I think this is especially important with the possible destruction of CUDA capable cards. A set and forget user might have a passively cooled CUDA card (the only one I have is) and not notice until it's too late that the CUDA app has over-heated it...

-Dave

I absolutely agree with that.....

Any major change to this project should be OPT IN ONLY!!!!

And especially so concerning those 'set and forget' types....

They were promised a project that would quietly run in the background on their computers with no interference and no intervention, if one did not wish to do so....using CPU...again, CPU cycles that would be going to waste otherwise.

Imagine their chagrin, amazement, and possible anger upon finding out that Seti has all of a sudden decided to hijack their vid card to do the processing on instead of their CPU!!!

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"Time is simply the mechanism that keeps everything from happening all at once."

I think this is especially important with the possible destruction of CUDA capable cards. A set and forget user might have a passively cooled CUDA card (the only one I have is) and not notice until it's too late that the CUDA app has over-heated it...

-Dave

I absolutely agree with that.....

Any major change to this project should be OPT IN ONLY!!!!

And especially so concerning those 'set and forget' types....

They were promised a project that would quietly run in the background on their computers with no interference and no intervention, if one did not wish to do so....using CPU...again, CPU cycles that would be going to waste otherwise.

Imagine their chagrin, amazement, and possible anger upon finding out that Seti has all of a sudden decided to hijack their vid card to do the processing on instead of their CPU!!!

LOL...

Yep, to do otherwise is thoughtless, inconsiderate, arrogance on the project's part.

They don't own the target equipment, someone else does. It is not their decision to make on how it gets used, even if that means the advanced features or project options never gets used at all.

Of course, if they want to pay me cash money to lease the time on my equipment, then I might tend to be more accomdating about experimental expansion on what they are doing on it at any given time! ;-)

Alinator

I think this is especially important with the possible destruction of CUDA capable cards. A set and forget user might have a passively cooled CUDA card (the only one I have is) and not notice until it's too late that the CUDA app has over-heated it...

-Dave

I absolutely agree with that.....

Any major change to this project should be OPT IN ONLY!!!!

And especially so concerning those 'set and forget' types....

They were promised a project that would quietly run in the background on their computers with no interference and no intervention, if one did not wish to do so....using CPU...again, CPU cycles that would be going to waste otherwise.

Imagine their chagrin, amazement, and possible anger upon finding out that Seti has all of a sudden decided to hijack their vid card to do the processing on instead of their CPU!!!

LOL...

Yep, to do otherwise is thoughtless, inconsiderate, arrogance on the project's part.

They don't own the target equipment, someone else does, and it is not their decision to make on how it gets used. Even if that means the advanced features or project options never gets used at all.

Of course, if they want to pay me cash money to lease the time on my equipment, then I might tend to be more accomdating about experimental expansion on what they are doing on it at any given time! ;-)

Alinator

And consider this.....
If and when the get it arranged so both the Cuda card AND the CPU could crunch Seti at the same time, you might bring down a lotta rigs....

Especially some that do not get regular attention such at cleaning the dust out....now all of a sudden you've got a full CPU load PLUS the vid card churning away full bore. Extra heat in the case that may not be handled properly and start pushing things over the edge. CPU and GPU alike....

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"Time is simply the mechanism that keeps everything from happening all at once."

Its not like someone had to install 6.4.5 BOINC app version, that states quite clearly about its CUDA part...

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