Okay, I'm unemployed. I'll get that out of the way so people don't tell me to buy new hardware.

I currently have a PC that's doing well on CUDA stuff (thank you Vostro hardware), but I also have a P4 3.0 ghz w/2GB ram and a Radeon 9600 Sapphire w/256mb video ram.

I don't expect it to be much, but right now the ATI isn't taking any GPU tasks and is sitting idle while the CPU works. I'm using old drivers for compatibility with other things, but can I make this old 256mb vram GPU useful for SETI@home?

---

can I make this old 256mb vram GPU useful for SETI@home?

Nope.
At this stage only Nvidia have an application for Seti to use a GPU.

Installing an optimised application will improve CPU output by about 3 fold.

---

Grant
Darwin NT

I have one of the enhanced apps, which is great, but I guess an ATI 9600 w/256mb video ram isn't enough to do any more?

---

I have one of the enhanced apps, which is great, but I guess an ATI 9600 w/256mb video ram isn't enough to do any more?

That isn't it. There is no official ATi app for SETI@Home.

Dave

check out the lunatics site as there is an ati app for AP work

http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=60915&nowrap=true#1021188

the thread above gives you the links to their site plus in the thread is some discussion around experience etc (before it goes off topic :))

i'm not sure your card will work but its worth investigating

once you get the settings in your preferences correct you do get ap work on a ati card - have one running now - been running for 2:15 and 7.6% on a 3850 so will take about 30 hours - cpu on this host is only an early p4 so would take days to do the same job - but does use one of the cpu core quite heavily although BM shows 0.10c + 1 ati gpu its actually using most of one cpu core - think this is because the P4 is slow compared to todays cpu's

hopefully you card will work

good luck

---

Tim

I don't think the Radeon 9600 is one of the supported cards...my old X1900XTX was not supported either and thats a considerably newer card in comparison. I seem to remember that supported cards were the HD 4000 series, upwards - its buried in the ATI/AMD site in Developer Tools (SDK 2.1?). However, you could install an Optimised Application for S@H, which will speed up CPU work, from the Lunatics site.

---

Don't take life too seriously, as you'll never come out of it alive!

a Radeon 9600 Sapphire w/256mb video ram.

This is a fine videocard, but it isn't a GPU you can use to do any CAL work on, or OpenCL.

CAL capable GPUs are found here.
OpenCL capable GPUs are found here.

---

Thanks everyone for the links, I doubt I'll upgrade this PC anymore (the motherboard is pretty much filled), but it'll be useful when I build a new one.

---