Message boards :
Number crunching :
Will switching from 32-bit OS to 64-bit OS help?
Message board moderation
Author | Message |
---|---|
Jorge Send message Joined: 20 Nov 03 Posts: 37 Credit: 14,722 RAC: 0 |
I have a 64-bit machine running Windows 7 Professional 32-bit. If I upgrade the OS to Windows 7 Proffessional 64-Bit will it result in faster compute times or maybe cooler CPU? |
tullio Send message Joined: 9 Apr 04 Posts: 8797 Credit: 2,930,782 RAC: 1 |
It will allow you to use more RAM, if you have it. Tullio |
HAL9000 Send message Joined: 11 Sep 99 Posts: 6534 Credit: 196,805,888 RAC: 57 |
The lunatics found there were gains when running a 64-bit app in a 64-bit OS over running 32-bit apps in a 64-bit OS. So they complied 64-bit versions. I don't recall the exact amount of gain with the 64-bit apps over the 32-bit ones, but it is a few percent IIRC. As far as the CPU temperature it could possibly run a few ºC warmer. Given your machine(s) are hidden it is unknown if you are running stock apps or Anonymous platform & if you are running MB or AP. Currently there is only a stock Windows 64-bit app for AP. While there are 64-bit Windows apps for MB & AP from the lunatics installer. If you were planning on doing a clean OS install there is no reason not to change from 32-bit to 64-bit. If the purpose is just to change to the 64-bit SETI@home apps I personally wouldn't go thought the effort of setting up everything on my machine again. SETI@home classic workunits: 93,865 CPU time: 863,447 hours Join the [url=http://tinyurl.com/8y46zvu]BP6/VP6 User Group[ |
kittyman Send message Joined: 9 Jul 00 Posts: 51468 Credit: 1,018,363,574 RAC: 1,004 |
You would probably gain more by retroing back to XP. "Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster |
ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20258 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20 |
You would probably gain more by retroing back to XP. Ouch! Is there really nothing better since those days of old? Happy fast crunch in, Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) |
kittyman Send message Joined: 9 Jul 00 Posts: 51468 Credit: 1,018,363,574 RAC: 1,004 |
You would probably gain more by retroing back to XP. No, there is not. It was the best OS ever done, and all else since was bloatware, and you know that. For crunch only rigs, there is only XP as the best option..... You notice how few copies are now available on ebay and such, don't you? They can be had, but the price has not dropped much. "Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster |
Mr. Kevvy Send message Joined: 15 May 99 Posts: 3776 Credit: 1,114,826,392 RAC: 3,319 |
For crunch only rigs, there is only XP as the best option... There are no XP NVidia drivers (32 or 64-bit) that will support any of the Maxwell cards. (Pretty sure of this... please let me know if there's any out there.) I know that this planned obsolescence is done on purpose with hardware and OS companies (OK, who am I fooling... there is only one "OS company": Microsoft... the other OSes are free with the hardware or to download) symbiotically dropping support for older products to force upgrades but, well, there it is. |
kittyman Send message Joined: 9 Jul 00 Posts: 51468 Credit: 1,018,363,574 RAC: 1,004 |
For crunch only rigs, there is only XP as the best option... You may be quite correct on that score. The kitties are not supporting anything near the Maxwells at this point. So, our experience may be somewhat different. I do hope to catch up with the rest of you one fine day. "Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster |
Mr. Kevvy Send message Joined: 15 May 99 Posts: 3776 Credit: 1,114,826,392 RAC: 3,319 |
|
Uli Send message Joined: 6 Feb 00 Posts: 10923 Credit: 5,996,015 RAC: 1 |
Had set up a cruncher (not yet fully operational) with XP 32 bit, as I can not find my code for the 64 bit. Yes it will hobble the ram, but I have other comps running Win 7 64 bit that I can put them into. Sounds like things are still good with XP and Boinc 6.58. Pluto will always be a planet to me. Seti Ambassador Not to late to order an Anni Shirt |
Dena Wiltsie Send message Joined: 19 Apr 01 Posts: 1628 Credit: 24,230,968 RAC: 26 |
As an old assembler programmer I checked out the difference between 32 bit and 64 bit mode. The major difference is in 32 bit mode you have 8 registers and in 64 bit mode you have 16. When running a calculation it's faster to hold all commonly used values in the registers instead of returning them to memory. There is no speed gain going to 64 bit mode if you can hold all the values in the registers. The speed advantage would happen if the additional registers allow you to hold more critical values in the registers. A compiler will guess which values are best held in the registers but a programmer can instruct the compiler as to the most commonly used values. Because the software was already optimized for 32 bit hardware the speed gain of 64 bit hardware may not be as great as one might hope but it shouldn't hurt. |
kittyman Send message Joined: 9 Jul 00 Posts: 51468 Credit: 1,018,363,574 RAC: 1,004 |
Had set up a cruncher (not yet fully operational) with XP 32 bit, as I can not find my code for the 64 bit. Yes it will hobble the ram, but I have other comps running Win 7 64 bit that I can put them into. No worries at all there. XP runs like a champ, either 32 or 64.... It is still my choice for my crunchers that stand alone, because it does not crash much. So, left unattended, it just works like a kitten. "Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster |
Grant (SSSF) Send message Joined: 19 Aug 99 Posts: 13727 Credit: 208,696,464 RAC: 304 |
Is there really nothing better since those days of old? Not so. I've used all Windows OSs since Win3.11 up to Win7. Just as Win 3.11 was a big improvement over all previous versions, so was Win98SE over all previous versions, as was XP/2k over all previous versions- as was Vista & Win7 over all the previous versions. I've seen people heap all sorts of rubbish on Vista, but other than some disk & network I/O issues that were sorted out with SP1 their complaints are baseless. Win7 was Vista SP1 with a few minor tweaks. Grant Darwin NT |
Grant (SSSF) Send message Joined: 19 Aug 99 Posts: 13727 Credit: 208,696,464 RAC: 304 |
As an old assembler programmer I checked out the difference between 32 bit and 64 bit mode. The major difference is in 32 bit mode you have 8 registers and in 64 bit mode you have 16. When running a calculation it's faster to hold all commonly used values in the registers instead of returning them to memory. There is no speed gain going to 64 bit mode if you can hold all the values in the registers. The speed advantage would happen if the additional registers allow you to hold more critical values in the registers. A compiler will guess which values are best held in the registers but a programmer can instruct the compiler as to the most commonly used values. Dena has pretty much summed it up- the performance advantage of a 64bit OS v a 32bit OS is marginal at best in most cases; but there are cases where the improvements are significant. Just as going from a 16bit to a 32bit OS had little impact on performance in many cases, however in those instances where it did help the improvements were significant- mostly due to the fact that the OS was finally able to make full use of the hardware that existed at the time. Going from 32 to 64 bit allows the OS not only to take better advantage of the extra registers, but it allows the OS & the software running on it to take full advantage of whatever memory you give it, without the performance penalty of the tricks that 32bit OSs had to use to make use of larger amounts of memory. Grant Darwin NT |
Jorge Send message Joined: 20 Nov 03 Posts: 37 Credit: 14,722 RAC: 0 |
I would never switch back to Windows XP from Windows 7. Windows 7 is so much better, and since I have the Pro version, I get IIS, non-express, for free. It comes with Pro and Ultimate but you have to add it from the "Turn Windows Features on or off" page of the control panel. After Windows 7 is discontinued and no more updates come in, I will be converting to Linux. I'd do it now but I just got this PC all configured the way I want for now. |
Richard Haselgrove Send message Joined: 4 Jul 99 Posts: 14650 Credit: 200,643,578 RAC: 874 |
There are no XP NVidia drivers (32 or 64-bit) that will support any of the Maxwell cards. (Pretty sure of this... please let me know if there's any out there.) XP-32 drivers certainly exist for the first round of mid-range Maxwells - I'm running three GTX 750 Ti cards in old hosts upgraded from 9800 GT doorstops (four times the productivity at half the power). I haven't checked every model on the driver download page, but there are some gaps - the TITAN Z isn't supported, nor are GT 705/710. And there's no support for the second-generation GTX 9xx range. |
Wedge009 Send message Joined: 3 Apr 99 Posts: 451 Credit: 431,396,357 RAC: 553 |
I'll add that support for GCN-based AMD cards (HD 7000 series and later) is only provided in Windows releases after XP. Soli Deo Gloria |
HAL9000 Send message Joined: 11 Sep 99 Posts: 6534 Credit: 196,805,888 RAC: 57 |
I would never switch back to Windows XP from Windows 7. Windows 7 is so much better, and since I have the Pro version, I get IIS, non-express, for free. It comes with Pro and Ultimate but you have to add it from the "Turn Windows Features on or off" page of the control panel. If you mean updates/fixes then that date passed January 13th. You do have 5 more years for security patches. SETI@home classic workunits: 93,865 CPU time: 863,447 hours Join the [url=http://tinyurl.com/8y46zvu]BP6/VP6 User Group[ |
OzzFan Send message Joined: 9 Apr 02 Posts: 15691 Credit: 84,761,841 RAC: 28 |
After Windows 7 is discontinued and no more updates come in, I will be converting to Linux. I'd do it now but I just got this PC all configured the way I want for now. I was so angry with the discontinuation of Microsoft TechNet, which I found to be an extremely useful service for someone such as myself trying to further my understanding of Microsoft products in a lab environment which I have complete control of at home, combined with the release of Windows 8 and the original stories that they were not going to ever put back the Start Menu.... I tried... I really, really tried to use Linux and give it a serious go. There's just too much time to be spent getting WINE to work with my games (for which there are no Linux binaries available), or getting equivalent software to replace my existing ones. By the time I gave up, Windows 8.1 Update was out and they put back the Start Button. Meh. I'll stick with Windows. Everything simply just works. Other than an occasional BSOD from buggy video drivers, I haven't had a system crash since Windows 98. |
Mr. Kevvy Send message Joined: 15 May 99 Posts: 3776 Credit: 1,114,826,392 RAC: 3,319 |
XP-32 drivers certainly exist for the first round of mid-range Maxwells - I'm running three GTX 750 Ti cards in old hosts upgraded from 9800 GT doorstops (four times the productivity at half the power). Heh... didn't even know they were Maxwells (thinking of the 9x0 series.) And yeah the old 9800s are doorstops now. Have two of them in the closet as they aren't even worth the power and the PCIe slot. |
©2024 University of California
SETI@home and Astropulse are funded by grants from the National Science Foundation, NASA, and donations from SETI@home volunteers. AstroPulse is funded in part by the NSF through grant AST-0307956.