Well, hello again. Its been a long time since my last question, many years in fact. But today I was messing around with the new BOINC client 7.6.x and found a page that says I am maxing out at 12.43 Gflops, so I have a question for your guys who knows more then me.

My Machine is a Intel XEON X5650 running at 4ghz. Its a 6 Core 12 thread CPU and quite powerful. Also my HD 5870 is supposed to be rated at 2720 Gflops.

Asus Rampage III Extreme x58
Intel XEON X5650 6C12T @ 4ghz (1366 Socket)
12gb DDR3 @ 1600 Mhz (G.Skill)
Radeon HD 5870 with absolute latest drivers (Asus Branded and water cooled)

This machine should be doing much more work, no? I am on Windows 10 with the very latest BOINC client and the v8 SETI project. I only use BOINC as a screensaver and to do SETI work so it should use all processors when I'm not on the machine which is most of the time. Does 12 Gflops seem correct and if not, how can I correct it? I have all processors checked in the preferences and always have, CPU, ATI GPU, NVIDIA GPU, Intel GPU all possible processors selected already. When looking at the Tasks page it appears its using Intel_x86 only I think.

Is everything the way it should be, or am I only using my CPU for SETI? I have no other projects attached to BOINC at the moment. How can I make sure its using the GPU? Thanks for any insight and help.

Rod

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But today I was messing around with the new BOINC client 7.6.x and found a page that says I am maxing out at 12.43 Gflops

And this page is where?
Or did you look in the Event Log (CTRL+SHIFT+E in BOINC Manager)?

Also my HD 5870 is supposed to be rated at 2720 Gflops.

Peak GFlops.

Radeon HD 5870 with absolute latest drivers

That's not giving any information, as 'the absolute latest' from AMD are the Crimson drivers, they're at 15.12 now for recommended... but for your GPU it will be at max the Catalyst 15.7.1 drivers. Your HD5870 is not supported under Crimson. Which is why in situations like this it's always better for you to say which drivers you use, than it is for us to try to figure out.

Also, you have your computers hidden, which makes it more difficult to give advice on this. because we cannot see if you have GPU tasks in your tasks list, and whether they run fine, or are only throwing errors. Or that you aren't even running GPU work, just because you didn't select it in the project preferences. Or that the driver you run with on the GPU is too old.

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I apologize for being so vague, it is the absolute latest AMD HD 5870 drivers for Windows 10, which is 16.1 released on January 10th (Absolute latest means no other newer drivers are available yet that I see). I have been using Crimson since about October or early November. You just have to look hard for them, but they were easy to find. I wanted something newer then Catalyst, so that is why I am trying the Crimson package as you can see with the below image. I can show the Software page if that matters as well as it shows a lot of info.



How do I unhide my computer? I wasn't aware it was hidden but I will look for the setting right away, thanks for the heads up. I have not ran BOINC in a long time mainly because this PC just gets this small 13x13 room rediculously hot at times, but this Winter is getting really cold so I thought I might as well see if leaving it on and doing work with SETI if that would help keep this room warmer this winter, instead of using a heater all the time. Plus trying to see if it does more work then my Fathers Quadro 4000.

I will go look for that setting and unhide it right away. Thanks again.

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Also, you have your computers hidden, which makes it more difficult to give advice on this.

I found that setting "show computer setting), and yes it was not selected. Sorry about that. Thanks for any input on if my PC is doing its job to the best of its ability. Thanks again.

Rod

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Oh one other thing I should mention. AMD has placed the HD 5000 series on a legacy setup so they can concentrate on GCN hardware. They are actively building the Crimson packages for my GPU but the actual driver itself is not getting any more updates as far as I can tell. Below is the page where it gives me the Crimson download applicable for my 5000 series GPU and relevant information, and I quote them below. As you can see I am getting Crimson software support but not any new driver support. Which is fine by me, lol. The moment Pascal is released I am buying the GTX 1080 Ti anyway.

AMD Radeon Software Crimson Edition Beta Driver
Applicable Products:
AMD Radeon™ HD 8470, Radeon™ HD 8350, Radeon™​ HD 8000 (D/G variants) Series Graphics​
AMD Radeon™ HD 7000 – HD 7600 (including A/D/G variants) Series Graphics
AMD Radeonâ„¢ HD 6000 (including A/D/G/M variants) Series Graphics
AMD Radeonâ„¢ HD 5000 (including M variant) Series Graphics
Applicable Operating Systems:
Windows® 10 (32 & 64-bit versions)
Windows® 8.1 (32 & 64-bit versions)
Windows® 7 (32 & 64-bit versions)

http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop/legacy?product=legacy3&os=Windows+10+-+64

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or am I only using my CPU for SETI?

It seems so

BOINC recognises the GPU - AMD ATI Radeon HD 5800/5900 series (Cypress/Hemlock) (1024MB) driver: 1.4.1848 - but don't say anything about OpenCL
http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/show_host_detail.php?hostid=7918024

All tasks are for CPU:
http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/results.php?hostid=7918024

Did you install OpenCL while installing driver (Crimson)?
It may be also that this package (Crimson-Legacy) have no OpenCL at all?
(no OpenCL = no way to compute on GPU)

You may also post the first 30-40 lines from Event Log (Ctrl+Shift+E)

found a page that says I am maxing out at 12.43 Gflops

Probably this page?
http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/host_app_versions.php?hostid=7918024

There is info only for the stock CPU app
SETI@home v8 8.00 windows_intelx86
Average processing rate 11.83 GFLOPS

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- ALF - "Find out what you don't do well ..... then don't do it!" :)
 

Very good to know. I thought the installation of the drivers would install everything needed for gpu work. I wasn't aware I had to go looking for a OpenCL package as well. Is that also something I have to get from AMD? Why isn't that listed in the boinc instructions for using amd? Hmmm

I will start searching for OpenCL right away thanks for the information.

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Well today I got yet another Crimson package. This time it is version 16.1.1. This makes like the 6th or 7th Crimson package already. Not sure if OpenCL is part of the package but I was forced to download a driver package anyway claiming to be OpenCL 2.0.4.0. Below is the screen shot of the Crimson page that shows the OpenCL version. I could have sworn it already said something there but now I cant remember. lol

Now other than installing them, is there anything else I have to do to get BOINC to use the GPU? Do I need to remove the seti project and re-add it or something? I will run it a day or two and check myself, but so far I see no changes. Thanks again for the tips...

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Yes, but here's the thing. Those drivers do not support your GPU. Please do read the blurb on AMD Radeonâ„¢ Software Support for Legacy Graphics Products:

AMD Radeon™ R5 235X, Radeon™ R5 235, Radeon™ R5 230, Radeon™ R5 220, Radeon™​ HD 8470, Radeon™ HD 8350, Radeon™ HD 8000 (​D/G variants), Radeon™ HD 7000 Series (HD 7600 and below), Radeon™ HD 6000 Series, and Radeon™ HD 5000 Series Graphics products have been moved to a legacy support model and no additional driver releases are planned. This change enables us to dedicate valuable engineering resources to developing new features and enhancements for graphics products based on the​ GCN Architect​ure.

As a courtesy to our valued supporters we are providing a final Beta driver together with the release of the AMD Radeon Software Crimson Edition. The AMD Radeon Software Crimson Edition Beta driver includes the redesigned user interface as well as some enhanced features. More information can be found in the AMD Radeon Software Crimson Edition 16.1 for Non GCN Products Release Notes. This driver is provided "as is"​ and will not be supported with further updates, upgrades or bug fixes.

For users looking for a WHQL certified driver, the AMD Catalyst™ 15.7.1 driver will continue to be available for users running Windows® 10, Windows® 8.1, and Windows® 7.


Also, as you can see on the 16.1.1 release notes your GPU is not in the group supported:

AMD Radeonâ„¢ R9 Fury Series Graphics AMD Radeonâ„¢ R7 300 Series Graphics
AMD Radeonâ„¢ R9 Nano Series Graphics AMD Radeonâ„¢ R7 200 Series Graphics
AMD Radeonâ„¢ R9 300 Series Graphics AMD Radeonâ„¢ HD 8500 - HD 8900 Series Graphics
AMD Radeonâ„¢ R9 200 Series Graphics AMD Radeonâ„¢ HD 7700 - HD 7900 Series Graphics

So, if you want to use your GPU for OpenCL calculations you're required to return to 15.7.1 at the maximum. Or buy a new GPU that's capable of using the higher Crimson versions.

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I wasn't aware I had to go looking for a OpenCL package as well.

Some driver packages include OpenCL, some not.
AMD have the habit to remove OpenCL in last/newest drivers for old GPUs and old OSes

This table is made by HAL9000
ATI Driver Version Cheat Sheet
http://www.hal6000.com/seti/boinc_ati_gpu_cheat_sheet.htm


Driver packages (Catalyst installer/setup) can be opened by 7-Zip
At least the older - example is from 11-12_vista32_win7_32_dd_ccc_ocl.exe

You can find OpenCL.msi in:
11-12_vista32_win7_32_dd_ccc_ocl.exe\$_OUTDIR\Packages\Apps\OpenCL\

I don't know if just OpenCL.msi from older driver can be installed if using this new Crimson


Programs ("GPU Caps Viewer" and LuxMark) you can use to test OpenCL (my post):
http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=78940&postid=1760022#1760022
 

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- ALF - "Find out what you don't do well ..... then don't do it!" :)