Hi all,

I used to run Seti@Home many years ago but got out of it probably back in the mid 2000's.

I just thought I'd give it a try since the PC I have now is beastly compared to what I used to use. I've installed BOINC, and am running a packet, but the BOINC application is only running at about 8% CPU usage at first. After a few minutes it bumps up to 100% utilization. Is this normal?

Also, is there a way to use my NVidia GPU's CUDA cores as well? I'm running a GTX 1080 at the moment.

Thanks,

Brad

Hi all,

I used to run Seti@Home many years ago but got out of it probably back in the mid 2000's.

I just thought I'd give it a try since the PC I have now is beastly compared to what I used to use. I've installed BOINC, and am running a packet, but the BOINC application is only running at about 8% CPU usage at first. After a few minutes it bumps up to 100% utilization. Is this normal?

Also, is there a way to use my NVidia GPU's CUDA cores as well? I'm running a GTX 1080 at the moment.

Thanks,

Brad

There is certainly a way to use your gtx 1080. Go to the website and find your account. Goto the "Seti" settings. Make sure you have the Nvidia gpu box check marked. I would uncheck the AMD and Intel gpu boxes. You can play with that more later.

There are many other things you can do like run 3 tasks at the same time on the 1080 etc. But this will get you started.

Tom

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A proud member of the OFA (Old Farts Association).

A few things to add to what Tom has said:

First, the default for BOINC is to try and occupy as many CPU cores as possible with work, this can take a few minutes to happen.
Second, the default is to have "use nVidia GPU" set, but, and this is a big "but", you must have the correct drivers installed. Many people have reported that Microsoft supplied drivers do not have all the stuff in them that is needed for the use of CUDA (or OpenCL), despite having the same version number! To make sure you haven't fallen foul of this you need to do a few things, first get a copy of the latest drivers from the nVidia website (use the "auto-detect" feature as this works pretty well), now turn Windows drivers auto-driver update OFF, then do a "clean" installation from of the drivers you just downloaded (you did remember where you hid them, don't you - it's a cozy tee-shirt), ("clean installation is an option hidden in the "advanced" installation stuff, while you are looking around there you can safely ignore the "nVdia experience" stuff, as that is all about gaming and continuous updates and the like). Finally, even if it's not asked for, do a re-boot, I've found that Windows likes this, and the drivers tend to be better behaved.

Last, but by no means least: ENJOY YOURSELF.

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?