SETI not using full CPU for GPU

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Profile CyborgSam
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Message 1993759 - Posted: 14 May 2019, 21:10:55 UTC

I'm contributing to 4 projects: SETI, Einstein, Rosetta, and WCG. All are allocated an equal resource share.

I lowered the "Use at most ... % of the cpus" to ensure that a CPU is always available for each GPU. Yet SETI only uses a fraction of the free CPU.

Right now my dual-Xeon Linux mobo with 16 CPUs and an NVIDIA GTX 1060 has 1 Einstein task, 7 Rosettas, 7 WCGs, and 1 SETI at 0.405 CPU. SETI is the only task using the GPU.

My Mac Pro single-Xeon with 12 CPUs and two Radeon RX 560s has 1 Einstein using 1 CPU & 1 GPU, 5 Rosettas, 5 WCGs, and 1 SETI at 0.235 CPU and 1 GPU.

Is there a significant performance hit when SETI uses less than 1 CPU for the GPU? If so, will lowering "Use at most..." a bit more so another CPU is free help? Will the increase in GPU performance offset the loss of a CPU for other projects' tasks?
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Message 1993769 - Posted: 14 May 2019, 22:32:52 UTC

Is there a significant performance hit when SETI uses less than 1 CPU for the GPU? If so, will lowering "Use at most..." a bit more so another CPU is free help? Will the increase in GPU performance offset the loss of a CPU for other projects' tasks?


Depends - are you running > 1 SETI WU on that GPU simultaneously? If so, you need 1 CPU for EACH WU on the GPU. That is, the CPU goes with the WU, not the GPU. For example, on each of my 2 crunchers, I have 2 GPUs each running 3 WUs, so they require a total of 6 CPUs on each machine. The app isn't multithreaded, so 1 CPU is enough per WU.
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Message 1993773 - Posted: 14 May 2019, 22:49:40 UTC - in response to Message 1993769.  

Depends - are you running > 1 SETI WU on that GPU simultaneously? If so, you need 1 CPU for EACH WU on the GPU. That is, the CPU goes with the WU, not the GPU. For example, on each of my 2 crunchers, I have 2 GPUs each running 3 WUs, so they require a total of 6 CPUs on each machine. The app isn't multithreaded, so 1 CPU is enough per WU.

In the Tasks tab SETI has one task. Why isn't SETI grabbing the rest of the free CPU?

Is my NVIDIA GTX 1060 capable of running multiple WUs? If so: how do I do that and what's a practical limit?

TIA,
Sam
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Message 1993774 - Posted: 14 May 2019, 23:05:40 UTC

Cruncher-American is running SoG under Windows which is entirely different animal from running Cuda (special sauce) under Linux, CyborgSam 1 w/u per GPU is your limit under Linux.

Between SETI, Einstein, Rosetta, and WCG the last 3 will wind up taking over due to Seti's long expiry dates (and their shorter 1's) so it's very likely that your CPU will wind up with no Seti work at all unless you change your resource settings for those other 3 (and even then it may not share resources properly without some manual intervention).

Cheers.
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Message 1993776 - Posted: 14 May 2019, 23:15:18 UTC

Do you have an app_config.xml file in the Seti projects directory allocating one cpu thread for each gpu thread?

<app_config>
  <app_version>
    <app_name>setiathome_v8</app_name>
    <plan_class>opencl_nvidia_SoG</plan_class>
    <avg_ncpus>1</avg_ncpus>
    <ngpus>1</ngpus>
  </app_version>

  <app_version>
    <app_name>astropulse_v7</app_name>
    <plan_class>opencl_nvidia_100</plan_class>
    <avg_ncpus>1</avg_ncpus>
    <ngpus>1</ngpus>
  </app_version>
</app_config>

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Message 1993822 - Posted: 15 May 2019, 4:49:33 UTC - in response to Message 1993774.  

Do you have an app_config.xml file in the Seti projects directory allocating one cpu thread for each gpu thread?

I didn't, I just added it to the Linux machine to make sure I did it correctly.

Cruncher-American is running SoG under Windows which is entirely different animal from running Cuda (special sauce) under Linux, CyborgSam 1 w/u per GPU is your limit under Linux.

Bummer. Will Mac BOINC run multiple WUs/GPU? If so I may swap GPUs around (which also means downgrading from Mojave on the Mac that gets the NVIDIA GTX 1060).
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Message 1993825 - Posted: 15 May 2019, 4:54:07 UTC
Last modified: 15 May 2019, 5:09:20 UTC

Oops
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Message 1993827 - Posted: 15 May 2019, 5:08:22 UTC - in response to Message 1993825.  
Last modified: 15 May 2019, 5:10:10 UTC

Bummer. Will Mac BOINC run multiple WUs/GPU? If so I may swap GPUs around (which also means downgrading from Mojave on the Mac that gets the NVIDIA GTX 1060).
It's not a bummer, but just as with Linux, it's Unix based so the same rules still apply. ;-)

[edit] Unix based OS's make more use of the Nvidia GPU hardware than Windows can ATM.

[edit 2] OK I see that you are running stock apps on your 1060 and not the Cuda 9/10 special sauce apps which puts you at a huge disadvantage (yes under stock Linux apps you could run 2 tasks at a time), but switching to the special sauce 9/10 Cuda app will be a huge improvement over what you're doing now.

Cheers.
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Message 1993831 - Posted: 15 May 2019, 5:21:16 UTC

Running multiple tasks on a GPU depends on the GPU in use and the application being run not the operating system.
For example, your GTX1060 might run two instances of the "normal" CUDA application, but it would only run one instance of the "special sauce" CUDA application but would be about twice as productive in the latter case (in terms of tasks per hour).
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Message 1993838 - Posted: 15 May 2019, 5:27:27 UTC

Also a GTX 1060 running the "special sauce" Cuda 9/10 app should take just under 3mins to complete a normal w/u.

Cheers.
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Message 1993850 - Posted: 15 May 2019, 7:44:27 UTC - in response to Message 1993838.  
Last modified: 15 May 2019, 7:46:26 UTC

Can someone please post links to Petri's special sauce apps? I tried Googling but didn't find them reading a couple of threads with 20+ pages.
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Message 1993852 - Posted: 15 May 2019, 8:08:28 UTC
Last modified: 15 May 2019, 8:08:42 UTC

Here is the link to the latest edition, https://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=81271&postid=1977149, and the thread that it's in will supply all the help you need, but run down all your current work first and remove your current BOINC installation as this is an "all-in-1" package that includes an improved version BOINC.

Cheers.
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Message boards : Number crunching : SETI not using full CPU for GPU


 
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